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foxtophat · 3 years

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WHOOO BOY okay here we are! i’m all done with another mercy fic!!! that is honestly amazing, startling, thrilling, all that good shit. i am STOKED!!!

i don’t have much to say about it, other than writing kim and john interacting has been so much fun!!! i’m going to have to come up with more reasons for the two of them to hang out. when john and nick talk it’s like fighting words all the time but with kim john can actually just be a tired adult, and i think he might need that sometimes.

so, i took the fic’s title from a new mountain goats song that i really like. it’s very depressing though. even worms turn into butterflies i guess :(

as usual, the chapter is beneath the cut for those of you who don’t want to leave tumblr’s comfortable embrace. i absolutely adore kudos, comments, likes, reblogs and those passing glances on the street as you wonder “is that the famous author of a tiny fandom’s niche survival au????” yeah, i see you out there, looking for me. i’m carmen san diego, bitch!!! good luck with that!!!!

love you guys, have a good day, and thanks for putting up with me!!! <3

John might try to couch it in exasperation and paint it as a tactical retreat, but Kim sees him leaving for what it really is: gut instinct telling him to escape. She doesn't blame him for needing space, of course. From the way Nick watches him go, it's clear that the day's been harder than either of them have let on. She's sure that Nick will tell her the details later, but right now, it doesn't look like he has the energy. That's also fine; John's fragile emotional state is easily put on the back-burner. She has more important things to worry about right now. For one thing, she's got eighty pounds of supplies to handle and a family that's uncomfortable with the responsibility.

"It's still too much for us, isn't it," Nick says mournfully. "We gotta give more away, don't we?"

Kim privately admits to herself that she doesn't want to give any more away. Hell, she's even reluctant to give away what might be kept for bargaining later. The boxes of military rations, the ten pounds of salt, the five pounds of rice — they wouldn't have anything to worry about during winter. They wouldn't even have to leave the house if they didn't want to. But John has left all of that in a neutral fifth pile for them to divvy out equally, and Kim can't allow herself to be more selfish than him. That is absolutely unacceptable.

"We can give away the potato flakes," Kim says, diplomatically moving them to the center pile. "If we still don't feel like it's enough, we can give away more. But right now, we need to conserve the resources we have control over." Sighing hard in an attempt to blow stray hairs from her face, she adds, "Honestly, we should check that everything is still good before we decide to give anything away." After all, everything looks fine at a glance, but Kim has seen first-hand just how insidious mold can be in ill-stored supplies. Just because Jacob seemed to be prepared doesn't mean he couldn't make a mistake, and Kim isn't about to trust any Seed implicitly.

"I guess you're right," Nick replies, picking up one of the mylar bags and examining its contents through the clear side. Kim remembers the brand of powdered stock so clearly that if she closes her eyes, she can see exactly where it was stocked on the store shelves. Nick seems to be thinking the same thing, sounding strangely nostalgic as he asks, "You don't think there's still time to spice up dinner, do you?"

"Maybe if you guys had gotten here an hour ago," Kim says. "Much longer on the fire and everything is going to be mushy paste. And, again, we don't know if it's safe to use."

"Can we have these tomorrow?" Carmina asks, lifting one of the packaged rations up for approval.

"Not unless they won't last through winter," Kim replies. "Now, I know none of us are excited about five-day stew, but we can't let edible food go to waste just because there's something tastier in front of us." That doesn't do much to rally the troops, unfortunately, and Kim is stuck feeling like the bad guy, so she tries again. "Salt doesn't really go bad, though — I'm sure we can use that."

Nick accepts the terms of the compromise, thankfully, because he's an adult when he needs to be. He redirects his leftover energy towards the sealed bags, pointing Carmina towards the neutral pile. "Okay, you remember how to check whether something's gone bad, right?"

It's been a while since they've relied on store-bought goods, but Carmina hasn't forgotten best-by dates or how to spot discoloration. It's easy enough for them to determine the rations are still good; although the packaging boasts a dubious "fifty-year shelf-life," all of the wrappers are fresh and odorless. They'll have to open one up to be sure, but Kim isn't getting Carmina excited for that this close to dinner. The rice and salt are also easy passes, which means Kim hasn't made too lofty a promise to her family just by offering basic seasoning.

They don't risk breaking any seals quite yet, not without clean containers to hold everything, but it's easy to do a visual check even without opening anything up. Jacob had done his job well — other than the triple-wrapped bottles of liquor, the cache is entirely dry and moisture-free, and everything stored inside was meant to last. That tracks with what Kim knows of the oldest brother. He had been a sharp-minded survivalist; cunning, ruthless, and hard to outwit. He must have been a meticulous planner, putting all of this together, but Kim is struggling to understand what he had expected to do with it all. Like John had said — what good would food be to a man who had planned to survive the apocalypse inside a fully stocked, industrial bunker? And if he didn't trust the Project to save him, then why did he put so much effort into building its militia?

Jacob's motivations are a mystery that Kim isn't interested in solving. She's just glad that, for whatever reason, he'd buried these supplies in particular, and that he'd bothered to share the location with John. Thanks to his opaque planning, Kim can scratch some pipe-dream items off her supply list, and that's good enough for her. Honestly, food had been the last thing she'd suspected John could help them with — she still has trouble believing it's all here in front of her.

With Nick and Carmina studiously inspecting the cache supplies, Kim takes some time to pull the food from the fire. It's the third day they've eaten from this particular batch of stew, and the newest ingredients she put in today are almost a week old. The only thing she can say in favor of their leftovers at this point is that there isn't a lot of it left. She can only hope the salt helps, otherwise she's going to cave on the military rations herself.

Kim brings the pot into the kitchen, then decides it's time to check on John. There's a slim chance that he might have decided to disappear into the hangar, or walked as far as the end of the drive, and Kim isn't going to stand around shouting for him like some kind of Little Home on the Prairie character. She gives Nick a thumbs up as she heads for the front door; he doesn't stop her, but the crease in his brow tells her he wants to.

There's a path laid in the dirt between the porch and the truck where John clearly had been pacing, but when Kim comes outside, he's sitting motionless on the porch steps. He doesn't react as Kim comes up next to him, his elbows resting on his knees as he presses his forehead against his palms. She can't tell if he's ignoring her on purpose, or if he's just so deep in thought that he doesn't realize she's there. His turmoil tends to give him tunnel-vision, and he doesn't always notice his surroundings.

Kim doesn't think he's trying to give her the silent treatment, so she gives in first. "Dinner's going to be ready any minute," she tells him. "It's going to be the last tasteless meal for a while, so I hope you're excited."

"Thrilled," he replies, with just enough sarcasm for Kim to trust she isn't interrupting him mid-crisis. She gives him a minute, and sure enough, he eventually drops his hands from his face. Sighing heavily, he addresses the dirt when he speaks. "I take it I'll need a good excuse to get out of eating."

"Maybe if you had eaten breakfast, I'd be more willing to look the other way." Even though she knows John won't take her concern seriously, she can't completely hide it under her exasperation. She tries for his sake, but it's a lost cause. "I don't think you've finished a meal in days."

John closes his eyes briefly. "I haven't been hungry," he says.

Kim wishes he would be more petulant about it. She can handle it when John acts like a child — she's got nine years of raising Carmina under her belt, after all — but John's resignation is a weariness that reflects her own. She doesn't know how to help him with it any more than she knows how to help herself. She can hardly help Nick when he gets like this. She has no idea how to handle John.

Kim cranes her neck as she checks on Nick and Carmina, who are still busy with the supplies. Satisfied that they aren't in any immediate danger, she finally takes a seat next to John on the porch. He still doesn't look at her, his eyes fixed on his hands, but she's hardly surprised. She turns her own gaze to the truck, glinting in the sunset, and tries to follow the tire-tracks backward. She bets the dirt's held their tracks all the way back to the field.

"If it makes you feel better, my appetite has been terrible, too. Sometimes, all I can do is try to keep everything down." She sighs, lamenting mostly to herself, "What I wouldn't give for a Big Mac right now."

That earns her an amused huff from John, which is better than she'd expected. If he's able to tolerate her bad jokes, then at least she can be sure she isn't making things worse.

"At least once we get through our leftovers, we'll be able to start adding those emergency rations into rotation," Kim continues. John probably doesn't care about meal planning, but Kim doesn't need him to be an interested sounding board. "And with the extra seasoning, even our leftovers are going to be better than they were." She knows she's pushing it when she tries to relate, but she can't help commenting, "It was lucky that Jacob squirreled so much food away."

"That isn't what he would call it," John heaves. His fingers twist against his jeans. "He was prepared for anything that might happen. Luck had nothing to do with it."

"It was lucky for us," Kim points out. "And, you know... considering how much effort he put into hiding it, I bet he'd be relieved to know that you were able to find it after all this time."

"It doesn't matter what he'd think. He's dead."

John takes a sharp breath after he spits the comment out and Kim watches the regret bloom in real time, his scowl deepening as he stares at the dirt. Sometimes, she suspects he beats himself up like this because they refuse to do it for him. She wishes he would stop, already. It used to annoy her, but lately, it's only managed to make her feel terribly sad.

"Maybe it doesn't matter to him, but it might make you feel better."

John barks out a noise that hardly resembles a laugh. "Nothing is going to make me feel better ," he snaps, his anger flaring up and dissipating too abruptly for him to keep hold of it. All it leaves behind is resignation. "It doesn't matter. He'll just... My nightmares will latch on to anything. Jacob will never be happy in them." He sighs, burying his hands in his hair, twisting his fingers as though he might pull clumps out by the root. "Nothing I do helps. I just want it to stop ."

Kim wishes she had a solution for him, but she has nothing besides a lame suggestion to get more rest. That clearly hasn't worked for any of them, let alone John, who treats his nightmares like physical intruders instead of figments of his imagination. She doesn't know what they do to haunt him so badly, and she isn't sure she's ready to learn. She's only just now starting to get used to him as a person — she's not ready to unpack all of his damage.

John sighs and rubs his temples. "I knew Jacob didn't believe," he admits. "Not in the religious doctrine, anyway. But I didn't know that he had... planned around it. If I'd known, then maybe..."

John trails off, and Kim hums sympathetically after he fails to pick back up. Most of John's trauma is bespoke to him and him alone, but this is something that any survivor would be able to commiserate with. "Hindsight really does suck," she says. "Trust me, you're not the only one wondering what could've gone differently."

Usually, John is almost impossible to console, but it seems like the day has worn the fight right out of him. He only shakes his head miserably at her attempt to sympathize. "It wouldn't have been any better," he mutters. "It would only have been a different kind of worse."

"Maybe," Kim supposes, although she's not entirely convinced. There were plenty of points between the Project's arrival and the Collapse where a split in leadership would have benefited everybody. She's thought about it before now, remembering rare moments when she'd thought she'd seen something beneath the veneer of otherwise devout believers. She's wondered more than once what might've happened, if only they had convinced the right person to turn their back. God, she's hypothesized about a thousand missed opportunities left in that half-decade. There are a million ways things could have turned out better for even just one more person.

At last, Kim surrenders her side of the conversation — or what's left of it, anyway. "Well, for whatever it's worth, you've done us a big favor, and we're not going to let it go to waste. And a lot of people are going to benefit from your hard work."

John takes a deep, unhappy breath. "Yes," he says. He opens his mouth to soften the word with something else, something to hide the fact that he still depends on blind acceptance when overwhelmed, but he can't seem to come up with anything.

Kim doesn't need an excuse. She puts a hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense under her gentle grip, anticipating more than simple reassurance. It offended her at first, how often he seemed to expect them to be violent with him. The idea that he thought either of them were capable of the same awfulness as the cult had pissed her off. But nowadays, she's come to accept that it's simply hardwiring left over from before. She's not sure there's anything to be done about it at this point.

There are no platitudes she can offer him that wouldn't sound insincere, so she relies on facts. "When you're ready, come inside and try to eat something. You look like you wore yourself out."

John's tension slowly ebbs. "I... may have overdone it," he admits somewhat reluctantly, which tells Kim that he definitely overdid it. He scrubs his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "I needed to know I was right. I... needed him to know I hadn't forgotten."

So much for Jacob being too dead to care about. Despite everything, Kim can't help but sympathize. She feels his remorse in her own way whenever she thinks about her parents, and she knows that everybody carries something like that with them these days. She might not be haunted by her parents the way John is, but she thinks she can understand his sorrow. It might be the only thing about him she really gets.

"That's okay," she tells him, because it is, and somebody should tell him as much. "But you can't let it get in the way of taking care of yourself."

He nods, but Kim knows he doesn't believe her. He treats every attempt to reassure him as empty platitudes — not that she can blame him, really. But sometimes, like right now, she wonders if he would be less inclined to beat himself up so much if they'd just punished him the way he'd wanted from the start. It's just her exasperation talking, frustrated by his continued misery. John needs time, just like the rest of them, and beating him up ten months ago would only have made things worse.

A loud thud interrupts them, followed immediately by Carmina shouting, " Ow !" Nick starts to laugh, which keeps Kim from getting particularly worried about Carmina's safety, but she still gets up to investigate. John doesn't follow, although she catches him turning his head to watch her as she heads inside.

Nick, still seated at the table, laughs at their daughter as she lies sprawled back on the ground, her feet still guiltily stuck in the barrel.

"Told you, you're too big! No way you'd fit."

"I had to try ," Carmina grumbles as she kicks her way out of the barrel.

" Why ?" Kim laughs.

"I dunno, I just had to!"

"Too bad I don't have a blow-torch," Nick laments. "We could've put some eye-holes in it for you, like a helmet. Maybe then you'd be able to ride around in the truck-bed without your mom getting all worked up."

Carmina gasps. " Really ?"

Kim is quick to smother that particular idea. " No ," she cuts in, trying not to laugh at the mental image that her husband's conjured up. She tries to guilt Nick with an exasperated glance, but the bastard doesn't look even remotely repentant about suggesting armor to their child. "There has to be a better use for it than that. Anyway, armored or not, I don't want you to get thrown out of the back of a moving vehicle! I don't know why that's so unreasonable."

Carmina opens her mouth to argue the point, but she's abruptly distracted as she glances into the barrel. Rearranging her legs to sit on her knees, she pulls the barrel towards her. Kim would write it off if it weren't for Carmina's obvious confusion as she peers inside.

"There's more stuff in here," she reveals, tipping the barrel upright. She's uncharacteristically uneasy as she mentions, "Um, I think it's cult stuff..."

Kim is the first one to investigate, peering down into what she'd thought was an empty cache. She finds a circular metal disk wedged catty-corner into the barrel, revealing a hidden compartment. Reaching past the false bottom, Kim finds some black fabric and a box. She figures out the tee-shirts from the tags inside the collars of the factory-starched fabric, but hesitates to investigate the rest. The other packages stored away had been factory-sealed and clearly labeled cardboard boxes; there was no hiding what was in those. This, on the other hand, is a wooden cigar box with no seals, the Eden's Gate cross etched elaborately into the lid.

"Uh, John?" Nick calls as Kim sets the box down on top of the shirts. She wonders if she should open it, or if it might be some kind of trap. Nick looks deeply distrusting as he stares at the emblem and repeats louder, "John?"

John is more confused than any of them when he enters the scene. He scowls as soon as he sees the box sitting on the table, which would be hard to miss even without Nick gesturing widely towards it. "Where did you find that?" he asks, looking from Nick to Carmina as if they might have different stories to give him.

"Where do you think, Mars?" Nick exclaims, exasperated. "You wanna tell me what's inside?"

"I don't know ," John grits out, "I haven't looked ."

But it's clear from his expression that he has an idea of what they're dealing with. He crosses the room and hovers momentarily in front of the box, flipping the lid open before Kim can decide if that's a good idea. It could be a bomb. It could have a tripwire. She doesn't want her home ruined by Bliss all over again!

Of course, nothing happens. Kim supposes that if it had been a trap, Carmina would have set it off by climbing on top of it. The reality is much less ominous than she could have expected. She hovers near John as he pulls a clean moleskin journal out, watching him flip through the blank pages before dismissing it. He's slower to write off the folded mass of paper that he takes out next, although he doesn't examine it right away. Kim doesn't need him to unfold it to see the topography lines and highway markers printed on it.

"An empty journal, a map, and..."

John scowls at the twenty or so bullets that rattle around at the bottom of the cigar box. They can't be any different from the rest of the ammunition, but for some reason, the sight of them triggers a sense of dread in Kim. After all, what kind of ammunition would Jacob have thought needed to be secreted away? It can't be good. It can't possibly be safe .

"Ah," John says. Kim can't say for sure, but he seems almost disappointed.

"What are they?" Nick asks.

"Bullets we infused with Bliss." John tilts the box, examining the ammunition as best he can without touching it. Kim can't help but want to snatch Carmina away, but they're past the point of hiding these things from her. She has a right to understand just how dangerous the cult was. But there's also a lingering fear that somehow, Carmina might be affected by that god-awful drug, even if it's from ten-year-old bullets.

"You don't have to worry," John says. He doesn't need to look up for Kim to know he's talking to her. "The drug would be inert by now."

"What should we do with them, then?" Nick asks.

"Destroy them," John replies honestly. "If not that, then... store them away. We don't need them, but..."

"But it would be stupid to throw away good ammunition," Kim finishes as John trails off.

"Exactly."

None of them make a move to take either action. Kim supposes that the bullets aren't hurting anyone right now, just sitting there, and it seems like Carmina is more interested in the map than the ammunition. She's trying and failing to peek at the folded pages without undoing the whole mess. They didn't have a map in the bunker, which means that this will be Carmina's first chance to see her home spread out as a whole.

"Here, let me," Kim tells her daughter. Nick takes her cue, clearing a space on the table for her as she picks up the map. All eyes are on the accordion folds as they unravel, revealing more and more of the county. Black stars dot locations Kim remembers, like Lorna's and Rae Rae's, and circled points of nothing are marked in the middle of empty fields and mountain road turnoffs. The key is neatly printed in the upper left corner; beneath it is a uniform list of numbers, most likely coordinates, written briskly in red ink.

Even without the key, Kim thinks she understands the various marks around the map. Spread out in front of them, she can see double circles around power boxes, and she spots a few other locations with the same notation. Stars are placed next to several prominent people's homes, including their own. There are other things, too — little ink drawings of wolves, bears and deer in spots across the map. A few lakes have the names of fish written over them in the same blocky letters as the food packaging; the river bend nearest to their home has the word BASS written neatly along the bend.

Standing next to Kim, staring down at the map, John finally says, "This doesn't make any sense."

Nick opens his mouth to respond, probably with something sarcastic, but he thinks better of it and goes a different route. "Why would he hide this stuff?" he asks. "I mean, I get the bullets, I guess... but hiding the map seems weird."

John scowls at the box in his hands, closing the lid vengefully. "This is what the cache should have been," he says. "It should have more of this — more weapons, more maps, more intel . What about all of the blueprints we'd drawn up for housing? Instructions on how to reconnect the power grid, or the deeds to prove we owned the land — that would help, no matter what you believed! We were prepared for an apocalypse, but — where is it all? Sugar and rice and cigarettes aren't helping anybody!"

Kim can't blame John for getting upset, although she wishes he wouldn't shout around Carmina. Knowing that Jacob had planned for the possibility of the Project not being around is one thing, but it must be particularly rough to see obvious signs of a long-forgotten plan. Especially one that John hadn't been told anything about, with only a few disjointed clues left for him to piece back together.

To her surprise, it's Nick who comes to John's rescue, standing to draw John's attention before he completely spirals. "Come on, that's not true. You know we need food more than anything else." He gestures towards the open map. "Besides, there are plenty of other spots we can check. And now we know what we're looking for, right?"

John sighs heavily. "Yes," he agrees.

"Okay," Nick continues, "And now we've got rations and a tent to take with us, so we don't go through another long day like today. Right?"

John rolls his eyes. It's no secret that he hates it when they treat him like a child, but there's not enough outrage left in him to get angry about it. Instead, he drops his eyes to the ground and agrees with a despondent, "Yes."

"So, alright, maybe we aren't going to learn how to reconnect the power grid, or how to build a solar water purifier, or whatever. But at least we know we're not going to struggle through winter. Neither is Grace, or the gang, or the town."

"I know," John sighs. "I know." He drops the box onto the table, grimacing at the sound it makes. "The map alone is worth all of today's effort." He doesn't look convinced, but Kim can appreciate his almost-apology for what it is.

Carmina, who has been examining the map to avoid John's outburst, finally sees an opening to speak up. "Um... Where is our house?" she asks.

Nick squints over the map, trying to pinpoint the spot from his upside-down vantage point. Neither he nor Kim are quick enough to answer, though, as John reaches out and taps his finger against one of the black stars in the lower-left corner. He doesn't even have to look — he clearly memorized their location a long time ago.

"Here," he says.

"Oh, good," Nick sighs, "We got a star."

"It meant you had something useful that you weren't willing to give up." John's finger drags across the paper to the label on the river. "But I don't understand why he marked fishing spots. And hunting locations. And these..." He taps the red numbers. Kim spots a few red dots on the map, hopefully corresponding to the coordinates, but they seem to be in random locations. Whatever logic the Project was using, Kim can't make it out.

"I don't know what any of these are," John says. His voice lacks the anger from moments ago, replaced by a growing fascination with the mysterious notations. "They're all up in the mountains, so I think... Well, except...."

He moves around Carmina, who watches him with wide eyes as he seems to forget she's standing right next to him. John's given her more attention in the last hour than he has this entire year, but it figures that his indifference to her is what's sticking out.

"This one," he says, tapping a red dot near the old Eden's Gate compound. "This might be the furthest south... No, wait. This one." He moves his attention again, indicating another red spot closer to town.

"Are they more barrels?" Carmina asks.

John is momentarily startled to find Carmina right beside him, but he doesn't immediately leap away to put some distance back. Mostly because doing so would send him right into Kim's personal space. "It could be," he admits, only letting Carmina's input rattle him for a second before he turns his attention back to the map. "They must have been late additions. But... I didn't hear anything about these, and I don't remember seeing them on other maps. If they were for the Project, I would have found out about them eventually."

"Wouldn't they have told you upfront?" Nick asks, surprised when John chuckles in response.

"There were plenty of things I had to learn second-hand. There are probably more secrets I never learned at all. But — this cache was buried weeks before the Reaping. We kept our maps updated almost daily, but I don't remember either of these being marked. And there's one at the compound... I would remember emergency supplies being stored at the church."

Carmina stands on the opposite side of John from Kim, watching his hand move as he talks. Seeing the two of them side-by-side should probably upset Kim. She should be worried about her daughter putting too much trust in John — even if he wants to do the right thing now, he doesn't always understand what the right thing might be, and Carmina is at an impressionable age. If John says or does something wrong, he could shift Carmina's entire worldview.

In reality, though, Kim doesn't particularly mind. John is clearly not comfortable around Carmina, even though her lukewarm interest in him is hardly a threat, and he's highly cautious when he talks to her. Whether it's because Carmina is Nick's kid, or because he's bad with kids in general, Kim doesn't know. All she knows is that John is always careful with his words when Carmina is around.

"Stars are people's homes, right?" Carmina asks. "What about crosses?"

John frowns, tearing his eyes away from the mystery coordinates long enough to look where Carmina is pointing. "Shrines," he tells her. He points out a few more symbols, although it's clear he's doing it to keep her from asking him more questions. "Triangles are silos. Circles are established caches. Unfilled squares are locations we wanted. Filled squares are places we owned."

Carmina frowns at the map. "There are a lot of those."

Nick clears his throat loudly, and John immediately opens his mouth to apologize. Nick doesn't seem to need it, though, scratching at his chin as he tells Carmina, "The cult stole a lot of property right from underneath the real owners. They didn't actually own any of it. They just lied, and pretended."

John frowns, but he makes no effort to defend the cult one way or another. "And now the Project holds none of it," he says, gesturing at the map. "You could take it all back. Nobody will be there to stop you."

"Yeah, assuming any of it is still useful."

"We're one-for-one so far," Kim points out. Nick purses his lips at her taking John's side, but he's the one who suggested armoring up Carmina earlier — he can deal with a little payback. "Besides, I think we could all use a little direction right now. Something to work towards beyond surviving day-to-day."

"There could still be useful intelligence stored away," John says. "Jacob had plans for a multitude of projects we could make use of. The only problem I can see is that Joseph might have a similar map. We may have to compete with him for resources."

"From what I've heard, they've been keeping to themselves. Something about Mennonites with bows and arrows, I don't know." Nick waves a hand dismissively over the map. "If we can use cult resources against Joseph, then I'm all for it."

"That makes two of us," John agrees.

Kim's eyes rove across the map, following the river eastward. The cattle ranch is marked by a star and a cross, but there isn't much there to see along the southern border; for whatever reason, the cult focused most of their resources on the northern half of the valley. It isn't until the now-jungles of the Henbane's territory that more outposts pop up, although she can't imagine any of them are used now. According to what's left of the rumor mill, the cult has mostly remained on what used to be Dutch's island. So far, they haven't seemed interested in making contact with outsiders, much less trying to make amends — if John and Nick do go out and encounter some cultists, she can't know how it will turn out. They seem to want to keep to themselves — but how long can that possibly last?

It's a worry that she'll have to deal with later. She's already anxious enough for the present; she doesn't need to add future paranoia to the mix. For now, she can focus on appreciating the stark benefits laid out on the table in front of her. Even if Joseph has his own map, he doesn't have gasoline, or working vehicles, or guns . He doesn't have radio communication across the entire county, whereas monopolizing the resources will only take Kim a few quick calls. Anything the cult tries to pull off will have to be done much more slowly, and with Joseph being in control of it all. It's a strange way for the tables to turn, but Kim can't say she doesn't like the satisfaction it brings, knowing that they're at least one step ahead of the Project. It only took, what, nine years?

"Well, damn, John," Nick says at last, "Way to set the bar high for next time."

"Don't expect more miracles," John replies, lifting one hand neutrally. But there's something in his expression, a sort of awkward bashfulness, that reminds Kim of Nick's own humble pride. Kim's surprised to find that humility is a good fit for John. It's better than the cold arrogance he used to display, that's for sure. Who knows — maybe in a few years, it won't take dragging him through one long, emotionally-draining day to get him to open up. If they're lucky, it won't take that long, but knowing John, he'll fight it every step of the way.

That's okay, though. Kim's got more than enough patience to wait him out.

#fc5 #fcnd #john seed #kim rye #far cry new dawn #honestly i need to stop tagging this fc5 #it's not any more #its 100% new dawn baby #my fic #mercyverse

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darks-ink · 5 years

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Here's a prompt: One or both of the Fenton parents (your choice who) follow Phantoms' trail, except it's actually Dani

I still can’t believe I cut Snow short because it was getting too long, and then wrote this one even longer. On a semi-related note, is “Identity Reveal Adjacent” a thing or am I gonna have to pioneer that tag myself with all these dang ficlets?

[AO3 - FFnet]

—

Maddie’s fingers drummedon the steering wheel, impatient. She and Jack had been trackingPhantom for weeks, the Fenton Jet not quite able to keep up with theghost’s momentum. The only reason that they hadn’t lost the ghostentirely was because of its habit to stop and haunt cities thatcaptured its interest.

It never stayed anywherefor longer than a few days, however. Never as long as it had stayedin Amity Park.

“I still don’tunderstand why it left,” she said to Jack, briefly glancing over atthe built-in Fenton Finder to check that they were still followingthe ghost. “I mean, it has haunted Amity for years. Why did itleave so suddenly?”

Her husband shrugged.“It’s a ghost, Mads. Nothing they do makes sense.”

“But it completelychanged its ways!” She shook her head. “I mean, we haven’theard a word about it fighting ghosts since it left Amity. Whatchanged?”

“Maybe it’s chasingsomething, or trying to retrieve something.” His jumpsuit creakedas he shifted in his seat, the rhythmic movement of his stitching asteady sight in the corner of her eye. “Maybe it knows it’s beingchased, and doesn’t want to stop for too long?”

“I don’t know, Jack…There’s so much we don’t know about it, about its mannerisms.”

“Well, we’ll just haveto catch it and find out, won’t we?” He shifted again, then witha confused tone, added, “Huh, looks like it stopped again. Anotherlarger city, I think.”

“See, that’s anotherthing I don’t understand. It always seems to pick out major cities,cities that would attract tourists. But Amity didn’t have thatuntil after it settled down and started fighting ghosts.”

Jack shrugged again.“Maybe it relocated because it wants a bigger audience? Maybe it’slooking for a good spot to settle down, and it keeps stopping to tryout a place?”

“Maybe,” she allowed.It made some sense, at least, but still… It didn’t seem quiteright. “At least we can keep up like this. If it didn’t stop atall, we would’ve lost it after mere days.”

He laughed. “Yeah! Andthe timing is pretty convenient too. We couldn’t have left the kidsalone during school, but it was summer vacation anyway.”

“That’s true. I guesswe got lucky.” Or did they? It seemed more and more suspicious,now. Was Phantom leading them into a trap? But why would it lead themso far away to do it?

“Well, I’m not gonnasay no to a bout of good luck!” Jack chuckled, resuming hisstitching. “Maybe we’ll get real lucky this time and actuallycatch it.”

“Don’t jinx us, honey.We have to refuel the Jet first, or we risk losing it if it fliesoff.”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Abeat or two of silence. “Still, we’re far closer than we usuallyare. Maybe we can finally catch up fully!”

She shook her head, a fondsmile on her face. “Well, why don’t you go prepare our things,Jack? I’ll ask the airport staff to refuel the plane while we’reaway.”

“Ooh.” He bounced upout of his seat, stitch work immediately abandoned. “Great idea,Mads!”

Her husband thusdistracted, Maddie could focus on catching up on Phantom. Its flightpath had turned somewhat erratic as it approached the city, which wasconfusing, but allowed them to catch up even more.

Landing was something of ahassle – the Fenton Jet was no conventional airplane, and as thustended to attract unwanted attention – but they managed alright.The staff, who thankfully knew English thanks to the touristic natureof the city, promised to refuel the plane for them, and so they werefinally ready to chase down their ghost.

“We’re getting close,”Jack said over the Fenton Phones, somewhere a few streets over fromher. She checked the Fenton Finder in her hand, an ecto-gun in theother. “We just need to get close enough without it noticing.”

“Yes.” She checkedthat her gun was charged and ready. It was. “Get to your end ofwhatever street it is on, and I’ll get to mine. We can corner it.”

Jack hummed a note ofapproval, and the line went silent.

She sped to the end of thestreet, one eye on the Finder to keep track of Phantom’sprogression. It was flying through the street, parallel to her andJack. The only difference was that it was moving throughhouses, rather than following a road.

At least it wasn’tflying full speed. Instead it meandered around, like it was lookingfor something.

Finally it stopped, andshe and Jack came to a halt on either end of the street. She saw Jackin the distance, his bright orange jumpsuit standing out even from sofar. Phantom didn’t seem to have noticed him, thankfully, againstall odds.

“On my signal,” shewhispered to Jack, the Fenton Phones carrying the sound to him.“We’ll ambush it. You cover downwards, and I’ll cover up.”

“Got it.”

She held up a hand,watching Phantom. It had paused somewhere in the center of thestreet, and was now slowly drifting towards the houses to the side.They would have to go quickly, before it lost interest in whatevermade it stop.

“Now!” she yelled asshe balled her fist.

Jack started movingimmediately, and so did she. They stormed towards Phantom, who lookedup at the noise, its white hair windswept and its green eyes wide.

It tried darting upwards,but a shot from her gun made it falter. When it tried going downinstead, Jack intercepted it. And then, before it could try anythingelse, they were right next to it, guns aimed at its face.

Phantom hovered rightabove the street, curled into itself slightly. Its white hair hungover its face, but its ectoplasm-green eyes were visible beyond thestrands. The eyes were wide and staring right at her, an expressionclose to fear – like ghosts could feel fear, ha!

Only… this wasn’tPhantom. It sure looked like him, the white hair and the greeneyes and the black jumpsuit, so much like their own it was a littleeerie. Because this ghost…

This ghost was a girl. Or,well, the ghost of a girl. Its hair was longer, bound into aponytail, and its jumpsuit had a slightly different design thanPhantom’s, too. One of its arms was discolored, even, the sleevewhite and the glove black. Its held a slightly more feminine shapethan Phantom’s, too, although not much; the ghost was mimicking ayoung girl, after all.

“What’s…” Jackmuttered, a frown on his face. “What’re you supposed to be?”

The ghost spluttered, itseyes darting between the two of them. Now that Maddie was lookingcloser, she could pick out more and more differences between thisghost and Phantom, although they were admittedly still very similar.Their facial structure was almost identical, and even the bags undertheir eyes matched.

“Me?” the ghost tried,still looking between the two of them. It seemed a little slow, likeit was tired. Had it gotten exhausted by the constant high-speedflying? Was that why it kept stopping? “Have you ever looked atyourselves?”

“Hey!” Jack snappedback, immediately offended. “At least we aren’tectoplasmic invaders, you ghostly scum!”

It rolled its eyes, butflinched back when Jack shifted his gun. Maddie immediately stiffenedas well. They couldn’t risk it fleeing. They had just pinnedit down.

“Well, that’s nice andall,” the ghost said, its words carefully measured, “But I don’tthink that I enjoy the implications here. So…”

Suddenly it sped away,staying close to the floor rather than dodge up or down. Maddiecursed, chasing it on foot, only sparing a brief thought to wonderwhy it was going so slow – and why it didn’t just turn invisibleor intangible.

“There!” Jackexclaimed as the ghost turned a corner, followed moments later by abright flash.

“What was–” She cameto a halt in front of the alley. No ghost. But was that…?

“Oh.” Jack stepped upnext to her, brow creased. He’d dropped the Fenton Finder at somepoint, now holding his gun with both hands. “Mads, d’you think…?”

“It could’ve.”

In a corner of the alley –a dead end – was a girl. A cowering girl, curled in on herself,pale hands digging into dark black hair. Like she was trying toprotect her face, her body. She looked like she was scared out of hermind. Possibly from seeing a ghost. From seeing the ghost.

But it could be thePhantom-like ghost they were chasing. Whatever reason it had to shyaway from using its powers, it still could’ve overshadowed thisgirl in an attempt to escape them. There was only one way to proveit. A way that would be so much easier back home, where peopleknew them and spoke the same language.

Oh, if only they hadn’tchased this damn ghost all the way to a different continent!

Still, they had to try.She might not be able to guarantee that this girl spoke English, butsoftly speaking to her should help, regardless. Maybe they could mimeout a question, an answer?

“Hey,” she said,keeping her voice gentle as she crept closer. To Jack, she gesturedthat he should stay. If the girl was overshadowed, one of themneeded to be armed, still. And if she wasn’t? Well, Jack wasquite an intimidating figure. She didn’t want to scare the girlworse.

“Hey,” she repeated,within arm’s reach of the possibly overshadowed girl. “Are youalright?”

The girl looked up, eyeswatery but clear, and blue as the skies. Not overshadowed.

But, oh. Her eyes were theexact same shade as Danny’s, and now that Maddie was closer, so washer hair. And, goodness, that face was almost identical to Danny’s,too.

“Oh,” she said,inadvertently. The girl started, apparently not having expected hereither, and–

and flickered out of sight.

It only lasted abrief moment, so short that Maddie was sure she would’ve missed itif she’d blinked. But she hadn’t.

This girl, with herbright blue eyes and deep black hair and face so similar to Danny’sthat they could’ve been twins had just turned invisible.

“Oh,” sounded frombehind her. Shuffling footsteps as Jack inched closer too,uncertainly.

The girl – ghost? –continued to stare at her, eyes wide and watery. God, she looked soscared, so genuinely humanly scared, but–

Jack’s gun hummed as hepressed down on the trigger, and the girl flinched away. Again,invisibility tugged at the ends of her limbs, but it slipped awaybefore she could fully disappear from sight.

And it couldn’t hide howher eyes turned a vivid, glowing, acid green. A shade of green sounbelievably familiar to her.

A shade of green she’dstared into just moments before.

“Ah,” Jackmurmured, and his gun quietened again. Thegirl settled down a little again, but her eyes still darted betweenthe two of them.

Just like the Phantom-likeghost had done on the street, before it fled.

“What’s–” Jackcleared his throat. “What’s the Finder say, Mads?”

Oh, right. She raised it alittle so they could both see it.

And there it was. Theundeniable proof. It registered a ghost, right where the girl was.The core was weak and the signal weaker, like it was being–

“Muted,” shewhispered, her eyes going wide. “Like the core’s being muted.”

“Just like…” Jacklicked his lips, eyes going from her to the girl – the ghost. “Justlike with Danny.”

And the girl, so much likeDanny that it hurt Maddie, back pressed against the wall, raised herhands. Then she said, with a slightly wavering voice and in clearEnglish,

“I can explain?”

#danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #fanfic #maddie fenton #jack fenton #dark writes #prompt fill #its just really funny to do reveals without including the whole reveal sorry #like for longer fics itll come out eventually but these short ones? nah #Anonymous

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emybain · 4 years

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Renegades Titanic AU Part 8

happy one week away from supernova! take this flaming trash! I also really need to add links to each part on like the last five parts including this one!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7

Part 8: Flying

It didn’t take Adrian very long to find Nova, surprisingly. He thought he was going to have to ask around, which was awkward enough, seeing as he was dressed very differently than the guests on this level of the ship and stuck out like a sore thumb. But no, soon after he hopped over the locked gate that separated first from third class, he spotted her. She was outside as well, on the third class promenade, a lit cigarette in hand that she didn’t raise to her lips once in the few minutes he stood watching her. Her back was against the railing, legs crossed at the ankles. Few people were on this part of the ship, for the deck was narrow and shaded from the sun due to part of the first class deck hanging over it. It was chilly in the shade, compared to being in the warm sun, it being only early March in the Northern hemisphere.

He approached her slowly, sensing that she wasn’t in the best of moods. Odd, considering she had seemed like she had fun the evening before. But then again, her attitude changed towards the end of the night, and she had left. Adrian blamed himself, for he had tried to kiss her and didn’t even ask if it was okay. Skies, he was an idiot.

“Nova?” Her head jolted up at being addressed, eyes widening when they landed on him. Her surprise vanished as quickly as it came, turning into a schooled expression. Adrian took it as a cue to step closer.

“I can’t see you,” she coolly responded, pushing her body upright and tossing the cigarette over her shoulder into the water. She moved toward him, and his heart sped up. Then she brushed past him.

“Wait!” Adrian pivoted around and wrapped his hand around her elbow, stopping her right in front of the wall of the ship. She froze instantly, and he cursed under his breath. He let go, but his feet remained planted. “I need to talk to you. About last night, I-”

“It’s fine, Adrian.” Nova shrugged, as if she was unbothered, but the way she leaned back against the wall, away from him, suggested otherwise. “Already forgotten. Now, if you’ll excuse me-” she attempted to push past him again, but he placed his hand on her arm, not grabbing it this time. A discoloring on her cheekbone caught the light, drawing his attention. He frowned. It was a bruise, still an angry red, but beginning to purple.

“What happened to your face?” he implored, any kindness left in his voice quickly vanishing. His mind raced to conclusions, none of them positive. Someone hit her, either a stranger, or someone she knew. And it wasn’t an accident.

Her hand reached up to cover the marking, eyes dropping to the ground. “I ran into my bedpost this morning. Silly of me. It must’ve been the alcohol.” The lie was almost believable. Almost. But in the short time he had gotten to know her, Adrian knew Nova wasn’t the clumsy type, even if there was alcohol in her system.

“I don’t believe that.” He shook his head. “Who did it?”

Nova glared up at him. “My business is not yours, Adrian. It was an accident. Now please, kindly move your ass so I can go.” He refused to budge, instead taking in a deep breath.

“Nova.” He paused, gathering his words. “You’re no picnic, alright? You’re stubborn and impulsive-”

“And you’re a spoiled little brat who thinks he’s entitled to whatever he wants, now move!” she interrupted.

“But under that defensive façade,” he continued, unfazed, “you’re the most amazingly, astounding, wonderful woman-”

“Got any more adjectives, Romeo?” Nova huffed, crossing her arms. Her cheeks still reddened.

“-that I’ve ever met.”

“Adrian, I-” She tried a different maneuver this time, turning her body and trying to squeeze through, but Adrian only followed her. She groaned softly and fell back against the wall, giving up.

“Please, just let me try and get this out. I...you’re ama-” Adrian stopped to inhale again. This was harder than he had thought. She wasn’t going to listen if he just showered her with compliments. It didn’t surprise him. “Listen, Nova-”

“No, you listen, Everhart!” Nova raised her voice, tilting her chin up. “I’m not an idiot, okay? I know how the world works.” She searched his eyes. “I have ten bucks in my pocket and nothing to offer you, and-”

“I know that.” Adrian ran a hand through his short hair, frustrated. “I understand. I’m too involved now, though.” He dared to inch closer to her. “You jump, I jump, remember?” He eyed her bruise, eyed the way her hands fiddled with one another nervously. “I won’t let myself just turn away without knowing you’re alright. That’s all that I want,” he finished softly. And it was true. He knew he was way out of her league, just as she was way out of his. It went both ways. Clearly, they were not meant to be together, even as friends. Adrian should’ve known from the first time he spotted her, from Danna’s warning that first day. But he was selfish, and here they were now. He had to undo what he did; he cared for Nova, and couldn’t let her go without her knowing that, without her knowing that someone did. Whether or not she cared for him as well didn’t matter as long as she was distressed to be around him, whatever her reasons were. Her happiness had to come first. It was evident she had so little to begin with.

Nova gulped, inhaled slowly. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then finally said softly, “Well, I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Really.”

“Really?” Adrian repeated, biting back a laugh. “I know where you come from, Nova. I know who you are and who you’re onboard this ship with. They don’t care about you. Not like I do.” He pointed an accusatory finger off to the side. “They’ve got you trapped, Nova, whether or not you want to believe it. It’s a little suspicious that a young woman like you is traveling with them of all people. Why?” Nova opened her mouth to fight back, but Adrian continued on. “They’re using you, Nova. I don’t know what for, but it’s clear as day. Why else would you be so welcomed into their kind? When was the last time they let outsiders in? They’re not your family. You’re going to die if you don’t break free from them.” He swallowed, his words catching in his throat. “Maybe not right away, because you’re strong, but sooner or later,” he dropped his voice two dynamics, reaching a hand out to massage the bruise on her cheek. Her skin was smooth under his hand. She didn’t pull away, and he must’ve imagined her leaning into his touch, “that fire, that fire that I love about you, Nova, is going to burn out. You can’t keep letting them have their ways.”

Nova gaped up at him, and it took every bit of his willpower not to engulf her in a hug, to press a kiss to the top of her head and never let go. Adrian wasn’t sure what had come over him.

“It’s not up to you to save me, Adrian.” Slowly, her hand reached up to meet his, and he began to think that maybe she was having a change of heart.

“You’re right, only you can do that.”

She tilted her chin up, and Adrian thought she might kiss him. He almost stopped breathing. Then she pulled his hand off of her cheek, turned her eyes back to the ground.

“I’m going back. Leave me alone.”

__________

Nova’s mind was a muddled mess all day. She managed to avoid the others by remaining outside with her thoughts, knowing how they all avoided being out in the open air as much as possible. Honey hated it the most, having grown up on a farm, despite never admitting to it. She loved being outdoors.

The quiet somewhat allowed her to think. That was, it did until Adrian Everhart waltzed up and practically confessed his infatuation with her, confusing her more than ever.

What gave him the right, anyway, to just show up around her whenever he pleased? To make her belly churn low in her stomach in a foreign way? To speak badly about the people who raised her and expect her to agree? To make her feel as if she were going crazy whenever she felt his breath on her skin. She hated it. She hated him...and his stupidly handsome face.

She thought back to her uncle, locked away in America, waiting on her. Years ago, when he was first arrested, she and his remaining followers were forced to flee or risk being imprisoned, or in her case, separated from everything she knew for forever. After Phobia and Winston were caught, it was decided that they would go to Europe, where they would be safe from the law in America. They had always planned to return when the time was right and Nova was old enough and skilled enough to carry out her mission without fail; it was only by luck that Ingrid managed to win them tickets onboard the RMS Titanic in a game of poker the night before the ship’s departure.

But the years Nova spent in Europe were years spent in preparation. Nightmare was born in Europe, the wanted criminal that no one had been able to see clearly enough to describe an accurate photo to police. It was something she had always prided herself on. That, and of course her infamous smoke bombs she crafted with the help of Ingrid and Leroy that put her victims to sleep instantly upon inhalation. Reports in the papers always mentioned how victims had slept for up to three days, and all of them had experienced heart stopping nightmares, hence her alias. She remained unaffected by the gas because of the mask she wore over the bottom half of her face that also kept her identity a secret.

Nightmare wasn’t just something Nova became when she was bored. No, Nightmare was simply a way for Nova to rob stores of supplies she and the others needed without being caught; she was a way for Nova to still be known to her uncle in the States, as she appeared even in American papers, to let him know that she was coming for him; she was a way for Nova to prepare to fight for her life, on the streets and in the prison where her uncle was being held. Nightmare was many things, and she was certainly a valuable asset to the others. Without Nightmare, Nova wasn’t sure how well off they would be now.

Maybe Adrian was right. Maybe the Anarchists were using Nova. But Nova wasn’t an imbecile; whether or not she was being used, the fact that her uncle sat in a prison cell remained unchanged. He was family, after all, and even though Nova disagreed with many of his tactics, she still loved him.

Perhaps spending time in prison had changed his person, and would help assure Nova that what she was doing was right, that it was what she wanted to do. Something itched at the back of her mind, however, a voice whispering that he was still the same man he was nine years ago; the same man filled with hatred and hunger for power.

As the sun began to drift toward the waves, Nova made her way back inside, mind more confused now than ever. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. Before departing Europe, she thought she wanted revenge, even if it didn’t bring her happiness. It wasn’t like she was missing out on much, seeing as the majority of her life had been a joyless hellhole that kept spiraling downward at an out of control pace, unable to be stopped or slowed down.

She found them in the smoking room seated at a table, absorbed in the papers and maps and graphs laid out before them. Nova stood at the entrance for a moment, watching Leroy and Ingrid bicker and Honey apply lipstick on top of her already red lips. Nothing had changed since she had stormed out that morning. Did they even notice that she was gone? Or care? It didn’t matter, whatever the case. What bothered Nova the most was the realization that this had been the norm for them for nine years; ever since they escaped to Europe, it had been all about her uncle and freeing him and restoring their power, no matter the costs. Never once did they stop and take a deep breath, a short break to do something other than pointless planning. That’s all it was, really. Ace was a criminal, and criminals remained in prison. Even when they got out, law enforcement always found them.

But even if they failed, they would continue to use Nova as their gateway to get whatever they wanted. Always what they wanted. They were never going to stop and ask what she wanted. She was young, they would say, therefore they have to decide for her because she doesn’t know right from wrong.

Gritting her teeth, Nova turned around and left.

__________

Whatever Nova was doing was sending warning sirens off in her head. Her heart was pounding; she had never chosen something for herself. This was a new terrain with endless paths. And Nova only had one in mind.

She snuck onto the first class part of the ship and, coincidentally, ran into Oscar and Ruby. They had been just as surprised to see Nova as she was them, but upon her quick, jumbled questioning, they shot one another a secret look and gave Nova her answer before bidding her goodbye, as they were headed off to dinner.

Moving quickly, as if trying to race logic, Nova made her way to the front of the ship, toward the bow. There was no one on this part of this ship, save for one person who was at the very front, looking over at the water. Taking a deep breath, Nova slowed down her pace, unable to gain control of her racing heart. She shouldn’t be here; she should be inside with the others That’s what made this all the more thrilling. It was chillier out now, and windier. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, turning the sky a rich reddish purple. Goosebumps erupted on her skin. Wrapping her arms around herself, she inhaled a shaky breath.

“Hello, Adrian.”

He spun around quickly, eyes widening when they met hers. First, surprise, then confusion, then something that made her warm inside.

Her lips quirked up, and she looked down, feeling almost shy. Then she raised her eyes back to his and shrugged helplessly. “I changed my mind,” was her only explanation. Though it was only half true, due to her inner conflict still simmering, it felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders just from saying those four words. When Adrian returned the smile, his filled with relief, Nova took it as a cue to walk closer to him, coming within an arm’s width from him. “They said you might be up here,” she began, only to be gently shushed. She closed her mouth, biting the inside of her cheek and staring up at Adrian quizzically.

“Give me your hand,” he requested, reaching forward and offering his.

Nova did.

He tugged her closer, just a bit, and Nova got the faintest thought that he might try to kiss her again. This time, she believed she would let him.

“Now, close your eyes.” He squeezed her hand, the smile not faltering once. When Nova didn’t, a small bit disappointed that she was wrong, he laughed softly. “Go on,” he encouraged.

Once again, she complied with his requests. A hand was placed on her back, between her shoulder blades. He pushed her forward, guiding her with the hand on her back and the one in hers.

“Step up.”

Nova hesitated, and he must’ve noticed, for he helped her find her footing as well. She heard him shift behind her, sandwiching her between him and the rail. Her breath caught in her throat at the closeness.

“Now, hold onto the railing.” He guided her where to hold steadily. She gripped the cold railing like a lifeline. “Keep your eyes closed, okay? Don’t peek.”

“I’m not,” Nova answered quickly, attempting to sound nonchalant.

He chuckled. “Okay. Step up onto the rail.” When she did, she let out an involuntary gasp, suddenly feeling unsteady as her hips rose above the railing. His hands found her waist from behind her, and for once, she didn’t push them away. Instead, she was grateful that they were holding her in place. “Hold on,” he teased. “Keep your eyes closed.”

Nova let out a laugh, though it was shaky.

“Do you trust me?” His voice was in her ear, sending shivers down her arm.

“I do.”

His hands left her waist, going to her hands. He slowly peeled them from the railing, sending a slight panic through her body. She turned her head to the side, almost like she was expecting to fall, but it never came. Her body leaned back the slightest bit against Adrian for stability. He extended her arms all the way out, like wings, then returned his hands to her waist.

“Alright,” he murmured. “Open your eyes.”

When she did, Nova let out a laugh. Before her was the open ocean, the sky, the setting sun, warm on her face. Something rushed through her, a feeling she didn’t recognize but greeted like an old friend all the same. Freedom.

The wind whipped past her ears, through her hair, but all of her senses were centered on Adrian. This boy, this amazing boy, did this for her. He hadn’t even asked what changed her mind, or made a move on her like he had previously done. It seemed as if he just wanted her to be happy, like he had said earlier that day when she had been in a sour mood.

Nova stretched her arms out wide, tilting her head up and basking in this new feeling. It was exhilarating, so much that Nova couldn’t help but let out another laugh. A pure, free, burst of laughter.

From behind her, Adrian was shaking with laughter as well. His hands moved to trace her fingertips and her callouses, her scars and her palms, until they paused, interlacing with hers. He stopped laughing, suddenly, as did she. Nova felt his face tilt down into her neck, electricity shooting through her body. Slowly, he guided her arms back down, not letting go even when they were resting in front of her. She was cocooned in his arms, the heat from his body pressing into her back. She turned her head to face him, smile gone.

It was as if a force was drawing them together, and before Nova could think twice about it, her eyes were fluttering shut and their lips connected, at first hesitant. Fire rolled through her body; she needed more. He must’ve felt the same, for he made a noise in the back of his throat and deepened the kiss. Nova shook from so many sensations at once. One hand went to the back of his head, the other tugging the one across her waist tighter, pulling him closer and closer to her, gripping tightly.

Kissing Adrian Everhart was a feeling Nova could barely comprehend or describe.

The only thing she could truly comprehend, other than the way his gentle caresses sent shockwaves throughout her, was how it was the first time she had ever been selfish.

#renegades #archenemies #nova artino #Adrian everhart #nodrian #novian #ruby tucker #Oscar silva #danna bell #anarchists #my writing

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naruwitch · 4 years

Text

Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 21: The Depths

"Lelouch! Kallen!" Suzaku shouted as he watched in horror as they both disappeared through the wormhole's wall. Rai and Shirley followed shortly after on the other side. Before he could shout further, though, he felt something strike Yoru, and his vision turned black.

Had Suzaku been watching from outside, what had struck hs Lion was the Blue and Yellow Lions, spiraling out of control in the opposite direction of everyone else. The Paladins inside of them screaming in terror the entire time. The three Lions as one collided with the far wormhole wall and disappeared.

o~o

Up above in a crystal blue sky, the wormhole opened its vast purple chasm, and spat the three Lions out, hurtling them towards the icy planet down below.

Though Suzaku was still unconscious, Milly and Rivalz continued to scream as gravity took over, and the three Lions slammed hard into the ice-covered surface. The impact was hard enough to break the ice open, and the three Lions started to sink deep towards the bottom of the planet's sea.

The crash was also hard enough to wake Suzaku up, as the impact nearly sent him flying out of his seat. Miraculously, even without seatbelts of any kind, he remained in place.

When Suzaku's eyes finally adjusted to seeing clearly again, he yelled in shock, seeing only the dark, murky depths surrounding the trio. Warning lights were blaring in red all around him as he tugged a couple of Yoru's controls to try and rouse her.

"Okay, that's not working. Um," Suzaku took a deep breath and then called over the comms, "Rivalz, Milly, you two okay?"

"Well, besides the fact that I got sucked out of a wormhole at light speed, then crash-landed on an ice planet and ended up underwater, doing great," Milly answered back sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm fine too," Rivalz answered. The Blue Paladin took the time to try and activate one of Polaris's systems, but a warning light was all that answered him upon doing so.

Milly was also trying to wake up Maeraka, but wasn't having any luck, "My main system is down. The crash must have screwed it up. Do either of yours work?"

"Negative," Suzaku answered.

"Yeah, I'm on reserve power. My Lion's pretty much dead in the water," Rivalz grinned, laughing at his pun.

The Purple and Yellow Paladins groaned in frustration.

"This situation's bad enough, Rivalz. Don't make it worse with puns," Milly scolded with a frown.

"I'm just shocked we hit a planet. Didn't Rai tell us that space was 90% empty?" Rivalz asked as the three Lions started sinking past large rock outcroppings.

"Apparently, we got pretty lucky," Milly agreed, "maybe the inhabitants here can help us out, though."

"We should get back in contact with the others immediately," Suzaku said, as he pressed some buttons on the commlink, "Hello, Princess? Lelouch? It's Suzaku. If you can hear me, please respond!" the only thing that came out through the radio was static. Suzaku groaned, "The signal must be out of range."

"Or it's not working at all," Milly said, anxiety in her tone, "I mean, you and Kallen fought Zarkon two-to-one, and from what we could see, it looked like a tough fight."

"Tough? More like awesome! I mean, did you see that cannon Kallen and Aka pulled out? That was cool!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Fight?" Suzaku breathed out an exhausted laugh, "More like a beatdown. Kallen and I were hitting Zarkon with everything we had, but we barely even made a dent in him. When Kallen pulled that cannon out, I think the only thing that did was surprise him. It honestly didn't look like he had even broken a sweat."

Rivalz gulped loudly on the other end, and Milly's face paled. The two Paladins now really hoped that they wouldn't face Zarkon themselves.

The three briefly braced themselves as they felt their Lions softly land on the ocean bottom.

"Anyway, let's check for damage and get the Lions running," Suzaku ordered.

"Copy that," the other two replied.

Just as Rivalz was about to try some buttons again, to his pleasant surprise, Polaris's lights started to blink on again, the room illuminating in a soft blue glow.

"Oh, good. Polaris is coming back online now. Welcome back, beautiful," he grinned as her head lifted up, and her eyes flashed with light.

Rivalz was also the first to realize that they weren't the only ones down at the bottom, as a humanoid figure suddenly swam out of view of Polaris's lights.

The Blue Paladin blinked, "Uh... guys, did-did you just see something swim by?"

"What?" Suzaku asked, sounding confused.

"No, I didn't see anything," Milly added.

Swallowing the small knot of fear that was forming in his stomach, Rivalz turned Polaris's head to the left. He saw the same creature again but managed to get a good look at her figure, and he gasped.

"No way!" he exclaimed, "Guys, this is going to sound crazy, but I think I just saw a mermaid."

"Wait, what?" Suzaku asked, sounding shocked.

"Okay, Rivalz, how hard did you bang your head when we hit the planet?" Milly asked skeptically.

"No, I'm serious!" Rivalz shouted in frustration, only to yelp when he spotted the mermaid swim by again, Polaris's head following it. "Look! There it is again!" Rivalz was trying so desperately to keep his eye on the creature, that he was having Polaris swim around in literal circles. "Hey, come here! Where you going?" Suddenly the mermaid made an angled swim upward, causing Polaris to do a backward somersault before she finally stopped. "Hey, slow down!"

"Rivalz, careful!" Suzaku shouted, "We have to stay focused and get to the others... You're outside of your Lion," Suzaku frowned as he watched the Blue Paladin manually leave his Lion to swim closer to the mermaid.

"I know we have to find the others. I'm just saying maybe this thing can help," Rivalz told them as he looked back at them. "Also, it's a mermaid. A mermaid! Come on, let's find it."

"Hey, wait up!" Milly exclaimed as Rivalz started swimming the direction the mermaid disappeared to. She quickly exited Maeraka to catch up with Suzaku reluctantly following behind.

Once the two caught up the Blue Paladin, Suzaku activated his gauntlet, and a blue light appeared from the end. He shined it around the rock formations that surrounded them, and eventually, the glow did fall on the mermaid in the distance. She seemed to be waiting for them to follow her.

"Come on!" Rivalz exclaimed once they spotted her, his jetpack spurting him forward. Milly and Suzaku were quick to follow, Suzaku still shining the flashlight. The mermaid weaved around the rocks as if it were a jungle gym, but she never got too far away that they lost her.

"I can't believe this," Milly exclaimed, sounding excited, "we're actually chasing a mermaid! Of all things!"

The only one that didn't look like he was in fairytale land was Suzaku, who kept a skeptical frown on his face the entire time they followed the mermaid. "Either way, we still need to be careful. She could be dangerous."

"How can a mermaid be dangerous?" Rivalz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry Potter. Spiderwick Chronicles. Pirates of the Carribean." Suzaku listed off, matter-of-factly, "The mermaids in all of those series are dangerous!"

Before any more debate could sprout from their conversation, the mermaid suddenly turned sharply to the left and disappeared.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait! We're friendly!" Rivalz called out after her, Suzaku's light still shining in her direction.

Milly then gasped as she looked in front of them. The boys followed her gaze and gasped as well.

"Whoa! And here I thought Atlantis was a fairytale!" Rivalz exclaimed. Down below, they saw what looked like an underwater village with a large, bushy garden in the center, and a building they could only assume was a palace directly behind it.

"Hello," a friendly voice greeted them from behind. The Paladins leaped back and were surprised to see the mermaid that they had been tracking directly behind them. Her hands were folded in front of her. "Welcome to my village. Here, all are safe and warm."

Now that they had a proper look at the mermaid, the trio could say that she didn't look like any mermaid they'd ever seen. She had pale pink skin, a powerful orange fishtail, raggedy pink finlets situated on her hips, and pink stripes on her tail and crotch area. Her eyes were entirely blue and reflective, with pink discoloration on her eyelids and two spots in the semblance of eyebrows. She has long pink hair with prominent side-bangs and a white patch running down the middle, with flimsy pink antennae located on her forehead. She was also wearing a yellow, short-sleeved crop top exposing her torso. The shirt had a green ruffle collar, a reverse sweetheart neckline and pink spots on the shoulders. She also had on pink ballroom gloves with sharp-looking fins on the elbow.

As the mermaid smiled at them, the Paladins then heard the sound of rushing water behind them. Looking back, they yelped as two large muscle sea creatures, wearing some kind of armor swam up behind them. One looked like alien walrus and the other a large purple, humanoid fish.

"Please, do not startle out guests!" the mermaid scolded the soldiers after the Paladins had scattered away from them. After they saw that it was safe, though, they approached the merfolk again.

"I am Florona," the mermaid finally introduced herself with a soft smile, "The almighty Queen Luxia, keeper of our land, would love to meet with you."

"Wait. How did your queen know we were here?" Suzaku asked suspiciously.

Florona just smiled mysteriously, "Queen Luxia knows all."

This answer didn't sit well with the Purple Paladin. Something in his gut told him that something was wrong, but he knew he couldn't do anything without proof, first. While he made a quick mental note to be cautious, he followed Rivalz and Milly as they were escorted to some giant seahorses that they were encouraged to mount.

As the three merfolk escorted the Paladins closer to the Castle, they couldn't help but notice how beautiful the village itself was. The homes seemed to be made mostly of rocks and coral, and small crevices glowing with glow and pink light illuminated the background. More merfolk of all shapes and sizes stared after them as they passed by.

"This place is beautiful," Milly commented with a small smile.

"Yeah…" Rivalz agreed with a nod.

Suzaku, though he admitted to himself that it was a pretty place, still spoke cautiously, "Guys, I know this mermaid thing is cool and all, but we really gotta go."

"We will, Suzaku, we will, but let's meet this queen first. Besides, maybe she can help us," Milly argued back.

"Yeah," Rivalz nodded before an almost devious grin spread over his face, "and, if I just happen to find the future Mrs. Cardemonde, well, then that is alright with me."

The Blue Paladin then suddenly yelped as he felt something hit him hard in the shin. Looking over, he saw that Milly's ride had drifted a little closer to his, but the Yellow Paladin continued to stare ahead as if nothing happened.

"Sorry, foot slipped," she quipped aloofly.

Rivalz scowled. Sometimes he wondered what was going on in that girl's head.

The seahorses eventually came to a stop in front of the palace's entrance, and the three Paladins dismounted. Waiting for them at the front was who they could assume was the queen surrounded by two additional guards. She had teal skin, a long, dark blue fishtail that was speckled with teal spots, and large smooth finlets on her arms by her wrists. Her eyes were also blue. Her hair was light seafoam green and styled into two large hoops behind her back, and her ears were also small purple finlets that had large thin dangling earrings hanging from them.

"Space travelers, I am Queen Luxia," she greeted them warmly, "I welcome you to our village as honored guests."

"The honor's all ours," Rivalz greeted before attempting to bow, "I'm Ri-i-i-i-valz!" he then yelped as the water accidentally sent him floating over backward.

Despite this embarrassing stunt, Suzaku was quick to recover, "Hello Your Majesty, I'm Suzaku, and this is Milly," Suzaku turned and gestured to the Yellow Paladin, who was assisting Rivalz in getting upright again, "We need your help. We crash-landed on your planet, but we really need to get back in touch with our friends who are in space. Would you possibly have any way of doing that?"

The queen smiled, "Suzaku, Milly, Rivalz, I can solve all of your problems. Here, we are all safe and warm."

"You use magic, don't you?" Milly guessed, "This castle's a ship, isn't it? This castle is a ship, am I right? Just don't say anything if I'm right." Milly held up her hands jokingly as she smiled from her babbling.

"Here, I've brought you these," the queen said, as another guard swam up behind her, carrying what looked like a giant conch shell, "The bubble coral will provide you with all the air you need."

The merman swam up to Suzaku and placed the coral against his helmet. To the Paladin's surprise, a giant bubble came out of it and engulfed his entire head. He gasped as he ran his hands along the bubble's surface. It felt dense like thick plastic and showed no signs of breaking in his grip. Even when his hands did penetrate the surface, no water rushed in afterward as he lifted his helmet from his head.

"We thank you," Suzaku said graciously as he lowered his helmet to his side. The merman quickly administered bubbles to Milly and Rivalz as well.

"Cool!" Rivalz exclaimed as Milly laughed. The queen started speaking again as they bost took off their helmets as well.

"And rest assured, your space vessels will be well protected," she gestured above them, and the Paladins turned and gasped as they saw their Lions, with particle barriers up, being transported on thick beds of seaweed towards the palace. "Now, please, follow me."

Before they could do so, Rivalz noticed the large glowing plant behind them, the one they had been able to see from the edge of the village, "What is that?"

"That is the giver of life to our people, the Baku Garden," Luxia happily explained, "When the waters froze over, we were forced to live down here. The garden provides us the warmth and food we need to survive. Because of it, we are taken care of. Here, all are safe and warm."

Suzaku tensed as alarms went off in his head. There was that saying again. It was being said way much too often around here to be considered normal…

o~o

Inside, the Paladins were pleasantly greeted with a banquet that the queen had arranged once she saw them land on their planet. Shells and other things used as their instruments were being played softly in the background. Several mermaids escorted the trio to seats at the front table, large amounts of food and cuisine were already lined up along the middle. The queen herself was seated at the head of it.

Though it looked strange (then again, most alien foods did), the food was delicious. As Suzaku bit into some sort of pastry, he couldn't help but grin as Rivalz smiled alluringly at a couple of mermaids that were lingering by the table. They giggled at a joke the Blue Paladin made, and Rivalz laughed proudly to himself.

Glancing over at Milly, he blinked when he noticed the stink eye that she was subtly shooting at the Blue Paladin. She was attempting to mask it by piling her plate with food and shoving the first thing in her mouth, chewing furiously.

Suzaku chuckled. When were these two going to get a clue? And they called him dense?

The Purple Paladins then turned his attention to the monarch sitting nearby, "Thank you for the food, Your Highness, it tastes great."

"I'm glad you enjoy it. It was picked fresh from the Baku Garden," Luxia smiled before she gestured to the stage in front of them, "And I hope you enjoy the entertainment."

Drums started to play as Suzaku, and his friends drew their attention towards the drawn red curtain. A stage light glowed, and what appeared to be a young mermaid dancer was twirling gracefully from behind it.

"Whoa," Rivalz sighed as he looked on, his cheeks coloring slightly. This only caused Milly to scowl deeper.

However, the curtain soon lifted, and a mermaid didn't greet them, but a purple octopus with another small creature on its head. The creature twirled in the air before spreading out its tentacles widely.

Rivalz nearly choked on his food upon seeing the dancer's identity, and Milly started laughing at the absolute horror-struck reaction on his face.

"Anyway," Suzaku said, drawing his eyes away for a moment to turn to the queen, "about us getting in contact with our friends, how can you help us? We just got out of a large battle, and they may need our help."

"Please, let's discuss that after the dance," Luxia said politely, still gazing at the octopus.

Suzaku frowned at having the matter brushed off, but figured that he should be polite enough to comply. It was just a dance show… right? He shrugged as he turned back to the octopus.

The creature flipped again before turning sideways and spinning slowly in a circle, the lights shining off it, making it look like over a dozen legs were waving in front of them.

'It's like one of those… optical illusion… things…' Suzaku thought before his head suddenly felt light, and his thoughts jumbled together.

"This dance… is amazing," Milly commented, her eyes slowly glazing over.

"Yeah," Rivalz nodded slowly in agreement, eyes also getting hazy, "It's the-it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

"I'm glad you enjoy it," Luxia said to them, her voice getting strangely more echoey, as more light seemed to penetrate from the dance, looking almost like a vortex, "Put your mind at ease. Let your consciousness drift like the tide."

"Sure, I can do that," Suzaku murmured, his head bobbing down like he was about to fall asleep. His head then suddenly shot up, his eyes wide open and pupils dilated, "Wait, we were just talking about something. Weren't we?"

"You were just telling me how much you like it here," Luxia softly whispered in Suzaku's ear, "how much you wanted to stay forever."

"Really?" he asked, starting to feel weak in the knees.

"Really," the queen confirmed with a smile.

"Yeah. Here, we are all safe and warm," Milly agreed, sounding dreamy, "Guys, I think we should stay here forever."

"Okay," Rivalz replied in a slurred tone, floating lazily above the table.

Queen Luxia smiled in victory.

o~o

After the banquet, the Paladins were escorted to a room that they could sleep in. The beds themselves consisted of some sort of giant oysters with soft pink foam for cushioning. Sleeping underwater was fascinating. It made one wonder why they needed beds at all. Because they never stayed in them.

Despite laying in them for a few minutes, the Paladins were soon drifting slowly away from them around the room. They even floated into each other sometimes. This resulted in Milly, somehow, holding tightly to Rivalz with a content smile on her face, slight drool sliding down her chin.

"Hey Euphie," Suzaku mumbled in his sleep, "I hope you…" he yawned in between in sentence, "...enjoy this daifuku I made for you. The filling is strawberry flavored… I know you love strawberries."

The Paladins were in such deep slumber that they didn't hear the wall behind them break open from a clawed hand. The claw them proceeded to carve a bigger hole around it, and the wall was removed to reveal three jellyfish peaking in. Well, sort of. There were three jellyfish, but they were on the heads of three other figures that stealthily swam into the room and approached the slumbering Paladins.

One of them approached Suzaku and covered him in a thick seaweed blanket from head to toe. Another approached both Milly and Rivalz, and seeing that trying to pull them apart was probably a bad idea, wrapped them up together. The three figures then proceeded to drag the three Paladins out of the hole that was made.

They successfully pulled out Suzaku, but Milly and Rivalz got stuck partway. Not to say that they by themselves would not have fit through, but due to being held together, they were just too big.

The three figures still attempted to pull them through, as quietly but gently as possible. This was their one shot to pull off their plan; they didn't want to hurt the land dwellers accidentally.

They were forced to halt their efforts when they spotted a patrol swim by. They weren't seen, but next time they might not be so lucky.

"Leave them," the leader, wearing a giant orange jellyfish, said urgently, "We have to get out of here."

The figure trying to tug them out let go, and the three of them swam off quickly into the darkened sea.

o~o

Suzaku was still fast asleep when the figures brought him to their lair. They had set him down on a soft pile of seaweed but had bound his hands behind him. They had also placed a big starfish over his eyes.

After they left briefly to retrieve something, they returned, relieved to see that he hadn't moved. One of them cautiously swam up and poked him firmly on the shoulder. Suzaku grunted and sat up, still feeling drowsy.

He smacked his lips a few times and opened his eyes, only to met with darkness thanks to the starfish.

He blinked in confusion, "Hello?" he called out drowsily, looking around, "Um… Good morning!" when he still didn't get a reply, he questioned further, "Where am I?"

"He's awake!" one of the figures whispered urgently.

"Why am I blindfolded? Is this a game? I like games..." Suzaku smiled with a dopey grin. Then one of the merfolk approached him with a fat fish that they squeezed close to his face. It exuded a thick green gas into Suzaku's face but soon faded away.

Whatever the gas was, it also woke Suzaku up from whatever trance he was in, as he suddenly sat up more straight, "Wait, where am I? Why am I blindfolded? What's going on?" He shot to his feet and kicked furiously in the water, trying to get some sort of bearings despite not seeing anything.

One of the figures grabbed the starfish that was on Suzaku's face and pulled it off. Suzaku shook his head and blinked several times to adjust to the lighting again. In front of him were three figures floating in front of him. All of them were wearing some sort of green seaweed poncho with different colored jellyfish on their heads. The one to his left was orange, the middle was a yellow-green, and to his right was a teal colored one.

"It's okay. You were mind-swished, but now we want to-"

"Kill me?! Well, think again!" Suzaku shouted, interrupting the teal one and using his jetpack to shoot past them down the tunnel.

"Wait! Come back!" one of them shouted after him, but Suzaku wasn't listening, too busy trying to find a way out.

He gasped fearfully when he almost ran headfirst into some spears and other sharp weapons that were sticking out of the wall. He almost turned to swim the other direction, but paused and took a moment to use them to cut through his restraints.

Now with his arms free, Suzaku grabbed his Bayard but didn't activate it just yet as he swam down another tunnel. He shouted in surprise again when he ran into a room that was filled with bones from dead fish of all sizes. Now starting to get a little scared, he turned and fled down the next tunnel. He was swimming by a small outcropping when a movement caught his eye.

Slowing down to investigate, he inhaled when he saw that the room was filled with multi-colored jellyfish. Seeing that the fish weren't trying to hurt him, he swam in to take a closer look. But, much to his surprise, the jellyfish suddenly increased to about ten times their original size, blocking his way.

With a yelp, he swiftly turned around to leave, only to see the exit blocked by the three merpeople that brought him here.

He activated his Bayard, holding the katana in front of him with a threatening frown.

"Who are you? Where are my friends?!" he demanded.

"Please, we are not here to hurt you," the one with teal jellyfish said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture, "I am Plaxum."

"Blumfump," the orange jelly said.

"Swirn," the yellow one introduced.

"Okay, but you still didn't answer my question. Where are Milly and Rivalz?"

"We tried to bring them too, but we couldn't, but we need your help. We believe you are our savior," Plaxum explained before she and her companions bowed to him.

Suzaku relaxed a little, hearing the desperation in the mermaid's voice, but still didn't lower his katana.

"Your savior? What do you want with me?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"The queen is mind-swishing everyone, controlling their thoughts," Blumfump explained, his flippers on his hips, "We believe you can stop her."

Suzaku did lower his katana this time and looked at the mer in a mixture of confusion and horror. What was going on?

o~o

Back at the palace, Milly and Rivalz finally managed to wake up on their own. They looked around, confused as to why everything was upside down. They then looked at each other. Only then did they realize the predicament they were in.

They screamed in surprise as they tried to break free of whatever was holding them together.

"Help! Help! Somebody!" Milly called out as she struggled to push free of the wall they were wedged into. Rivalz's own struggles weren't helping much either.

At the entrance to the room, the two were relieved to see Florona and Queen Luxia enter the room with some guards. Florona was carrying a tray of food in her hands.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she swam closer to the pair in alarm.

"I don't know, and we're stuck in the wall somehow!" Rivalz exclaimed as he tried to wiggle out.

"Yeah, and-wait!" Milly did a quick scan of the room, "Where's Suzaku? He's gone!"

"There was a break-in," the queen realized as the two guards helped the two Paladins safely out of the wall, "Those cave-dwellers must have taken him."

"Them again?" Florona asked, sounding frustrated, "What should we do?"

"Those meddling mermaids are harmless, but the air-breather could prove troublesome if he doesn't fall back under our control," Luxia said with a scowl.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, what? Who needs to fall under our control?" Rivalz asked, looking around confused.

"Where's Suzaku? We gotta find him!" Milly exclaimed.

"And we will," the queen reassured them as she pushed them to sit down, "Don't worry your little minds about it. But first, we need to sit down and eat, talk, clear our heads."

Florona held the food out to the two Paladins. But they both seemed reluctant to take anything.

"No, we can't eat right now. If Suzaku's been taken…" Rivalz began while also popping a small piece of food in his mouth. The second he swallowed it though, any thoughts of Suzaku disappeared, and his eyes rested solely on the food, "Oh, boy. That... That is good, though."

"Rivalz, we can't-" Rivalz shoved a piece of a pastry into Milly's mouth before she could finish, and soon Milly was joining him in devouring the food in front of them.

"See? That's all you need. Here, we are all safe and warm," the queen told them.

The two Paladins, having finished the plate of food, contently floated up from their seats lazily began drifting around the room.

"Okay," Rivalz murmured.

"Yeah, we'll let you handle it," Milly slurred with a dreamy smile.

With the two Paladins successfully distracted, the queen turned to face her soldiers, "They are going to come. We must destroy what remains of their kind and bring Suzaku under our control. But first, Florona," the queen turned to the mermaid, "you were in charge of watching the air-breathers. So, now, it is time for you to take a swim in the garden."

Florona looked up at Luxia, and for a moment, a flicker of raw fear flashed across her face. But she soon bowed her head, submissively, "Yes, my queen."

o~o

"Okay, okay, hold on, let me make sure I understand," Suzaku said after the rebel mermaids finished explaining to him what was going on, "You think that the queen is brainwashing her own subjects? Do you have any proof of this? Why would she even do that?"

"What do you remember from yesterday?" Swirn asked casually as she swam around in a circle above them.

Suzaku took a second to think, "Well, we crashed here, saw the mermaids and the village, met the queen, then we had dinner, and then... uh... we-" He started in surprise when he realized that he couldn't remember anything after that. It almost felt like...

"My Geass originally was the ability to compel anyone to obey when I make eye contact with them. The drawbacks that I've noticed so far are that I can only do it once per person. So now that I just used it on Coran, it won't affect him again."

'And from what we've noticed, it also seems to affect the memory too… oh, please don't tell that that's what the queen has too!'

"You can't remember, can you?" Swirn asked.

"No, you're right, I can't," Suzaku shook his head.

"That's because you were under her control," Swirn insisted.

"Our theory is," Blumfump said, holding up a poorly done drawing of the queen with what looked like sonic waves coming from her mouth towards an almost dead looking mermaid, "the queen controls minds by using her voice to strike certain head switches in your ear pan."

Plaxum then swam up behind Blumfump with another drawing, this time of what looked like lasers coming from the queen's eyes, "And her magnetic stare locks on to your eye-to-brain pathway plug."

Suzaku felt his insides turn cold when he saw that drawing and heard the explanation. Lelouch specifically said his Geass could only activate with eye contact. Was this something that it was capable of doing? Could he enslave an entire nation if he wanted to?

"Plus," Swirn added, yet another picture of the queen shooting out sound waves right next to her, "her mind-control sonar is always broadcasting through the waters. Bong! Bong! Bong!"

"And she trains her people to use hypnotic movements to lull you under her control," Plaxum finished, swimming up closer to the Purple Paladin.

"Wait, I do remember a dancer at the banquet," Suzaku told them.

"Good, because I haven't finished my picture for that one," Blumfump said, before throwing the drawings behind him, before swimming up and practically getting in Suzaku's face, "But you see, she was infecting your brain!"

"Wait, so are you saying-" Suzaku was unable to finish his sentence as Plaxum dragged him off towards a giant clamshell. She tapped it once, and upon opening, several different colored jellyfish started swimming out of it into the open water.

"Sit," Plaxum said as she practically threw onto the clam. Suzaku landed with an 'oomph' and then yelped as he felt something wrap around his head. Looking up, he saw that Swirn was using seaweed to measure it.

"The entire village is under the queen's mind control," Blumfump said and was about to say something else when Suzaku interrupted.

"If that's the case, how come you three aren't brainwashed?"

"I was just about to explain that," Blumfump said before continuing, "You see, the only reason we aren't is because we wear these jellyfish that hide our brains from her powers. It's like we have no brains whatsoever. You can't control what doesn't exist."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Suzaku nodded and shrugged.

"Our heads are completely empty," Blumfump chirped.

"Yeah, I get it, it works," Suzaku said as Swirn then held the seaweed to measure his face vertically.

"Many years ago, the queen froze over the surface by blocking the thermal vents," Swirn explained to him as Plaxum started to swim among the jellyfish, trying to select the correct size for him, "She forced everyone to the depths, where she began to brainwash them. They became her prisoners."

"What size?" Plaxum called out.

"Eight and seven-eighths aquameters," Swirn answered.

"Okay, but why is she doing this?" Suzaku asked. There had to be a reason. Maybe there had been a rebellion, and she was being paranoid or-

"To kill them!" Blumfump exclaimed.

"Wait, what?! Why?" he asked, shocked.

Blumfump actually swam back a little and paused, "Well, we don't know that for sure, but hundreds of mermaids have disappeared and... never come back."

o~o

Just outside the Baku garden, Queen Luxia led Florona to the entrance of it. Here she had cast many of her disobedient subjects, never to be seen again. It was for the greater good of keeping her people safe and warm.

"Goodbye, Florona. It is time to return to the giver of life," Luxia ordered, and Florona slowly began to approach the mysterious garden.

If she had been on land, tears would have begun welling in her eyes. She knew if she went inside, she wouldn't come out. But it was by her queen's orders. And she could not disobey.

o~o

"We've tried to take out the queen, but failed several times," Swirn told him sadness coating her tone, "And every attempt depletes our numbers. Now, there are only three of us left. Without you, there is no hope."

"Found one," Plaxum said as she started swimming over with a sizeable jellyfish in her arms.

"So, what exactly makes you think I can fix this?" Suzaku asked, honestly.

"We saw the mer-cat you came in," Blumfump explained, "We think it can stand up against the queen and her forces. But first, you'll need one of these."

Plaxum came over with the jellyfish, "Now, they sting pretty bad and don't smell great."

"If my theory is correct, the smelliest ones block the most mind-control rays," Blumfump said further as Plaxum came closer.

Hearing Blumfump's talk about all these theories briefly reminded him of working with Lloyd and Cecile in the Engineering department. Though he doubted that Blumfump was a sociopath like the Earl. He wondered how those two were doing. Who was piloting the Lancelot now?

"So, are you a scientist or something?" Suzaku couldn't help but ask.

"No," Blumfump denied.

"Also, they can sometimes make your face swell," Plaxum added just before she put it on, "and you might experience hearing loss."

"Could you just put it on, please?" Suzaku asked almost impatiently. His outburst startled Plaxum a little, but the mermaid then quickly complied. Suzaku braced himself as the jellyfish was shoved onto his head.

Once the jelly had settled onto his head, Suzaku cried out, bending over and clutching his air bubble. It burned. Very, very badly.

"Is it burning?" Plaxum asked, "If it's burning, that means it's working!"

It took about a minute for the stinging to finally stop. Suzaku's face had swelled up pretty badly, especially around his mouth and left eye. But he'd endure it. The faster they did this, the faster the jellyfish came off.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" he asked through his puffy lips.

The rebels brought Suzaku to their map to explain their attack plan.

"Here's what Blumfump came up with," Plaxum said, turning her attention to the larger merman. He was holding a small figure that looked like a mini person.

"This is you," he gestured to it, "You act like you're still thought-swirled and get past the guards," he made the figure jump through the structure that must have been the palace over to the three mini clams colored purple, blue, and yellow. He placed 'Suzaku' down next to the purple clam and picked it up, "Get your mer-cat and grab the queen," he used the clam to snatch the queen figurine in its 'jaws,' "We'll mount a full-scale attack on the castle and free the people," he moved the three remaining figures inward around the Castle.

"Seems like a good plan," Suzaku admitted. He could see Lelouch coming up with something similar, though he would've added his own little Zero flair to it too. However, there was a small problem Suzaku couldn't overlook, "I'll be honest though, I'm not the best actor. What will happen if they suspect me?"

"If your acting fails you," Blumfump started, before reaching into his poncho and pulling out a large puffed up fish. He tossed it towards the Purple Paladin, "this holds three doses of antidote to use on the guards. It should interrupt the queen's mind-control long enough for you to escape."

Suzaku took the fish, nodding, "My friends are in their too… but I promise that I'll do whatever I can to help."

o~o

Suzaku peaked out from the outcropping he was hiding behind. He was disappointed to see that several merman guards were keeping an eye on their Lions. Now that the swelling had gone down, he could see a little bit better. He took a deep breath before swimming out towards them.

"Good evening, soldiers," he greeted as politely and casually as he could, "quite the safe and warm day we've been having. If you could excuse me, I need to grab something from Yo-no!" Suzaku cried out in horror as the guards immediately threw a net over him and dragged him back towards the palace.

They took him straight to the throne room, where the queen sat serenely on top of it. She smiled down cruelly at Suzaku, who glared defiantly back at her.

"I had a feeling you'd come for your vessel," she said.

"Why are you doing this?" he demanded, "They're your own people! They don't deserve this!"

"All I'm doing is keeping my people safe and warm. Is that really so wrong? Servants, take Suzaku to the Baku Garden."

Suzaku heard the doors to his left open, and he gasped in horror as he saw Rivalz and Milly staring stoned face at him.

'Oh no!' he thought, realizing that Luxia was controlling them. Before they could grab him, he acted quickly and shot upwards with his jetpack over their heads. Even though they were underwater, Suzaku was still a warrior at heart. He wasn't going down without a fight!

"Everyone! Capture him!" Luxia ordered furiously, pointing at Suzaku's form.

With Suzaku now on higher ground, he had a good advantage as he waited patiently for the guards to come at him. Once they were in range, Suzaku managed to knock them both out with two quick but powerful kicks to the head.

Looking back down, he gasped as he saw Milly and Rivalz charging him as well, their expressions having not changed at all. He knew they would be mind-controlled, but he didn't expect to fight them. He didn't want to hurt them if he could. Suzaku leaped off the wall quickly began swimming to the entrance. In the process, he pulled out the fish that contained the antidote. If he could fire it at them together, it should snap them out of it.

He ducked when he saw Rivalz attempt to grab him from behind. He grabbed hold of the Blue Paladin's foot and flung him away into one of the throne room walls, temporarily stunning him.

He almost didn't see Milly swing her kusarigama at him, but he managed to turn in time. Instinctively, he grabbed the end of the chain that flew at him, barely missing the blade part of the weapon. He admitted that it was a risky move, one that he was sure Todoh-Sensei would've forced him to do a hundred push-ups for, but Milly was still pretty inexperienced with the weapon, so her aim wasn't always the greatest either.

He tugged forcibly on the chain, drawing the Yellow Paladin towards him with a yelp of her own. He made little work of tying her up with her own weapon before taking the fish and squeezing it forcefully in her face.

Milly gasped and blinked, "Huh? What-what wait, what's going on, why am I tied up?" was the first thing she asked before looking up at Suzaku, "Suzaku, why's there's a jellyfish on your head?"

Relieved to see that Milly was free from the hypnosis, he says, "I'll explain later, but I need you to grab Rivalz!"

"Wait, why-whoa! She cried as Suzaku tugged the kusarigama chain again, this time freeing her from that, but making her spin rapidly for a moment. Suzaku doesn't have time to help her, though, as Rivalz came up and tackled Suzaku from behind, causing the Purple Paladin to lose his grip on the antidote fish. It helplessly bounced off the wall and outside the palace.

Suzaku managed to kick Rivalz off of him before he made a beeline for the fish outside. He managed to snatch it up again and would've been tackled again had Milly not grabbed the Blue Paladin first, locking her arms around his elbows and legs around his knees.

"Sorry, Rivalz," Milly apologized as he struggled. Despite this, she managed to hold Rivalz long enough for Suzaku to squeeze the antidote at the Blue Paladin as well.

As the mist cleared, Rivalz's eyes went wide before he shook his head rapidly, "Whoa! Whoa! Where am I? What am I doing? Milly, you're kind of hurting me."

"Sorry," she said again before letting him go, seeing that he was back to normal, and turned to their purple compatriot, "Anyway, Suzaku, about the jellyfish?"

"Guys listen," Suzaku said, swimming up to them with a severe frown, "you've been mind-controlled by the queen, and you were trying to kill me. And she's done the same thing to all of the other merpeople here!"

He gave a brief summary to them of what the rebels told him what was happening.

At one point Rivalz tried to comment, "Wait, that sounds a lot like-"

"Lelouch's Geass, I know," Suzaku nodded, "We can worry about that later! We need to get to our Lions now!"

"Got it!" Rivalz nodded.

"Right!" Milly agreed as the trio shot away from the courtyard and toward the Lions that were still parked beside the palace.

Before the three could make it to their Lions, to their horror, they were surrounded by several royal guards. Suzaku pulled out his katana again while Milly held tight to her kusarigama as well.

Suzaku braced himself to defend when one of the guards charged. But it turned out he didn't need to as the guard instead got hit in the face by a familiar fat fish. Turning around, Suzaku was relieved to see Plaxum and Blumflup swimming up behind them to back them up. In the distance on a giant manta ray, Swirn could be seen firing several jellyfish at attacking soldiers as well. Plaxum threw a starfish shuriken at one of the guards that pinning his arm directly to a rock wall.

Suzaku grappled with one of the guards before leaping off of him in a backflip, disarming the guard just before an antidote fish was fired at him as well.

"Wait, who are these weirdos?" Rivalz asked, in a little too much shock to try and help. Milly had managed to block a couple of coming attacks, but the rebels took care of most of the other soldiers already.

Suzaku swam up beside them and smiled, "Don't worry, they're with us."

"Come, we must hurry to your mer-cats," Plaxum called over. The Paladins didn't waste another second as they quickly swam inside each other there Lions.

Once Suzaku was situated inside of Yoru, he pressed a button that opened his Lion's jaw. Plaxum swam inside and hung onto one of the teeth, "You hanging on?"

"Yes, let's go!" Plaxum called out as the jaw closed.

"Okay, so what's the plan exactly?" Rivalz asked over the intercom.

"We need to grab the-"

"We need to grab the queen and take her to an ice prison that Blumfump built, where her mind-control powers will be trapped because of the thick ice and the jellyfish," Plaxum finished for Suzaku.

"Um, who's that?" Milly asked.

"That's Plaxum. Just go with it!" Suzaku shouted before Yoru, and the other two Lions shot off towards the palace entrance.

As they approached the entrance, the team plus Plaxum saw several figures standing at the entryway. One of them their target.

"There she is!" Rivalz shouted as they charged straight towards it.

Plaxum let out a savage growl as she loaded a slingshot she had with her and shot two more antidote fish at the palace entrance, engulfing the queen and several guards in the green mist. Thanks to the confusion it caused, Plaxum then shot out a grappling hook with an octopus at the end of it that hit the queen right in the middle. With a grunt of surprise, Luxia was reeled into the Purple Lion and detained at last.

"Got her! Let's go!" Suzaku shouted as he and the others took off towards the ice prison the rebels had prepared.

Inside of Yoru's jaw, Queen Luxia groaned and opened her eyes, looking around in confusion, "Where am I? What's going on?"

Plaxum, still holding the end of her jellyfish grapple, glared vengefully at the monarch, "What's going on is you're not mind-controlling these people anymore, Your Majesty."

"What? Mind-control? Me?" to everyone's surprise, the queen sounded confused and even scared. Luxia looked down as if in thought before her eyes widened, and she looked desperately at Plaxum, "No! Please, my people are in danger! You must go back!"

"Plaxum, what's going on?" Suzaku questioned from the pilot chamber.

"Nothing! It's a ruse!" the rebel insisted stubbornly.

"You sure?" Milly asked on another comm. For some reason, the queen's reaction sounded genuine. Had they gotten something wrong?

"I wasn't controlling anyone," Queen Luxia insisted stubbornly. Suddenly her eyes widened again, and she gasped in horror, "The Baku!"

"She's lying!" Plaxum exclaimed.

"I'm not. Please!" the queen pleaded as she tried to explain, "The last thing I remember is that organism in the garden falling from space. I went to inspect it. I thought it was a plant."

Unbeknownst to them, back at the palace, the Baku Garden walls started to quiver erratically.

"Wait a minute, we've been eating that plant," Rivalz realized, his mouth already salivating from the memory, "And it's delicious! It's so safe and warm."

Before Rivalz could nod off again, Suzaku cried out, realization hitting him like a bullet train, "We had it all wrong! The queen had nothing to do with this! It was the plant the whole time. She was just the first one to be mind-controlled."

"But why?" Plaxum asked, clearly confused.

"The Baku has been harvesting us all. We are its food source," the queen explained frantically.

"No way…" Rivalz gasped, eyes wide.

"Guys! I think she's telling the truth. Look out the window!" Milly shouted, looking back at the palace.

Turning their Lions around, the trio watched in horror as what they thought was a peaceful, harmless-looking garden, slivered to life. Dark violet light seemed to absorb into its being. Like a massive, angry anaconda, the Baku rose from its resting place and let out a mighty and deafening roar, its mouth opening to reveal rows of sharp serrated teeth inside its mouth.

Gasping in shock, Suzaku quickly opened Yoru's mouth, "Plaxum, get the queen somewhere safe!"

The rebel quickly led the queen away from the Lions and the creature it was now facing. With civilians out of the way, the Lions prepared for battle.

"Okay, change of plans, that Baku thing is our real target. Let's take it out!" the Purple Paladin exclaimed before he charged towards it.

The Baku reared back and charged towards the Lions, gliding swiftly through the water and quickly knocking Maeraka and Milly out of the way while Polaris and Yoru dodged it with ease. Rivalz quickly shot a beam in the Baku's direction when it attempted to hit Milly again, but it promptly slithered out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Whoa!" the Yellow Paladin cried, struggling to maintain control through the turbulence, "Guys, that thing's too quick for me. I can't hit it! Maeraka's not very good in the water."

"Really?" Rivalz asked, "Polaris is moving better than ever. There's something about fighting underwater that's making me feel extra quick and powerful."

"Yeah, Yoru's feeling pretty good too," Suzaku observed, as he smoothly corkscrewed around the Baku's tail, "Which is weird, she should still be healing from our fight with Zarkon."

"Maybe it's due to the lack of light down here?" Rivalz guessed, "I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but when we're right out in open space and in darker places, you and Kallen almost match neck to neck in speed. And Yoru's ability is some sort of black hole suction so…"

"So Yoru works better at night, got it. Must be the same for Maeraka, but in light and daytime," Suzaku concluded.

"Huh, makes sense," Milly reluctantly agreed.

"Anyway, I think I know how to stop that thing," Suzaku told them.

"How?" Rivalz asked as the Baku swirled around them once again, Milly barely dodging its hit this time.

"Simple. We gotta stop shooting where the creature is and start shooting where the creature's gonna be!"

"So… like this?" Rivalz asked as Polaris shot out a stream of ice in the Baku's path. Just as the beam should've hit the ocean floor, the Baku's head got his with the attack instead, encasing it in a prison of ice.

"Great shot Rivalz!" Suzaku cheered with a grin.

The victory was short-lived as the Baku used its tail to break the ice, showing that little to no damage had been done in the process.

"Okay, take this!" Milly shouts as she has Maeraka shoot out a supernova in the Baku's direction. The flash bomb went off, and the Baku screamed in surprise. But once it wore off, the only thing it seemed to do was annoy it, as the monster quickly smacked Maeraka down towards the floor.

"Milly!" Rivalz shouted as he and Polaris raced after her.

Gritting his teeth, Suzaku spiraled out of the way of the Baku's tail and shot toward some rocks in the distance. If he could get it away from the village, they would have more space to fight and fewer casualties.

"What do I do?!" he whispered desperately. With perfect timing, Suzaku felt Yoru purr confidently as several images flashed through his mind, "You think that'll work?" receiving a nudge of confirmation, Suzaku inhaled, "Alright, here goes!"

Turning around sharply, Suzaku faced the Baku head-on, and just as the creature seemed about to strike, Yoru opened her maw and started sucking in the water rapidly around the Baku. The suction was almost acting like a drainage pipe, pulling the water inward like a whirlpool.

The Baku roared in shock and tried to swim away, but the force of the pull was too much for it to break free.

"Alright! Go, Suzaku!" Rivalz shouted gleefully. Before he could give any more comments, though, he felt a nudge from his own Lion and looked down at the controls. To the side, an image that looked like sonic waves lit up, "What…? Oh, okay! Here goes nothing!"

The Blue Paladin thrust his controls forward, and Polaris let out a loud roar. Appearing on her back, very similar to how Aka's appeared, a giant cannon came to life. With a burst of power, a giant sonic beam shot out from the cannon, engulfing the Baku on the other side.

The monster was now stuck between a rock and a hard place as it struggled to stay away from the whirlpool Suzaku had created and the sonic waves Rivalz had let loose.

Off to the side of the battle, Milly looked in awe as the two boys practically had the monster pinned down. But Milly wasn't the type of girl to stay out of a fight that easily.

"Come on, girl, let's not let them hog all the glory!" she smirked as she shot one her controls forward, and Maeraka shot a bolt of energy at the rock wall above them. The beam sent the rock wall crumbling down around them, beginning to bury the Baku alive.

"This place is coming down! Let's get out of here!" Suzaku shouted as he and Rivalz ceased their assault and quickly retreated away from the falling rocks. They heard the Baku let out one last cry of anger before a large boulder collided with its head, silencing it forever.

"Suzaku, that was so cool! You practically made your own whirlpool! And Rivalz, you just dropped a sonic boom on that thing!" Milly cheered happily.

"Hey, but you finished the job with that rockslide Milly," Rivalz complimented, "so thanks!"

"Oh, I try!" the Yellow Paladin giggled as the three Lions turned back to the palace victorious.

o~o

After everyone had calmed down and it was confirmed the Baku was gone, everyone returned to the palace. The queen and the three rebel fighters stood at the entrance waiting for them.

"So, Blumfump, the jellyfish, the magnetic stare, the hypnotic dance. You got it all wrong. It was the food that the Baku was giving all this time," Suzaku explained to the leader.

'But… even though Geass also didn't have anything to do with this, I still want to talk to C.C. about it… if this is something Lelouch is capable of...' he didn't finish his thought, feeling too sick to his stomach to do so.

Blumfump, however, didn't look too upset about being proven wrong, and instead looked rather intrigued, "Well, I did say they were theories. Mer-science isn't always about getting the right answer."

"I want to thank you all for what you've done," Queen Luxia said graciously, "You've freed my people, and I will do all I can to protect that freedom. I vow to be the voice of my people," she then turned to the three rebels, "I beg of you to help. Will you be my advisors?"

"Of course, Your Highness," Blumfump immediately said, pulling out some scrolls from underneath his poncho, "I have some great ideas. Have you ever heard of electricity?"

Plaxum then swam up to the Paladins personally, "And I wanted to personally thank you, Suzaku," and, to everyone's surprise, the mermaid swam up and kissed Suzaku's helmet. Despite himself, the Purple Paladin couldn't help the small blush that spread around his cheeks. Rivalz stood to the side, mouth hanging open jealously.

Plaxum then sighed, "Finally, I can remove this thing," she said, as she took hold of the jellyfish, to reveal a beautiful blue mermaid that smiled back at them.

"Woah!" Rivalz gasped, eyes sparkling at the mermaid's revealed beauty. It quickly ended though with Milly giving him a sharp elbow to the ribs.

As Rivalz took time to recover, Milly quickly approached the queen, "Queen Luxia, the reason we came here in the first place was to see if you could help us find our friends."

"Of course," the queen answered. Two of Luxia's guards then brought out a giant clamshell that they placed in the center of the square.

"It has been many years since we have activated the energy beacon, but perhaps it is time to rebuild our civilization and reach out to interstellar travelers once again." As the clam opened to reveal a beautiful pearl sitting in the middle of it, the queen exclaimed, "Activate energy beacon!"

The pearl in the middle of the clam suddenly glowed a bright gold, and moments later, a brilliant ray of light shot up from it, ascending towards the planets surface, easily breaking through the thick ice that surrounded them. It reached high above the atmosphere and could easily be seen from the planet's orbit.

o~o

Moments later, from space itself, a familiar wormhole opened up, and Rai and Zerith swiftly exited it.

"I see the beacon!" Rai exclaimed as he pushed Zerith closer towards it.

o~o

"There is a mer-cat in our system that appears to be heading our way," Luxia informed them as the image of the Green Lion appeared on the surface of the beacon.

"It's Zerith! Rai's coming!" Suzaku exclaimed in relief.

"See guys? I told you they could help us," Rivalz said, crossing his arms with a smile.

"Yeah, plus we saved a whole planet by ourselves! Now we can brag to the others back at the Castle," Milly smirked.

"Duly noted," Suzaku chuckled and shook his head fondly.

"You know, I can totally get used to this whole 'Defender of the Universe' thing," Milly commented with a smile as they watched Rai approach ever closer to the planet.

#Fanfiction #AU #Voltron #Code Geass #suzaku kururugi #milly ashford #rivalz cardemonde #mermaids

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depressed-sock · 5 years

Text

Would you?

A Fallen Hero fanfic

A short first date fic inspired by some dialogue in the retribution alpha. (since this was actually in progress before gthb I’ll be doing something else for the first date slot on that.)

Past Kiyo/Ortega

Tw: canon-typical violence

Minor Retribution spoilers

“Will you go out on a date with me?”

You freeze, head whipping towards him instead of focusing on the gun fire directed at you. You must have hit your head or misheard. He couldn't have just-

“Shit! Get down!” he grabs your arm pulling you down into the cover beside him. He's looking at you worriedly but you're still trying to process whether you heard him right. He watches you carefully before he seems to deem you well enough because a smirk makes its way onto his face as he continues, “So about that date-”

“Pay attention to the fight!” you hear your voice crack as you begin to panic. Why would he think now was a good idea to ask something like that? Actually, why would he ask that at all? You've only kissed a few times since the Psychopather incident... mostly when everything was so close to falling apart. Like recently…

There was so much blood and you had never felt more terrified in your life. Terrified of Castrofiend and it's deathtrap of a mind waiting for you to stick your hand in so it could shred you to pieces...of the way it stood over Ortega's bleeding form, of Ortega being so incredibly close to death and you helpless, left with almost no way to save him.

It was luck, that's all you can say. So much luck and several lives spent to finally defeat the Castrofiend long enough for you to pull him out of there. Steel had found you sobbing, lips pressed against his temple as you yelled at him to keep him awake. You had pressed your mask against his wounds trying to stem the flow of blood as much as you could.

He shouldn't even be here right now. You know he must be close to tearing his stitches again and if he does your going to lock him in a room with Steel for the next three days. Maybe then he'd get some rest instead of asking you stupid questions in the middle of being shot at. Because he couldn't be serious about that...He's not… he's not serious….You really hope he's not serious.

He looks at you and shrugs, “Okay admittedly not the best time to ask but I think it's only fair you know that you're extremely hot.”

Your immediate response is to deny it, but your voice catches in your throat. He's looking at you with that stupid smile but his eyes are different. Too soft, too caring. You should have noticed sooner, should have run from this city a long time ago, should have kept telling him to fuck off. But you didn't, you didn't and now this feels too real.

This is nothing like your play flirting usually is with him. Your habit of echoing and matching people's tone got you into that mess and now- fuck you're not supposed to actually feel anything. You're not supposed to be blushing under your mask, staring at him absolutely dumbfounded.

His grip on your arm tightens and you follow him uselessly as he pulls you after him into a different cover as the one behind you bursts into shards. “Hey! Come on I didn't think you'd be this surprised,” he glances over his shoulder at whoever's still trying to fill you both with bullets.

Fuck you can't remember who you're fighting anymore, your brain is fizzling out and over panicking on the problem directly in front of you that is Ricardo Ortega.

"You can't be serious," you shake your head turning your focus to the stun gun in your hands. Ignore him and focus on the problem you can hit and actually make go away. You just need a clear shot and-

"Kiyo." You refuse to look up at him, refuse to acknowledge the way his voice is far too serious, "I-"

"If you take this asshole out before I do I'll consider it," the words come out rushed, desperate for him to stop talking. You want to shake him, tell him that you are not something he wants. You're not something he will ever want.

"Alright." You don't even get the chance to respond back as he vaults over the cover. You stare at the space he had occupied next to you until your mind finally clicks in realization.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!"

…

"I can't believe you fucking did that," you mutter as you walk beside him into the bar.

"What? You can't believe I took down the bad guy without-"

"-without a brain? Yeah, it was entirely unbelievable." You snap at him, you're tired and angry and you are most definitely going to handcuff him to a post and leave him there. Fucking Charge, rushing in without thinking and almost getting himself killed again.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad. I didn't even get injured," his voice feels too light compared to your mood. It's like nails scratching on a chalkboard making this entire interaction more painful and annoying than it should be.

"You pulled some of your fucking stitches out," you hiss at him as you slide into the back corner booth. You know that because you had to restitch them because he didn't want to get yelled at by his doctor. "Fucking idiot," you mutter as you look out the dark discolored window.

But then he turns everything on its head as he slides in next to you, trapping you into the corner. You feel yourself freeze, this isn't your routine, this is definitely not your routine and you know exactly why it's not your routine, "Maybe I just wanted you to kiss me better."

"Stop that," you elbow him softly, trying not to cause more damage, as you superstitiously look around. No one's looking, no one's watching. But you can't help but feel eyes on your back that's pressed against the wall, making that spot just between your shoulders itch. This is too out in the open, too many people around to notice you, to see how close he is to you.

He takes your blow with a soft 'oomph' before letting out a small laugh, "Kiyo it's alright, no one here is going to care enough to bother us." He leans close arm wrapping around your waist as he brings you closer to him. Unintentionally allowing you to use him as a shield against prying eyes.

"Get on your side," you whisper desperately at him. This is different, this isn't what you're used to him doing. You should have known better. Should have just said no because all you had said was that you would consider it. You never said you'd say yes to going on a date with him.

You did though, after lots of yelling and maybe a bit of crying. It was too soon, too many memories of him bleeding out. You're terrified of losing him and you refuse to look deeper into that feeling. Refuse to acknowledge it even exists. This isn't a date, it's just another day, just another routine that Ortega has changed on you.

He leans against you letting his head rest against yours. "But I haven't even been kissed better," a husky whisper against your skull that leaves you with goosebumps and a shiver.

"If you want I'll kiss my knuckles before I knock you the fuck out," you push his head away, glaring at him and his annoying smile. "You can consider it an indirect kiss and maybe you'll get some actual sleep."

"That is an incredibly tempting offer but I've been told multiple times not to sleep with a concussion," he winks at you because of course he does. You're one of the people who has told him multiple times.

You try to push him off the seat instead, but it's like trying to move a wall. Fuck he's not going to move. He's not going to move and the only way for you to escape is to make a scene by either climbing over the table or going under it. You could do that. It's not like you haven't made a scene in Hoots before and you're pretty sure owl expects you to at this point. Just Sidestep trying to annoy Ortega like always.

"If you really want me to move I will," he says it offhandedly, almost softly. He probably can feel the way you've tensed, see the way your eyes keep darting around looking for an escape. He knows he's already spooked you, so he's making it casual. Letting you choose so that you can take control back.

".... just...just don't sit too close," you give in a little, shifting comfortably in your seat. Because despite your panic you don't want him to move. You're still so afraid that you'll look away and he'll be gone. Getting himself into an impossible situation and getting himself killed. You look up at him and his smile is blinding. Great, this is already inflating his ego. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Alright," he let's go of you scooting a few inches away. Face far too smug and infuriating.

"You're not allowed to say that word anymore," you try to glare at him but feel yourself faltering. Why do you always give in? It keeps happening and you're not sure how you feel about it. You're not sure if you actually want to know how you feel about it.

"Alright," he grins at you and you can't stop yourself from elbowing his side again. This time though you're not as gentle, a satisfied smile making its way to your face as he doubles over in pain.

"Idiot."

#fallen hero rebirth #Kiyo Basri #ricardo ortega #fallen hero: rebirth #chargestep #My writing

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zrtranscripts · 5 years

Text

Season 8, Mission 1: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Through many dangers, toils, and snares

JANINE DE LUCA: Do you see him, Captain? Any sign of Jones' boat?

CAPTAIN: Last night's storm has thrown a huge amount of debris into the ocean, Colonel De Luca. Even with our digital periscope, a large vessel can be hard to spot.

JODY MARSH: We have to find him. Jones has the only thing that can save Janine's life. It's been five days since he left the oil rig, and this is the first time we've got close to the tracker in his boat.

JANINE DE LUCA: He also has something far more valuable than the nanite control box, Miss Marsh. He has the missing piece of the Edda that will help us to defeat the V-type zombies on the mainland.

CAPTAIN: The tracker says he's close to Mor Island, the largest island in the Far Hebrides archipelago. We'll find him.

SAM YAO: Yeah. Do you know any more about why they're not replying to any comms pings? I must have tried to contact them 50 times in the past day.

ELLIE MAXTED: The Far Hebrides are notoriously... independent. It's a tradition that goes back centuries. They were never conquered by England like the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

SAM YAO: But they were part of the UK.

TOM DE LUCA: But they never really believed it, even before the apocalypse. They had their own ways of doing things.

PAULA COHEN: We tried to send them cases of the cure, but they refused. They said they hadn't had a zombie get onto the island since the start of the outbreak, so they had no need of it.

SAM YAO: What? They've never had zombies? Well, why don't we all move there?

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao, we are here for our mission, nothing more. The Undaunted cannot be spared from the mainland, but we are enough. Each of us is here for a reason. Myself and Miss Marsh, for operations. Tom for tactical. Dr. Cohen is our medic. Miss Maxted is our expert in the ancient and modern people of the Far Hebrides and will be a vital passport onto the islands. Five is the mission runner.

SAM YAO: And I'm here because you lot couldn't stop me coming.

LOOKOUT: I see it!

CAPTAIN: That's it. The old rig's yacht. The name's on the side. Seaside Base. Hmm. That side of the island is too shallow for the sub. We'll take you as close as we can. All of you to the bow hatch, now!

CAPTAIN: All hands, Undaunted has reached Mor Island. Suspect vessel stolen by the fugitive Jones sighted on far side of island. Passengers, prepare to disembark submarine via bow hatch. Good luck, Abel runners.

[hatch creaks and clatters open, rain pours]

JANINE DE LUCA: Welcome to the Far Hebrides.

SAM YAO: It's dark, it smells of cow dung, and it's raining so hard, I can't see the shore. And we're on the shore!

JANINE DE LUCA: A run will warm you up, Mr. Yao. We're on the south of Mor Island. Jones' boat is on the north side. So as not to alert him to our presence, we'll cross the beach and then use the network of caves to head west and then north.

TOM DE LUCA: Where we find Jones on the shore, take the control box from him, and reverse whatever those nanites are doing to you, Jane.

JANINE DE LUCA: I'm fine.

PAULA COHEN: That's not what your bloodwork says! You might not be feeling it yet, but the nanites in your bloodstream are already switching off cell reproduction.

JANINE DE LUCA: All the more reason to deal with this swiftly. Our intelligence suggests that Jones was born and raised somewhere in the Hebrides. We have no idea what allies he might have been able to muster locally.

SAM YAO: Yeah, so uh, maybe let's not stay? Just one dark windswept run through storms and caves, then - then we grab Jones, get the control box and the Edda, and be back in our warm comfy radio room eating celebratory Curly Wurlies by tomorrow night.

JODY MARSH: Time to get moving. Everyone, jump from the submarine and then run across the beach to the caves. Go!

ELLIE MAXTED: Oh, wow! This is Devil's Breath Cave. I've seen photos, but it's incredible in real life! Look at the stalactites hanging down like razor sharp teeth, Five! Ancient Far Hebrideans believed this was the mouth of a stone demon, and demons bred inside these caves.

SAM YAO: Okay, and we're sure that's not true, right? I mean, it's not demons that keep the zombies off the islands?

TOM DE LUCA: I'm more worried about seawater. The tide's coming in. The front of the cave will soon be underwater.

JODY MARSH: That's not all! Look in the sea behind us. The Undaunted stirred something up.

SAM YAO: Oh yeah. Yeah, that's definitely a zom hand over there, dragging its soggy body onto the sandbar.

PAULA COHEN: What's that all over its face? Some sort of decay from the sea water.

JODY MARSH: Oh, bits of coral and seaweed stuck in its skin, I think! Like someone made a bad school art project out of a zombie.

SAM YAO: Look, there's another one coming out behind it. And another one there.

TOM DE LUCA: We have vials of the cure with us, but we can't waste it. There'll be no more when it's gone. We should get away from the zoms. Head into the caves. Run!

JODY MARSH: Everyone, keep your headlamps at full brightness as we go deeper.

JANINE DE LUCA: First, we need to pick a path. The cave's split into two tunnels ahead.

[zombies groan]

ELLIE MAXTED: Okay. I've researched this. The myth around this cave says that there is one true path. One path leads to life, another to suffering and the spawn of demons.

TOM DE LUCA: A dead end means either the zoms or the tide will catch us.

SAM YAO: Or both. It's always both.

ELLIE MAXTED: I read about it. There is a way through. It's... can you hear bird calls through either tunnel?

[birds squawk]

JODY MARSH: There! I hear them to the left.

SAM YAO: So that's the way out, where the birds are!

ELLIE MAXTED: No! That's the way to certain death. The birds nest in a honeycomb of tunnels we'd never find our way through. The other path is correct. Follow me. Run!

JANINE DE LUCA: You were correct, Miss Maxted. This is the right path. We won't get trapped here, but we must stay ahead of the zombies.

SAM YAO: Is it me, or do these islands already feel a bit... dangerous?

TOM DE LUCA: That might be why Jones came here. To be protected. He must know we'll come after him. He may hope to trap us here.

JODY MARSH: What he did on the oil rig was so chaotic, though! Just injecting Janine with whatever he had to hand. Would he plan it all out?

PAULA COHEN: If he feels safe here, he might come here without a plan, like a wild animal going to ground.

ELLIE MAXTED: I've been thinking about him a lot. It makes sense that someone who comes from a tight-knit community like a Hebridean Island would have ended up with Sage. It was that same feeling. Everyone knew everyone and we all worked together. But if he liked that here, why did he ever -

[water gushes]

PAULA COHEN: [shout] What was that? A fountain of water just almost knocked me over!

SAM YAO: A geyser, like in Iceland!

ELLIE MAXTED: Devil's breath! The name comes from the sprays of water that erupt when the tide comes in. I know this. The people of the Far Hebrides were experts at rerouting geysers to act as defenses against intruders. They left boulders perfectly balanced on rock ledges, and the regular spout of the geyser stopped them rolling down. So if someone stepped into the geyser...

PAULA COHEN: Like I just did.

ELLIE MAXTED: Like you just did, yes. It would slightly unbalance the rock and -

SAM YAO: And that boulder on the ledge above us would start to roll down!

JODY MARSH: It's following the ledge! If we stay here, it'll crush us, but if we go back, the zombies will get us!

ELLIE MAXTED: It's okay! There should be small ritual alcoves in the tunnel on the – on the west side, facing the sunrise.

JANINE DE LUCA: I see them up ahead. We must get there before the boulder reaches us. Five, take point. Run!

[boulder rumbles]

SAM YAO: Wow! That boulder was huge! It would have smashed us all flat. Did you see how close it came to the tip of my nose as it rolled by this alcove?

TOM DE LUCA: At least it took out some of the zombies behind us, though there are still plenty left. [JANINE SHOUTS] Jane! What's wrong?

JANINE DE LUCA: Blasted leg. Knee stopped working. Sudden stabbing pain. Seems to be easing off now.

SAM YAO: Is that – is that going to keep happening?

PAULA COHEN: That, or worse. This is the start. We have to get the control box back before the nanites do damage your body can't recover from.

JANINE DE LUCA: So we must keep moving. Will we run into more ancient traps, Miss Maxted?

ELLIE MAXTED: Maybe we can use the traps to take out the zoms, like the boulder did. Kill two birds with one stone.

SAM YAO: How? Is there a switch or something? Are you secretly Indiana Jones?

ELLIE MAXTED: Don't get me started on the blatant inaccuracies of those movies!

JANINE DE LUCA: Tell us what we need to do.

ELLIE MAXTED: Right. There'll be three types of trap in Devil's Breath Caves. Boulders, we've seen. There'll also be holes in the ground with spikes in them, and falling stalactites.

JANINE DE LUCA: We can avoid the first two if we stay close to the wall and keep our eyes on the ground.

ELLIE MAXTED: And I think I can use the stalactites to help us, but we have to get to the next cavern before the zoms do. Run!

JODY MARSH: Wow! I didn't think the cave would open up so much.

SAM YAO: Or be behind a waterfall. It'd be picturesque if it weren't dark and full of zombies.

ELLIE MAXTED: There are stalactites overhead. We're looking for... there, Five. See the discolored stalactite? Sort of bluish. The ancient people of the Far Hebrides would put an artificial stalactite here that'll cause a domino effect when it cracks off. Throw a rock at it. And then we need to run. We'll have seconds before the ceiling falls. [rocks clatter] Now! Run!

[rocks clatter and collapse]

ELLIE MAXTED: Got 'em!

SAM YAO: Wow, that was nice! It triggered in slow motion, like one stalactite after another, rippling off the ceiling. [laughs] Did you see the rock go right through the heads of those zoms like a giant stone dagger?

JANINE DE LUCA: There are still several moving forward that have been slowed considerably by the rock protruding from their bodies.

ELLIE MAXTED: We're almost at the exit.

TOM DE LUCA: And not a moment too soon. Jones is unpredictable. There's no guarantee he'll stay put here. We have to move quickly. Run!

SAM YAO: Ah man, this is nice. Fresh air, no zoms. I was beginning to think we'd be in that dark cave forever.

ELLIE MAXTED: There's a coastal path that'll take us to the beach where Jones' boat is moored. With any luck, we'll be there before he's left the boat. Five, I cannot wait to get my hands on the Edda! Did you know it's supposed to have been written on these islands?

I've been revising all my Anglo-Saxon, and my Norse, and my Icelandic. Old sources say there are illustrations in it! Could be pictograms, or a map, and another part of the Edda has a drawing of the mountain -

[gunshots]

JANINE DE LUCA: Someone's shooting. Get down.

TOM DE LUCA: Gunfire, coming from that hill.

JANINE DE LUCA: Must be Jones. Everybody run for cover, towards the -

[JODY MARSH, TOM DE LUCA, and JANINE DE LUCA frantically speak over each other]

ELLIE MAXTED: What? Where are they – [gasps] Five?

SAM YAO: Janine, Paula! They hit Ellie in the chest! Ellie, Ellie, it's okay. Five's here, I'm here. Just – just open your eyes, okay? I need help here! I need help, please!

PAULA COHEN: Sam, she's shot in the heart. We can't help her. We have to go.

SAM YAO: No, we can't leave Ellie. She – she doesn't even have her eyes open. Five, help me carry her!

JODY MARSH: Ellie's gone, Sam. Look at her. She's gone.

SAM YAO: No. No, she can't be. Paula, you must be able to do something. Paula!

PAULA COHEN: Sam, please. Ellie is dead. She's dead! Whoever those people are, they're trying to kill all of us. We have to go. Five, help me bring Sam. Run!

#zombies run #zrs8 #s8m1 #between the devil and the deep blue sea #zr transcript #zrs8 spoilers

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mama-m1na · 5 years

Text

Oh My Goddess...: Chapter 2

~~~II~~~

It had been about a week since the prince had been staying with the tailor and her girls.

Ever since the first night Min-Ho and Jae-Yong had tried to get closer looks at the creatures without actually going to confront them again but to no avail.

“You want to what?” Rhamina asked as she looked up from the red silk she was cutting for a commission with her black shawl around her shoulders, “Your Highness with all due respect I can’t just allow you to roam the streets at night with those creatures. You’ve seen that there are more of them now and no one knows how to kill them or if they can even be killed.”

Min-Ho’s eyes flashed down to her hands which were almost healed completely save for the extremely light discoloration; which, according to Rhamina, would be gone in about two more days, before saying, “I can’t let more people get hurt like this and I mean no offence to you; however, you are in no position to stop me.”

The female took a deep breath before saying, “As you wish but first I have some things to give you.”

She then went into the backroom before coming out with a leather chest piece, leather wrist guards, shoulder pads, and shin guards.

“Their Saaki styled armor one of my friends brought me for whatever reason,” the girl explained as she held up the chest piece against Min-Ho’s torso, “It will provide better protection than just your normal clothes and it looks like it should fit you fine.”

“You’re such a caring person you know?” the prince chuckled, “You’re just like a mother.”

“I might as well be when I have to watch over five children,” she sighed going back to her work, “Also if something happens don’t hesitate to come back here immediately. I don’t want to lose a friend to those things.”

“You don’t have to worry about a thing,” Min-Ho promised as he looked down at the tailor.

When night came he stood alongside Jae-Yong who was dressed in all black garb that the female had prepared for him during the day.

Min-Ho wore the leather guards that Rhamina had provided and tied his long hair up in a ponytail.

Both were armed with swords that Jae-Yong had brought with them when they left the capital and they stood waiting for the creatures.

When the familiar screeches were heard both took hold of their swords as a group of shadows ran towards them.

Taking care not to be touched by anything of the creatures both males ran to slice up as many as they could; however, as soon as they stepped back to observe the damage the severed pieces would be roped back into place by shadows which reached out from the stumps.

“I figured that would happen,” Min-Ho huffed as he dodged an arrow shot by the Huntsman before slicing into the head of a creature that had yet to be named.

The fight continued like that for about ten minutes which left the two males exhausted.

“Your Highness, I believe it is time for us to retreat,” Jae-Yong said as he pushed a creature back with the dull end of his blade.

“I believe you’re right,” Min-Ho replied before the two males took off down the dirt streets.

They almost made it back; however, a black claw had clutched onto the prince’s right ankle, not touching skin, but it dragged him back and tossed him into the air.

As it reared its claw back it was suddenly encased in ice as a female form stepped out from behind it leaving the male to hit the ground with a thud.

“That’s enough playing around. You should be inside.”

The figure spoke with a voice that sounded like multiple overlaid on top of each other.

“Who are you?” Jae-Yong asked with his sword drawn standing over the prince as he stood up.

“That isn’t information either of you need to know.”

As the clouds drifted away from the moon the males were now able to see the form in front of them as made entirely out of ice; however, it moved just like a living being.

“What- how-” “Haha, you don’t really think that one Shrine Maiden couldn’t have survived in a forest where she was practically raised? How do you think that all of these people survived this long without magical protection? How these creatures haven’t ventured their way into your capital? This is your only warning to return back to the capital, I have the situation under control. Now go back inside.”

The figure then turned to leave by walking passed the other creatures who were encased in ice; which, slowly began to crack.

Heading the figure’s warning, the two males made their way back to the tailor shop and knocked on the locked door expecting to wait a while only to have the door open moments after they knocked by none other than the ravenette who had invited them in the first place.

“You’re still awake?” Jae-Yong asked as she led them back up the stairs into the living room.

“I was working on a commission,” she replied giving the two each a cup of water which was sitting on the table, “Now, none of you were injured right?”

“No, but we found out some more about the creatures,” Min-Ho said before taking a drink, “They can be cut; however, they regenerate almost immediately afterwards.”

“That’s… Unfortunate but good to know,” the female said writing down notes on a scrap piece of paper with the light from the single lantern she kept lit, “anything else?”

“There’s a Shrine Maiden who’s alive,” Min-Ho stated before Jae-Yong could say anything causing both him and Rhamina to widen their eyes in shock.

“Your Highness, you can’t just tell anyone about that information!” Jae-Yong scolded, “No offense to you, Ms. Rhamina.”

“No, I agree completely!” she added, “What if I was someone with bad intent? I could legitimately cause such a discord in the kingdom!”

“Rhamina, you are a trustworthy person I know you won’t do anything heinous with this information,” Min-Ho said earning a dumbfounded look.

“You never know! I could just be putting on an act so I can kill you!” she scolded.

“Fine, I order you to keep this information to yourself,” he sighed loosening the laces on his arm guards, “Is that enough for you?”

“So… What do you plan to do with that information?” Rhamia asked as she sat with her legs tucked under herself on the floor.

“If I’m to defeat those things I’ll need her help?” Min-Ho explained.

“And just how do you plan on getting her to help? Your Highness, that creation of the Shrine Maiden clearly showed a distaste for us,” Jae-Yong reasoned.

“We just need to convince her,” the prince replied, “She is necessary for this.”

“How do you know?” Rhamina asked wrapping the shawl tighter around herself.

“The snake you found, I’m pretty sure it’s a pet of the Maiden… It told me,” Min-Ho said.

“... Flora? Your Highness, are you sure?” the ravenette asked.

“One hundred percent.”

“... I should get to bed… have a good night,” Rhamina said with a yawn before making her way to her room as Min-Ho could feel the eyes of Jae-Yong around him.

“Your Highness, why are you telling her all of this?”

“She’s our host and a resident of this area she deserves to know.”

“You’re not going to tell this to the public so why are you telling her?”

“She’s just too easy to talk to.”

The next morning Rhamina was downstairs working as the rest was upstairs eating breakfast.

“Mina, did you already eat?” Hannah asked checking on the ravenette who was now making a green sash to match the red kimono she had made.

“Not yet,” she said pinning the raw edge of the green fabric to hem it, “I’m almost done. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

“Who is that for?” Hannah asked noticing the choice of expensive fabrics.

“Ji-Hae,” Rhamina replied earning a sneer from the redhead.

“Eugh, Su-Won’s sister?” she scoffed.

“Yeah, but we’re getting a lot of money for it so I don’t really care,” Rhamina sighed removing pins and sticking them into the pin cushion as she reached certain points, “As long as she doesn’t cause a scene when she comes to pick it up tomorrow.”

As she reached the last stitch she tied it off and cut the thread before folding it and setting it in front of the body form which displayed the beautiful red kimono. She may have only had a week to complete it; however, she had to admit it was one of the most beautiful pieces she made and Rhamina was quite proud of it.

Unfortunately with who it was going to, a seed of worry began to sprout in her stomach for what would happen to it.

Min-Ho and Jae-Yong sat at the table dawning purple fabrics as a gift from the ravenette and as in her words it was improper for males of their status to be wearing burlap.

As the day passed Min-Ho spent his time walking around the city and talking to the people about what they knew about the creatures and maybe the ice figure without directly mentioning what it told him.

“Any luck?” Rhamina asked looking up at the two males who walked in the door from another commission.

“Unfortunately no,” the male sighed, “nothing other than descriptions we already had about the new creatures. Is your snake still here?”

“I’m sure she’s somewhere in the house, she likes to hunt for the mice,” Rhamina replied as she pinned a pattern onto a white cotton fabric.

“May I look through your notes again?” the prince asked earning a nod from the tailor.

Who kneeled in her spot with a white kimono and her shawl wrapped around her waist.

Her hair was down again; which, the males noticed was normal for her despite it reaching her hips as her unique irises focused completely on her work.

At this time it was barely noticeable; however, the marks on her arms seemed slightly darker than the day before but neither of the males said anything.

As they both walked up the stairs Jae-Yong went to their room while Min-Ho made this way to the living room where the ravenette’s notes were.

“Mi- who are you?” an unfamiliar male asked from the couch.

Min-Ho noticed that the male looked to be a few years older than himself and wore all black clothing made of a cheaper fabric. He also had shaggy dark hair that fell a few inches past his shoulders and black eyes.

“I should be asking you that,” Min-Ho retorted, “Does Rhamina know of your presence in her home?”

‘Aish, I leave for a few weeks and she lets nobles into her home?’ the male asked himself as he looked at the teen’s purple clothes an obvious choice for someone with money.

“Listen kid, just answer my question, who are you?” the man asked.

Before anything else could be said Chloe stepped into the living room to see both males and called, “Mina! Seung-Hyun is back!”

Both males looked back at the fourteen-year-old as a familiar voice called “What?!” from the first floor.

Soft thumps were heard as the female practically flew up the stairs and into the room to see the familiar man standing in her living room.

“You! What did I say about using the door?!” she exclaimed pointing at the man with a glare, “and you think you can disappear for two weeks without telling anybody that you were leaving or where you went?! Who do you think you are?!”

“One of your closest friends for about eight years now?” the male shrugged completely ignoring the female’s frustrated attitude.

“Oh no, you ain’t getting out of this without an earful, dammit! I was worried what if you died?!”

“I’m here now aren’t I?”

Min-Ho could only watch in silence as the female interacted with the new male. He didn’t trust him, at all.

“Oh so he’s back,” Sophie said walking into the room after hearing the ravenette yelling, “Don’t worry he’s Seung-Hyun, a friend of ours.”

In response the prince raised a brow.

“Actually he’s known Mina longer than most of us,” Sophie explained as the ravenette slapped Seung-Hyun in the shoulder before ranting on about him being irresponsible, “They both came here as a pair.”

“I’m fine, kid,” the male chuckled reaching up to ruffle Rhamina’s hair only to be deflected by her own.

“I’m not dealing with your shit,” she seethed before turning away from him.

“Aw come on, Mina,” he said trying to get into the female’s line of sight.

“Mina, you know you missed me.” “Does anyone hear something?” “Mina, really-” “Because all I hear is the sound of an insect buzzing in my ear.”

As the female made her way out of the room she was suddenly forced back by a pair of arms around her waist and someone’s chin on her shoulder.

“Let me go!”

“Not until you acknowledge me!”

“I already did you fudge nugget!”

“Nicely!”

“... Fine welcome back, Seung-Hyun.”

As the grip around her loosened she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck before whispering, “I’m not giving you any of my candy.”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” he exclaimed as she walked back downstairs.

“Suck a fat one!”

“Aish, that girl,” Seung-Hyun sighed as he turned to the prince, “Now seriously who is he?”

“This is the Imperial Prince, Min-Ho,” Sophie introduced, “and this is Seung-Hyun.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Min-Ho said holding out his hand and biting back the want to chew out the man in front of him.

“So, what’s the pretty boy doing here of all places?” Seung-Hyun asked completely dismissing the prince’s gesture, “Don’t you have people’s lives to ruin up in Hanyang?”

“Seung-Hyun!” scolded Hannah, “I know you don’t like rich people but tone it down!”

“Why should I? If he’s going to be leading this country one day he should learn to handle criticism.”

“That is right; however, I would think that most humans knew of manners especially if they interact with someone like Rhamina, she seems to know of them,” Min-Ho retorted with narrowed eyes, “And I’m here to investigate the creatures.”

“Wow, going against your father’s orders to leave the situation alone? How bold.”

Feeling the tension in the room Sophie suggested, “Seung-Hyun why don’t you go harass Mina and I’ll get started on lunch.”

The male went down the stairs without another word as the prince glared at him the entire time.

“I’m so sorry about him, as you can tell he holds a grudge against the upper class,” Sophie said before entering the kitchen.

“... Chloe, are those two a couple?” Min-Ho asked after a few moments of silence.

“Huh? Oh no, a lot of people think they are though,” the female replied pushing her glasses up.

“Chloe, c’mon we have to get the gifts!” Aurora called running out of her room.

“Hoot!” Chloe replied, “I forgot!”

“Gifts?” Min-Ho asked.

“Yeah, the anniversary of all of us moving in together is in two days,” Aurora explained before running down the stairs and down the street to the markets.

“So where have you actually been, Seung-Hyun?” Rhamina asked the male who rested his head on her lap as she worked on a small table in front of her.

“I just went on a field trip through the forests,” he replied looking up at her serene expression.

“Which one?”

“Both.”

“Why were you in the Western Forests?”

“I don’t know. How about you tell me why you were messing with those things again?”

“What-” the male cut her off by grabbing her right arm and pulling back the white sleeve to reveal the extent of the faint marks.

“I have a job to keep people safe you know,” she quietly hissed taking back her arm back.

“Who exactly were you saving when that happened? The girls aren’t stupid enough to get near those things and you’re the one who told everyone to stay inside at night.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m fine anyway.”

“It was that boy wasn’t it?” the male growled causing the girl to pause her work and pet his hair.

“Seung, he isn’t like his father, you know, he came here of his own accord and is actually pretty nice,” she whispered as she ran her fingers through his hair, “Try not to kill him, please.”

“I make no promises,” he sighed relishing in the petting.

“I should probably tell you now so you don’t get angry later but he knows.”

“What?”

“He knows that the Shrine Maiden survived but not who it is yet.”

To keep him from moving Rhamina kept her arms over him and continued, “He won’t find out. Even if he did I’m sure he wouldn’t report anything.”

“Rhamina, he is in direct relation to the court.”

“Yes, but he isn’t stupid. He said himself that she is needed to complete his goal here. He won’t give the orders for execution.”

“You know how risky this is?” Seung-Hyun asked looking into her eyes, “After all this trouble to stay quiet.”

“When was it ever safe? As long as either of us knew we would always be endangering our lives,” Rhamina replied touching their noses together for a second before pulling away, “But where’s the fun if we don’t?”

“Lunch is ready!” Sophie called after about half an hour.

The whole group gathered around the table with Seung-Hyun standing at the counter with his food due to there being a lack of room.

“Seung, I can just pull up a chair you know,” Rhamina suggested.

“No, thanks I wouldn’t want His Highness to get uncomfortable with my commoner presence,” the man replied earning a glare from the other two males.

“I’m-” “Don’t apologize for me, Mina,” Seung-Hyun scoffed.

“Anong, yari sayo? Ha?” Rhamina asked in her native tongue, “Magpakita ng paggalang sa prinsipe.”

“Bakit? Ano ang ginawa niya para sa akin?” he answered back, “Tarantadong bata lang siya.”

“Oh, shit,” Chloe whispered understanding what they were saying clearly.

“What are they saying, Chloe?” Kerstin asked watching her ‘sister’ get more and more upset.

“I shouldn’t say that in front of His Highness,” she whispered back.

“Is is about him?” Sophie asked earning a nod.

“Hoy, ako din yun!” she exclaimed, “Sa ka ikaw din!”

“Aish, whatever just eat your damned food,” she huffed once she saw that he completely ignored her last statement.

Turning back to the table she sighed before saying, “I’m sorry about my outburst it doesn’t happen frequently.”

“Oh yeah, like the other day with Su-Won-” Chloe’s mouth was immediately covered by Sam and Kerstin’s hands but it was too late.

“What happened with Su-Won?” Seung-Hyun asked as he looked up at the group of females who avoided his gaze; meanwhile, Min-Ho could tell that they didn’t plan on actually telling their companion of what happened on the day they had first met.

“Nothing,” Sophie stated.

“Nothing at all,” added Hannah.

Turning to the one who began to blab Seung-Hyun asked, “Chloe, what happened with Su-Won?”

“Nothing happened with him,” Kerstin said as neither she nor Sam dropped their hands from the child’s mouth.

“If it was nothing then you wouldn’t have your hands over her mouth still.”

“I just happened to slap him last week, that’s all,” Rhamina said sipping on her tea, “I don’t know why the rest of you are so worked up.”

“Ramen, you got fucking tackled.”

“What?!”

“... Shit.”

“Dammit, Aurora, I almost saved it,” Rhamina sighed as she looked up to the man who was now beyond furious.

“Seung, you are not going to kill him,” she ordered as the male began to walk towards the stairs.

“I wasn’t, but thanks for the idea,” he said continuing down the stairs.

It was silent after he left with Rhamina silently eating.

“He won’t actually hurt Su-Won, he isn’t stupid,” Rhamina said in order to ease the tension.

“Neither are you but you still slapped Su-Won in front of his entourage,” Sophie commented.

“Wrong, I am stupid,” Rhamina chirped, “Plus he deserved it.”

“Rhamina, you aren’t stupid,” Min-Ho stated earning a chuckle from the female.

“Your Highness, if you knew me better I’m sure you’d agree,” she smiled as she continued her meal.

Once the afternoon came Rhamina went into the back where there was a small shed that housed a tub that was connected to the river, a floor length mirror, and all of her skin and hair products.

Everything was made by her of course since she knew what her skin and hair worked best with.

As she allowed the tub to fill, Rhamina brushed her silky hair carefully as not to rip much of it out.

Once the tub was filled, she stripped and draped her clothes on a bar connected to a side wall and slipped into the tub.

She first cleaned her hair and conditioned it before cleaning her body, taking care to keep her hair out of the water with hair sticks while the products soaked in.

As she washed her face free of product, Rhamina let her hair down into the water and began to wash out the conditioner as well.

When she was finished, Rhamina drained the tub and stepped out as she dried herself.

With a towel draped around her shoulders she stood in front of the mirror and brushed it again before applying a mix of oils in it.

Once she wrapped her hair in the towel she began to apply her skin products onto her face before putting her sleeping clothes on with the shawl now around her hips as a skirt, and taking down her hair, brushing it out one last time before returning back into the main house where they once again began to prep for the night.

The night passed as it usually would with the windows closed, doors locked and lights turned off. Except there was one difference, Seung-Hyun was now in the house occupying the room next to Min-Ho’s and neither were happy about it.

Luckily there were no incidents; however, once the morning light came Rhamina couldn’t help but want to stay in bed and pretend she didn’t exist.

“Rhamina,” came Min-Ho’s voice from behind her door, “You have a customer picking up a kimono today don’t you?”

She groaned in response before he asked, “Are you not feeling well?”

“No, I’m fine,” she said getting out of her bed, “I just don’t get along well with this specific customer is all.”

“Alright, I’ll be in the market today,” Min-Ho said before Rhamina heard his footsteps going away from her door.

She then got dressed in a simple, black kimono which was made of cotton before tying her shawl around her waist again and walked to her small vanity.

Rhamina then applied a bit of a wine colored lip tint before tying her hair up with black and gold sticks.

Looking in the mirror she found herself caught in a trance as her eyes caught onto small wisps in the mirror.

Hiss!

Flora slithered her way onto the female’s lap with a seemingly happy expression as the female smiled down at her.

“How have you been, Flora?” she asked as the reptile rubbed against her hand.

“I’m sorry, Hun, but I have to work today,” she sighed before going downstairs and waiting for her dreaded customer.

“Welcome,” Rhamina said with a bow as Ji-Hae and her assistants walked in through the door.

Rhamina stood off to the side with a small frown as the younger female inspected her piece.

Ji-Hae was beautiful to say the least with porcelain smooth skin, plump lips, and eyes that could see through one’s soul; however, she had one large flaw.

“Is this what you call quality work? How disgusting.”

She was stuck up and biased as all hell.

“Just what I’d expect from a half-assed tailor like yourself.”

She did this all the time just because Rhamina and her girls were technically considered peasants in their financial status.

“Honestly, I don’t get why you still try.”

“If you don’t like it then I guess Kerstin will get a lovely kimono,” Rhamina said walking up to the form which held a red silk kimono with embossed patterns and an emerald sash at the waist to compliment the fiery color.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean you never paid for it at the beginning of commission like you were supposed to so it isn’t yours yet,” the ravenette spoke running her fingers over the fabric.

“It would look much better on her anyway. Look, wouldn’t you say the red silk matches her personality perfectly?” the ravenette smirked as the fifteen-year-old glared.

“Who exactly do you think you’re talking to, Wench?” Ji-Hae hissed, “I am-”

“A human just like my girls or the ones who serve you,” Rhamina interjected as she stood straighter, “And I will treat you as such. A human. An equal. I would’ve thought you learned that by now I don’t care about status or money. If you’re a human then I will treat you as I do everyone else unless you do something to me.”

“You cannot talk that way to someone of my status!”

“I just told you that I don’t care about status, Ji-Hae, if you’re not going to buy the kimono then please leave.”

“I will have this whole shop go bankrupt!” she threatened while getting up in the ravenette’s face, “Unless you get on your knees and apologize.”

The sixteen-year-old only blinked and gently nudged the girl away earning gasps from those who accompanied the noble.

“I don’t get on my knees for people like you,” Rhamina stated bluntly, “Plus why would I do that when I obviously wouldn’t mean it?”

“You need to give some respect!” a woman from Ji-Hae’s group hissed, “You are speaking to Lady Ji-Hae!”

“I know what respect is and I have it but I only give it to those who deserve it,” Rhamina replied, “and from the way she’s acting she deserves none of mine.”

“How dare you!” Ji-Hae screamed as she moved her hand to slap the other; however, her wrist was stopped by Rhamina’s hand around it.

“I thought I told you to get out already,” Rhamina spoke looking her in the eyes.

Ji-Hae was frozen on the spot with her eyes widened in fear. In the light the golden flecks in Rhamina’s brown irises looked like flickers of a flame and she felt helpless.

In Rhamina’s eyes she saw no fear, no emotion, no rage, just calm and that… was terrifying.

~~~Fin. Chapter 2~~~

#Oh My Goddess #Chapter 2 #Rhamina Miyu #Original Story

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lesbiankylereese · 3 years

Text

Day 6 – Caught Naked

Pairing – Sterling/Chen

She never thought she was the type of woman to care about marks on her body. Freckles and scars were already brushed across her skin. She shouldn’t care about any new appearances. And yet she did. She was standing naked in front of her bathroom mirror, hating the little discolored lines on her stomach. Her fingers traced along each one, as if somehow that would erase them all.

Chen was too distracted to hear the bedroom door open and the voice of her husband. “She's definitely your daughter. Ten minutes into the movie and she's sound asleep.” Sterling chuckled as he changed for bed. “I put the monitor on my side so I can hear her if she wakes up tonight. Maybe we'll luck out and get a full eight hours.” The remaining words were tuned out. She was still staring in the mirror when he called her name, fingers still tracing her stretch marks. She wasn't sure how long he had been standing in the doorway when she finally noticed.

Her head snapped over to see him smirking at her like he had made some sort of dirty comment, but the look quickly turned to one of worry when he saw her face. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing. I--" Chen was suddenly aware of how naked she was and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I was just thinking.”

“About?”

She tried not to look at herself in the mirror again, but she couldn’t help it. All she saw was those marks streaking against her skin, covering every inch of her that she used to like. It felt like they were going to consume her.

“Do you…” She felt silly for asking, but she needed to know. Her eyes remained locked with her reflection as she finished the question. “Do you still think I'm beautiful?”

Chen didn't hear him move, but soon his reflection appeared next to hers. His hand softly cupped her cheek and turned her face to his. “You know I do.”

“No, I mean…” She still couldn’t look him in the eye, instead settling for a spot on his shoulder. “I was the hot model. You know? The one with the long legs and perfect stomach that you couldn't wait to hop into bed with. And now I'm…” Her arms tightened around her waist as if they could hide what was underneath. “…this.”

“This?” Sterling's hands gently gripped her shoulders. “I'm not sure what you think this is. Because all I see is a drop dead gorgeous woman with long legs and a perfect stomach that I can’t wait to get into bed with.”

“I'm not though!” She didn't mean to sound so aggressive about it, but it was impossible for her to believe that. Chen stepped back and threw her arms out to reveal her naked body. “Look at me, Erikson! How can you see that?”

The calm look on Sterling's face didn't change at all during her little outburst. He simply waited patiently until she was finished, then slowly closed the gap between them. “Okay. You want to know what I really see when I look at you?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, again cupping her cheek with his hand. “I see a woman whose mind is a complete mystery to me.” He leaned forward, placing a soft kisses on her forehead and cheeks, where the faint sign of her freckles could still be seen.

“I see a fiercely loyal woman, who does whatever it takes to protect the people she cares for.” His lips brushed against her shoulder and down her arm, loosely following the burn scars along it. Chen allowed her arms to drop and he kneeled down to continue his path along it. His face turned towards her hip, another soft kiss placed against a small surgical scar.

“I see a woman who had to make sacrifices and chose happiness instead of fear. But I’ve always seen those things. So what do I see when I look at you now?”

Traveling along her waistline, Sterling placed open mouthed kisses along her stretch marks, the tip of his tongue tracing them. Chen shivered at his work, her hands instinctively going to his hair, a soft gasp passing through her lips. He stopped under her bellybutton, looking up at her with loving eyes.

“I see a woman who has brought me happiness I thought I'd never had. A beautiful woman who wants to spend her life with me. A perfect woman who brought our daughter into this world. Every time I look at you, all I see is how absolutely wonderful you are. And there is nothing in this world that could change that. Nothing.”

Chen wasn't sure if it was the loving look, the soft smile, his words, or a combination of all three, but something about him made her misty-eyed. She squatted down to kiss him, her arms locking around his neck as his slid around her waist, carefully lifting her up as he stood. Sterling carried her into the bedroom, awkwardly depositing her on the bed as he positioned himself above her. Her hands gripped the hem of his shirt to remove it but she only got halfway up his torso before the sound of crying came from the monitor.

“I've got her.” Sterling whispered, peppering a few more kisses on her shoulder as he moved to get up. Chen propped herself up on the bed to watch him leave, giving him a wink when he looked back. She settled back onto the mattress once he was gone and began tracing the stretch marks again. Maybe she wasn't the same woman she was before. But maybe, just maybe, she really was all he saw.

#rp drabbles for chen #sfw

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chimmy-joos · 7 years

Text

Monstrum

Description: Moving to an entirely new town is already hard as is, but now you’ve got a serial killer on the loose and your name is first on his Kill List.

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

word count: 16.4k

tags: smut, angst, serial killer Jungkook!AU

WARNING!!!! I understand that this fic may be very triggering as it contains mentions of murder, extreme violence and rape, so if you are sensitive to those topics I recommend you DO NOT read this. Thank you in advance.

Moving to a new town is hard, especially after the company you worked for went bankrupt and you're left jobless and alone in the hot, summer weather. Thankfully, a close relative informed you about a new apartment near them that was insanely affordable. You didn't even think twice about the possible living conditions before driving out to the secluded town. In all honestly, anything would've sufficed as long as you got out of your old apartment which was now too expensive for you to rent out (not to mention the air conditioning cut off a while back).

The town was, to sum it up, eerily empty. A ghost town. The population wasn't even around a few thousand, probably 3,000 at most, and having a new face come in was as strange as an alien abduction. You knew you'd be the talk of the town for at least a week, but you dealt with it. The apartment that was for rent was cheap and you had internet connection. What else did you need?

Well, other than a job. You had taken care of that one as soon as you could, cruising down the shopping center lined with mom-and-pop stores up and down the boulevard. Stores like antique shops, a run-down movie store which only had movies from the 90's and all of them were in VHS, and even a carpeting store which you hadn't seen the open sign once since moving there. You wouldn't be surprised to see a tumbleweed passing through the vacant streets.

Near the outskirts of town was the sea and the long pier connecting the land to water. The wood leading off the coast was a dark brown and was chipping off at the edges of each piece, weathered down from the constant waves washing over the docks. Along the pier bobbing up and down in the water were fishing boats varying from simple canoes to ginormous metal ships.

The waters were a murky blackish blue, only the shimmering light from the sun as it illuminated off the surface. You peered into the waters as if to see through the thick blackness and the sandy bottom. The fishermen at the docks were very nice and very welcoming towards of you and warned you not to get too close or you'll tear your pretty face apart.

There was a place that caught your attention. Located more towards the downtown area where most of the population used their leisure time was a small donut shop. They were known for their jelly filled donuts and you stumbled across it while hunting for a job.

You ordered a glazed twist and a strawberry banana smoothie when the cashier smiled at you as he took care of your change.

"I recommend the strawberry jelly donuts. They are amazing." The man said, taking your glazed twist from out of the display and placing it in a small paper bag with the logo Sugarcoat spelled out in beautiful cursive font.

"Really? If that's the case, then sure, I'll take one." You smiled back which made the man's expression light up. He took out one of the jelly donuts, perfectly showered in powdered sugar, and placed in a separate bag.

"Let me know what you think." He said while handing you the bag before turning around to make your smoothie. You promptly took the donut out of the bag, curious to see what the excitement was all about, but after biting into the jelly-filled confection, suddenly nothing else in the world mattered.

"Oh my god," you stuttered, your hand going up to your mouth to catch any crumbs that had fallen from the crispy donut. "This is so good." Your brows wrinkled in disbelief and you thought, how could something so delicious be real?

"Isn't it?" The man turned around with your smoothie in his hand, topped with fluffy whipped cream. You nodded in response since no words came to your mind.

"It's so good. Amazingly good. How is it so crispy? And the jelly is so... so tart and sweet at the same time!" You exclaimed. The man nearly jumped over the counter with excitement.

"Exactly!" He grinned, clearly satisfied with your response. "I'm glad you like it. We use strawberries from my grandma's farm and they're all made right back there." He said and pointed a finger to the back of the shop, closed off by two swinging doors.

"Do you make them?" You asked, taking another bite and trying not to melt in front of him from the sheer deliciousness of the donut. He scoffed and shook his head.

"Oh no, I can't even make a omelette without it turning back into a chicken," he said and you fell into a fit of giggles. "The owner makes them but she's out doing errands right now so I'm covering the store for her."

"That's nice," you said and glanced around the bright shop. The walls were a vanilla white and had large, bright pink circles painted along the walls. On the largest circle was the name of the shop, Sugarcoat painted in the same beautiful cursive font. Overhead the menu, there were old pictures in black and white in what the assumed to be the first years of the shop. You guessed that, even in the city, there were mom-and-pop stores that thrived to this day. Around the shop were small tables that seated two people at each, each set of furniture followed the same white and pink color scheme. "I like this place. Are you hiring?"

The man shrugged. "Sure. It's only the owner and me, but I supposed we can take in a new face," he said and leaned over the counter, eyes narrowing in on you. "Speaking of new face, I don't believe I've seen you around here before. Are you visiting?"

"Nope, I just moved here let's say, a couple of hours ago?" You replied and the man's eyes widened. "I still haven't unpacked anything but I thought I should probably get a job first."

"Did you move into the new apartments that just opened up for rent?" He asked and you nodded. You figured word got around fast in such a small town like this. "Good luck, I hear it's haunted."

You jaw dropped. "W-What?"

"Yeah, why do you think it's been up for rent?" He said and you swallowed thickly. Seeing your paled expression, the man burst out in laughter. "I'm kidding. The old residents moved and the landlord was desperate to find new ones, which is why you're paying such a low price, am I right?" He smirked.

"Wow, you are a psychic. Tell me, what does my love life look like in the future?" You leaned in and fluttered your eyelashes and the both of you laughed out loud.

"If you're looking for a job, you can work here." The man said, his smile innocent and widened into a rectangular shape. Your brows raised in shock.

"Seriously?"

He shrugged in response. "Sure, why not? The owner's just an old lady, she won't mind having more company here. Also, I think you're kind of cool," he grinned and reached out his hand. "I'm Taehyung, by the way. Nice to meet you."

You took his hand and squeezed firmly. "Y/N, and likewise. Are you sure you should be making decisions while the owner's away?" You narrowed your eyes suspiciously and Taehyung shrugged.

"I'll be fine. I'll tell her when she comes back, so just drop by here tomorrow and we'll figure out all the legal shit or whatever." He rolled his eyes and you giggled. Maybe working here wasn't going to be such a bad thing. Sure, dieting would be completely out of the question since you would be surrounded by such tempting treats, but that was fine with you.

Taehyung and you spoke a bit more about the best hot spots in town, the cafe everyone goes to, the drive in movies that happens every Friday night. Taehyung warned you not to go because there will always be somebody getting caught having sex and he didn't want you to see it because more often than not, it'll be some middle aged couple and nobody wants to see that.

You returned back home and after filling up your stomach with sweet desserts, you decide to use your hyper energy to unpack your belongings. Taehyung offered to help, but you declined. He was already generous enough to give you a job, so you didn't want him to do any more extra work. Besides, you had moved into this new place by yourself and it wouldn't hurt to act like an adult for once, would it?

The owner of Sugarcoat was, as Taehyung described earlier, an aged woman. Wrinkles created thin crevices around her eyes and mouth and her cheekbones were starting to discolor as sunspots settled in. Her eyes were a deep, brown color and were covered by her loose eyelids. Her thin hair was streaked with strands of grey and white. Although her appearance gave away her age, she moved around quite nimbly. However, she did make Taehyung carry out trays of donuts to the front as well as picking up heavy sacks of flour, but she made every batch of donut by hand.

The owner told you to call her Sue, short for something, but she didn't tell you. You tried asking Taehyung but he didn't know either. As Taehyung assured you, Sue was very pleased to have another face here so Taehyung wouldn't be so lonely. He obviously retorted back to that, whining to Sue about how he was perfectly fine by himself, which only resulted in Sue scolding him. This was going to be a great job.

You received a uniform, which was simply a baby pink tee with Sugarcoat on the front. Other than wearing that, Sue couldn't care less about what you wore.

Apparently on Sundays, everyone closed up early. The entire shopping strip had closed down and the only places that were open were a few fast food restaurants and bars in which the old timers would head over to and perform karaoke throughout the night.

Taehyung invited you out for a meal and you gladly accepted it. He took you to a 24-hour burger joint and the two of you got a cheeseburger and fries. Taehyung pulled into a secluded parking lot so the two of you could eat in peace.

"So," Taehyung spoke up before remembering that his mouth was stuffed with food. He swallowed it down before continuing. "Why did you move to such a shitty place like this?"

You gave him a hard look. "It is not a shitty place. It's cute and makes you feel at home," You laughed and Taehyung muttered back an, I guess under his breath. You rolled your eyes at his childishness before continuing. "The place I used to work at went bankrupt and they couldn't afford to pay their employees anymore, so they fired each and every one of us."

"Ouch."

"I know," you sighed and peered out the window at the violet colored clouds that melted into the aegean sky over the blackened buildings. "This place isn't so bad. I can get a good nights rest without being interrupted by honking cars and my neighbors yelling at 3 in the morning." You scowled while remembering the terrible nights you spent awake back in the city because of the bustling world.

"True, but you do have to worry about tractors breaking down in the middle of the road and chickens stealing your crops." Taehyung shuddered at the thought.

"I'm starting to think you actually hate it here." You chuckled with a wide smile. Taehyung's eyes widened, but he couldn't open his mouth because of all the food stuffed in his cheeks. However, his expression said, I do! You gave him a moment to swallow his food before letting him continue.

"I'm glad you moved here, Y/N, but there's some things about this town that you still don't know about," Taehyung said and suddenly the entire mood in the car went grim. You noted Taehyung's averted gaze and his rigid jaw that clenched at he grit his teeth. He was eating so enthusiastically but now, he looked at his food as if he were holding a dead puppy. Suddenly, the smooth indie music playing from his CD left you feeling distant and detached from the happy mood earlier. You gulped, afraid to say something wrong in a situation such as this.

"What do you mean? Like, secret satanic rituals performed at night?" You laughed, but it only thickened the awkward air. Taehyung realized you were making a joke and the sides of his mouth jerked into a shadow of a smile before disappearing behind his scowl.

"No, I mean serious stuff." Taehyung took a long, deep breath to collect himself. "Recently there... has been some murders happening around town."

You blinked. "Murders?"

Taehyung nodded his head slowly with pressed lips as he hummed softly, anxious for your reaction.

"Murders. Murders as in, killing people or..." your trailed off your sentence, hoping something would come to mind but you were left with nothing.

"I don't know what else constitutes as murder besides killing people," Taehyung managed to chuckle a bit before the mood returned back to solemnity. "I didn't think much of it at first---nobody did since it's such a small town. Old people die often, but when it's women in their late 20's to mid 30's, people start to notice."

"Wait, women? It's only women being killed?" You stammered quickly; your heart rested suddenly increased upon hearing the age range in which you were creeping into.

"Yeah, only women. So far it's been, I think, five women? I forget the number of missing people posters are hanging up on the town bulletin." His eyebrows creased deeply and you knew he was recalling the faces of the victims. Your heart ached for Taehyung. You were new here and the only people you knew were Sue and Taehyung, but Taehyung must've been living here his entire life. He was much closer to the townsfolk and who knew, maybe he was friends with the victims as well.

Your body went stiff as the awkwardness in the air struck you. You didn't know what to say and how to make the mood better. But before you could say something might've made the situation worse, Taehyung let out a startling growl.

"Fuck! Fuck all this depressing shit!" He shouted and your jaw fell at the sudden string of curse words that spilled from his mouth. "I'm so sick of this town and all the stupid shit that goes on here! Like, Jack the Ripper stumbles in here and all of a sudden everyone's running like headless chickens!"

Your hands slapped over your mouth to silence your snort and not to ruin Taehyung's monologue.

"Taehyung, that's really harsh. People died, you know." You stated as a matter-of-factly.

"Look, I know you might think I'm some sort of sociopath---"

"No, not at all." You giggled.

"But my point is, at least something eventful is happening in this place." Taehyung shrugged in response and proceeded to shove fries into his mouth to relieve his anger.

"Why don't you move out to the city? I'm positive it'll make your life more eventful." You suggested and it only made Taehyung frown.

"It's not like I haven't been to the city. I've gone... for field trips in school and stuff like that, but I don't know if I can ever leave this place." He said and you caught a glimpse of a smile over his lips. "This is home."

You spent your time at the shop learning how to make donuts from Sue and decorate them. She gave you free range in that area, allowing you to dowse the donuts in as much sprinkles and edible glitter as you pleased.

Taehyung began leaving early to head down to the dock. Summer was fishing season here in town and Taehyung had been helping out at the ports, packaging fish and delivering orders throughout town. He came back to the shop reeking of smelt and trout and you took joy in watching Sue scold him for that. Although, it never hurt to receive fresh fish on your doorstep with a note that said, fry it using bread crumbs for maximum taste bud EXPLOSION!

On a day Taehyung wasn't working at the docks, the two of you suffered through the intense heat together. You had the air conditioning blasting throughout the store while Taehyung and you sat around sipping new smoothie mixtures that the two of you came up with. Sue had blessed both of you with permission to use the smoothie machine to keep cool while sipping on icy drinks. It was a slow day and the streets were emptier than usual, so Taehyung and you tried to come up with a new smoothie combination. He created a blueberry and coconut smoothie while you, taking a huge risk, tried lemon and pomegranate.

Let's just say pomegranate became your least favorite fruit for the day.

"How high is it?" You grumbled with your head thrown back as you slouched in your chair. Taehyung reached for his phone and slurped his smoothie.

"98." He replied. You groaned louder.

"It was just 96 like, two seconds ago!" You complained.

"Quit it, you baby. Sue's coming back with ice cream in a bit." Taehyung replied. You frowned, feeling sweat trail down your temple and your clothes matting to your body.

"At this point, it'll be ice cream soup."

Just then, the chime of the doorbell rang throughout the store, alerting you and Taehyung that somebody was here. Usually, hearing the doorbell would've been music to your ears considering you were currently working in the middle of a ghost town, but now, in this smothering heat, the last thing you wanted to do was get up.

In the end, it was your job and you didn't want to seem rude to anybody in this nice town, so you pulled your best customer service persona.

"Hi, welcome to Sugarcoat, how can I---" you froze; the words latched onto your throat and refused to come out. Your eyes were wide and staring so intensely as your jaw continued to descend to the floor.

The first thing you noticed about him was his eyes. They were wide and his thin eyelashes cast shadows over his brown eyes and onto his cheeks. His luscious, black hair was frayed in an unkempt manner, as if he had just gotten out of the shower and headed out the door. He wore a thin, black muscle tee revealed his chiseled arms and just a peek at his muscular chest.

He must've been wearing that because it was so hot outside and definitely not to show off his irresistible muscles. Most definitely not.

You also couldn't help but notice the bright red swimming trunks that he wore which caught your eye because of the outstanding color and not the way they accentuated his thigh muscles.

You gulped, eyes fluttering as if he were a mirage and you were trying your hardest to see through it.

"Hey, Jungkook. Long time no see," Taehyung greeted him and the two did a little handshake. Jungkook. The name fit him so well. "Are you still working at the pool?"

"Always have been since the 7th grade," he said, and his voice was like rich honey that passed his lips with a rolling purr. It sent shivers through your body, but nothing like the shivers you felt when his eyes fell on you. Suddenly, the world stopped upon Jungkook making eye contact and you didn't think it was possible to freeze up more than you already had.

"Who's this?" The edges of Jungkook's mouth jerked with a smirk.

"This," Taehyung politely gestured a hand to you. "Is our new hire, Y/N. I'm sure you've heard of her."

"Sure, heard of, but never seen before," his smirk widened and he tilted his head, eyes still on you. "Maybe I should've stopped by sooner."

"Maybe I should go out more." You replied, surprised that you could even form words. Jungkook's eyebrow jerked suggestively and you were quick to turn your gaze away.

"So what'll it be, my friend?" Taehyung smacked the glass counter, taking Jungkook's attention away from you.

"Mixed fruit smoothie, large, please." He smiled back. Taehyung gave Jungkook a thumbs up before turning around to make his smoothie. You slid next to Taehyung, nudging his arm.

"Hey, Taehyung." You whispered. He raised a brow at you while throwing frozen berries into the blender.

"Hm?"

"Who was that?"

"Oh, him? His name's Jung Jungkook and he's the lifeguard at the municipal pool." He sang and your eyebrows raised in interest.

"Lifeguard?" You whispered and glanced back at Jungkook. He was staring up at the menu with his lips pursed in thought. Occasionally, he would glance down at the donuts behind the glass counter and his eyes would sparkle. "He's sexy."

Taehyung froze and looked at you with wide eyes before rolling them back into his head. He huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose before placing the lid over the blender.

"You're actually delusional." He turned the blender on and drowned out any arguement from you. After making the smoothie, Taehyung handed it to Jungkook and he took it happily, handing Taehyung a 10 dollar bill.

"Stop by again sometime, Kook." Taehyung said. Jungkook laughed and pulled the straw into his mouth. He glanced over to you and you made the mistake of making eye contact with him. Although you wanted to look away so badly from embarrassment, there was something about his brown eyes that pulled you in so magnetically.

"Maybe I will." He smirked and turned to leave. After Jungkook left the store, you flopped down in your chair and sighed, fanning yourself.

"Is it just me, or did it get even hotter in here?" You asked. Taehyung reached for his phone again, sighing as he scanned the screen.

"Nope, its at 100 now."

On your day off, you took a trip to the pool. Just to get a good tan and maybe finish reading a book, and definitely not to snoop on Jungkook.

Definitely not.

You wore a simple, red one piece and threw a white kimono over that. With a pair of sunglasses sitting on top of your nose, you were ready to go to the pool.

It was a small building, there being a larger pool indoors that was mostly used by athletes to train as well as a pool on top of the roof of the building. Since it was summer, nearly everybody was up there. You took careful steps to the roof, the sound of your flip flops squeaking on the wet concrete.

When you reached the top, the sun immediately blared down on you and you promptly pulled your sunglasses over your eyes. You headed over to an open lawn chair, saying hello to some people that you knew. Sitting down, you pulled out a book from your bag and opened it to the page that you left off from, but you weren't reading at all. Your eyes scanned the pool in an attempt to find Jungkook. The lifeguard chair was empty so you assumed he was walking around.

"Jungkook!" The man sitting on the ledge of the pool with his legs submerged underwater bellowed across the pool, making you jump in your seat. You looked out to the far end of the pool to see Jungkook wading through the deep end, his hands clasped around a young boy as the child flapped his legs wildly. Jungkook looked over to the man, brushing his hair away from his eyes.

It seemed like time stopped the moment you laid eyes on Jungkook. His body glistening with water droplets that fell off his godly arms. You sighed dreamily when you saw his wide smile, which distracted you from ogling at his shirtless body.

"Don't baby him, okay?! He's a man, he can take it!" The man cackled and Jungkook gave him a thumbs up before returning his attention back to the child. You decided staring wasn't going to help you at all, so you turned back to your book. You would look up on occasion to see Jungkook watching over the pool in his high chair and take a moment to drool over his tanned skin. He would often scan the pool and when he turned to your direction, you would look back down at the book.

"Hey there," you heard his honey voice call out to you. You jumped and looked up, pulling your sunglasses over your head to see Jungkook smiling down at you. "Y/N, right? How's your reading going?"

You looked down at your book and gawked like a fish out of water, unable to answer the sudden question sprung onto you.

"I-Its great." You stammered finally. He sat down in the lawn chair next to you and you finally noticed that he pulled a loose black tee over his body.

"Really? What's it about?" He leaned in. You didn't know if he was faking his interest in your book, but nonetheless, you had no idea what you had read.

"It's um... its about---"

"You wouldn't know, would you?" He chimed in with a smirk. "I see you haven't turned a single page since coming here."

You looked down at your book and sure enough, your bookmark was still placed neatly in the middle. A bright blush covered your cheeks and you wanted to cover our face in embarrassment, but you weren't going to let him get to you.

"Isn't that considered stalking?" You narrowed your eyes at him. Jungkook shrugged.

"I'd consider it being observant," he smirked. "I have to know what's going on in my pool."

You raised an eyebrows and swung your legs over the chair to face Jungkook. He pulled back, startled by your sudden action.

"Oh really? Well then, if this is your pool, what are you doing over here talking to me?" You sneered with narrowed eyes. Jungkook's tongued the inside of his cheek as a smirk widened across his lips.

"Well," Jungkook leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together. "I'm currently on break so my coworker's covering for me." He replied and you glanced over to the lifeguard chair to see a blonde sitting there. "And I thought you'd be lonely sitting here, not reading." Jungkook grinned mischievously and made your cheeks color.

"I was reading." You muttered under your breath.

"Mmhmm, sure," he chuckled and scooted forward. "Are you free this weekend? I'd like to take you out."

You blew a raspberry and stared at him with wide eyes. "Wow, you work fast." Jungkook shrugged at that.

"I like to get what I want. So about it? Maybe a nice dinner date with a movie afterwards?" He suggested. You pondered on that, even though the idea seemed so romantic and perfect. You pulled your bottom lip under your teeth and smiled, pulling your hair behind your ear.

"I like horror, if that's okay with you."

Jungkook and you exchanged phone numbers and the minute you got home, he texted you. He was a very straight forward person and the first few texts from him laid down the time he would be picking you up, the place you would be eating at, and the movie you would be watching. He was sweet, always asking if his choices were okay with you but since you weren't familiar with the area, you let Jungkook take the lead.

On the night of your date with Jungkook, you dressed up in a casual, white romper and curled your hair just enough so it fell like waterfalls. He picked you up at 7, just like he said in his text and you didn't want to keep him waiting. Not to mention the fact that you were nearly shaking from excitement and boy did Taehyung receive the blunt end of your endless squealing and gushing over your date with Jungkook over the past week.

You headed out your apartment upon receiving a text from Jungkook. After stepping out of the apartment complex, you nearly melted after seeing Jungkook casually leaning against his sleek, white car which contrasted with his black leather jacket and ripped black jeans. His hair was messy, just like you liked it. Everything about him just screamed sexy.

Jungkook looked up when he saw you walking towards him; a warm smile spreading across his lips.

"Hey," he said, pushing himself off his car. He held out his hand and you grasped onto it. "You look beautiful."

"And you don't look so bad yourself." You giggled when Jungkook shrugged his shoulders.

"It's an effort. Shall we depart, madam?" He raised an eyebrow at you and opened the passenger door to his car. You pressed your lips together to hold back the wide grin threatening to show.

"Why, thank you." You said and stepped into the car. Jungkook drove to a steakhouse located downtown, where most of the modern stores were located. Sugarcoat was the one store that connected modern business to old-fashioned one since it had been around for so long but still kept that fresh, modern feel to it.

You ordered a filleted grilled salmon while Jungkook had a roasted, half chicken, which you took great joy in watching each such a monstrosity. Over dinner, he asked you about the city and what you did there. Jungkook had been to the city more than Taehyung, so it was easier to talk about it without explaining what everything was.

"Do you ever want to go back?" Jungkook asked, his eyes seemed to sparkle with curiosity as he listened to you speak. You twisted your lips in thought.

"Maybe one day, but I like it here." You chuckled.

"Really? In this shit hole?" Jungkook narrowed his eyes at you suspiciously, as if you had said the most offensive thing ever. You laughed out loud.

"You and Taehyung both. I don't get what's so wrong with this place! Why do you two hate it so much?" You argued. Jungkook licked his lips and scooted forward in his chair, leaning in as if to tell you a secret.

"Well, for one, there's absolutely nothing to do here. It's more boring than watching two snails have sex."

"I bet you'd love watching that, wouldn't you?" You sneered, making Jungkook pause. He quirked an eyebrow at you.

"Oh, I'm not interested in slow sex, baby girl." He smirked and your jaw dropped immediately. You gawked at him in shock at the sheer suggestiveness behind his words. Jungkook was a straight forward man who liked to get what he wanted, but for some reason, the way he dodged directly spouting risqué comments by lacing his words with subliminal, raunchy content made your face flush more than if he were to say it directly. The fact that he said slow sex was uninteresting and boring to him only hinted that he loved rough sex.

And god were you willing to do anything to experience that.

"Y-You---" you stuttered, eyes blinking furiously as you tried to find words to say. Jungkook chuckled as he rest his elbow on the table, leaning in towards you. You gulped as a whiff of his sweet cologne wafted through your nose.

"I know it's still early into the night, but I think seeing a movie is the last thing on our minds right now." He whispered to you, nearly purring into your ear. You squeezed your legs together and suppressed a moan. How could such a man trigger such a reaction from you from just talking?

Turning your attention back to Jungkook and away from the possible ways he could fuck you, you nodded. Jungkook smirked and stood up from his seat, taking your hand again.

The next thing you knew, Jungkook had you slammed and pinned against the wall of his apartment as his lips ravished yours aggressively. You wrapped your arms around his neck to hold you up, moaning into his mouth as his hands traveled up your sides. Jungkook pulled away with a growl, biting your lip in the process.

"Fuck, why do you have to wear this thing?" He cursed, pulling at your one piece romper. You giggled and began unbuttoning the romper in the front. Jungkook watched with wide eyes, anticipating the reveal of your supple breasts only covered by your bra.

You let the top of the romper fall and Jungkook exhaled in satisfaction, the sight of your tits turned him on so badly that his cock pressed painfully against his jeans. Jungkook snatched your hand and lifted you over his shoulder, rushing to his bedroom. He flopped you on the bed before dragging the rest of your romper down your legs and threw it on his floor.

"Off. I want it all off." He snarled, ripping your panties off. You hummed happily and reached behind your back to unclip your bra. Meanwhile, Jungkook had already stripped off his jacket and shirt and was now unbuttoning his jeans. After being completely naked, you got on your knees and watched with glazed eyes as Jungkook pulled down his boxers; his erect cock springing up. Immediately, he grasped his long fingers around it, stroking it a few times as a low grunt came from his throat.

"Come here and suck me off." He said. You gladly slid off the bed and got on your knees. Jungkook stood in front of you and you took his member in your hands. You stroked it rhythmically, squeezing it from time to time. Hearing Jungkook's moan as you rubbed your palm over his head made you determined to make him cum in your hands.

Remembering Jungkook wanted you to suck him off, you took him into your mouth and ran your tongue over the slit. Jungkook jerked his hips forward and hissed. His hands went up to run through your hair before gripping it tightly.

"Just like that." He said under his breath, eyes glossing over with need as he watched his cock disappear inside your mouth. You took him deeper, humming happily as he slid down your slick throat. You continued to suck Jungkook off as strings of moans and grunts left his mouth. He would occasionally throw his head back and you would look up to see his neck damp with sweat and his arms flexing as he gripped your locks.

Jungkook pulled your head back suddenly and you gasped when the sudden fullness Jungkook's cock gave you was snatched away from you.

"You were about to make me cum." He chuckled and helped you stand up by grabbing your arms. Jungkook pulled you close and planted his lips onto yours briefly before pulling away. He picked you up from under your arms and pinned you to the nearest wall; his cock pressed against the underside of your ass throbbing painfully. You giggled and ran your hands up his chest to wrap around his arms.

"You do work fast." You purred. Jungkook took his cock in his hand and slapped it against your folds making sure the tip caught all of your juices that were already lathered around your sex.

"Looks like you don't need any foreplay, do you?" Jungkook smirked as he continued to tease your hole with the tip of his cock. You whined in need, pressing your head against the wall.

"Please, Jungkook. Just hurry up and fuck me!" You pleaded. Jungkook wanted to tease you more, maybe taking the time to watch you squirm as his tongue explored every part inside of you, but seeing you so desperate for his cock made it impossible not to slam it into you.

He suppressed a possessive grunt with a shaky exhale and positioned his dick at your entrance, slowly entering inside of you, filling you up to the brim. You gasped as Jungkook's length stretched you out. It had been a while since you had sex that you had forgotten how good the stretch was.

"Holy fuck...!" You clenched around Jungkook subconsciously. He grunted and latched his lips onto your neck, grazing his teeth along your flesh.

"You're so tight. So fucking tight." Jungkook moaned into your neck before he began thrusting into you. He was slow at first, making sure that you adjusted to him perfectly before grinding deep inside of you. Your eyes fluttered back from pleasure and your jaw hung low.

Jungkook held you pinned against the wall with his hands gripping the bottom of your ass tightly as he continuously slammed into you. With each thrust, you could feel him reaching your deepest parts. When he pulled out of you, it was like being released from the sweetest sensation you had ever felt and you wanted more.

"God, you feel so good squeezing around me," Jungkook groaned loudly, his thrusts started become more erratic and rapid. His lips found yours and he sucked on your bottom lip, nibbling it. Finding it hard to stay up with Jungkook's hurried movements and your breath being taken away by his lips, you latched your nails onto his back and dug into them. Jungkook groaned into your mouth in pain as he pulled away, pressing his forehead against yours. "You like that? You like it when I fuck you deep?"

Your only response was a needy whimper and you nodded your head furiously while biting your lower lip. With every deep thrust, a burning sensation began to gradually grow hotter in the pit of your stomach. It was so intense that it came to a point where no moans were coming out of your slacked mouth. Jungkook caught onto the fact that you were on the brink of climaxing from the way your eyebrows knit deeply and how your fingernails were carving out crescents in the nape of his neck.

"Cum for me, baby girl. I want you to come all over my cock." He whispered in a husky voice. You whimpered, biting your lip in need before tightening around Jungkook. He moaned and his sporadic thrusts returned and they synced with his desperate moans and whimpers.

It must've been because Jungkook was striking your g-spot with every thrust of his and not because he told you to cum, but here you were, cumming all over his cock as he drove it into you without a second thought. You scrambled to stay up, nails scratching up his shoulder blades and the nape of his neck. Your pussy was pulsing around him, clenching involuntarily as pleasure washed over you in intense waves.

"Oh my god!" You gasped from oversensitivity. Jungkook began to move slower, pulling out of you so agonizingly slow and pushing his wet cock back in to grind into you.

"Tell me where you want my cum." He nibbled on the meat of your neck.

"Inside. I want it inside me." You exhaled sharply. Jungkook grunted and slammed into you; his mind was hazy from your sultry words. Jungkook managed to get a few hard thrusts in before he was spilling his seed over your walls and your entrance. His eyes squeezed shut and he tried not to black out from the blinding pleasure of your soft walls constricting around him as he came. Jungkook pulled out before his cock was throbbing in oversensitivity and slowly set your feet back on the ground. Your hand reached down to cup your sex and scooped up the dripping cum that leaked out of you.

"You're right," you said as Jungkook was putting his boxers back on. He glanced up at you through his sweat-soaked hair. "Slow sex is pretty boring." You laughed and Jungkook managed a smirk.

"I'm happy you think so."

The next few weeks go by in a fluffy daze with your heart dictating your every movement and action. Taehyung and Sue couldn't help but be somewhat creeped out by all the hearts you were icing on the donuts. Jungkook asked you to be his girlfriend officially after a long night drive to the outskirts of town. He proposed the question so subtly as you spoke about moving into an apartment with your significant other. Jungkook then asked if you wanted to move in together and you, quite taken back at his sudden question, told him that it would be appropriate to start off dating before moving in together to which he replied, then what are we waiting for? You could not stop screaming about that to Taehyung for a good week or so.

Jungkook would now stop by the shop to pick up a smoothie before going to work over by the pool just to see you.

"You should come by later." Jungkook smirked as he nibbled on his straw. The action was so nonchalant yet Jungkook pulled it off so sexily that you couldn't help but gawk.

"I'm not off until later tonight." You pouted, intertwining your hands with his over the counter.

"I'll miss you." He pouted back, gazing dreamily into your eyes as you melted into his.

"I'll miss you more."

"You guys are disgusting. Get a room, would you?" Taehyung gagged from behind you, nudging you with his hip to move out of his way.

"Oh, well, the storage room is empty. We can---"

"Absolutely not." Taehyung interjected with a glare and the two of you giggled.

"Alright, I gotta go or else my manager's gonna chew my ass out." Jungkook said before smoothly brushing his lips over yours with a kiss. It happened so quickly that you didn't have time to react, but he left you feeling bare and needing his touch so desperately. You watched him walk out the door, a silly grin spread across your face.

"I see somebody's in love." Taehyung snickered as he studied your face. You pulled away from the door which Jungkook had left through long ago.

"In love? No, not even close. Completely and utterly obsessed with him? Maybe." You shrugged and Taehyung flopped down in a chair from the lobby. A long and deep sigh came from his chest and the strange sound worried you. "Are you okay?"

"I'm... tired." Taehyung closed his eyes and it was then with the sun shining down on his tan skin that you could see the deep set of dark circles under his eyes. "It's gotten so busy down at the docks that they're not letting anyone go home until 3 in the morning." Taehyung complained as he rubbed his eyes. You frowned deeply. Seeing the usual energetic Taehyung so down and lifeless hurt you, but you knew there wasn't anything that could be done about it.

"I can always come down and deliver a smoothie." You grinned, trying to make him feel better. Taehyung purses his lips in thought.

"I don't know if drinking a smoothie while surrounded by disgusting, raw fish is a good idea." Taehyung laughed and scrunched up his nose at the thought.

Saturday nights were movie nights with Jungkook and you. Over the time that you two started dating, you've already went through all of the Disney movies and we're getting into early 80's movies. Now, Saturday nights were your favorites. On these nights, even if you didn't have sex (which the night usually ended with), just snuggling up with Jungkook on his couch with his arm around your shoulder and your hands intertwined together. His thumb would draw small circles over your knuckles and you melted the small gesture.

"I still think Samantha should've ended up with Ted." Jungkook shrugged his shoulders while popping M&M's into his mouth. You rolled your eyes.

"Ted was a freak and a stalker. Plus, Jake is so hot!" You exclaimed, making Jungkook glare at you.

"So that's your type? Cocky jocks that bully kids smaller than them?" He wrinkled his brow. You twisted your lips and tilted your head sideways.

"No, my type is cute lifeguard boys that think they're so much better than everyone else." You sneered and watched Jungkook's eyes widen and his jaw drop in shock.

"When have I ever?!" He snapped, grabbing your wrists and pulling you over him. You squealed, straddling your legs around him. Jungkook still held your wrists tightly as he gazed into your eyes. You stared back, melting into a soft smile upon seeing his puppy dog eyes. All of a sudden, Jungkook squeezed your wrists and your attention was pulled away.

"Your wrists are so... soft." He said in a low voice, almost inaudible. His thumb began rubbing small circles over it, feeling every tendon and gracing over your veins. There was an awkward silence that filled the room despite the ending credits of the movie you just finished playing in the background.

Suddenly, Jungkook's touch felt cold and distant. His eyes weren't filled with light and excitement and instead there was a shadow cast over them, void of his beautiful brown eyes. Now, you were looking at black marbles that paid no attention to you.

You jerked your hand away from Jungkook and the sudden movement made him jump, almost as if you had snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, I got lost in my train of thoughts. Where were we?" Jungkook said and let his hands fall on your thighs. You managed to smile back, part of you already forgetting what had just happened, but the other part was still uneasy. Of course, the former was definitely more dominant.

"Well, I believe I'm still waiting to receive my punishment." You sang in a sultry voice. Jungkook quirked a brow as you scooted up his legs. Your hands snaked up his chest to wrap around his neck, grinding on his crotch. He let out a deep growl in return as his nails dug into your thighs.

"You're such a treat." He said through his clenched teeth. Jungkook's hands grabbed under your thigh to pull you upward so you were no longer straddling him and instead your knees were digging into the couch. From that position, you were now face to face with your noses nearly touching. You inhaled sharply, surprised by his dominant actions and forwardness. Jungkook ran his hand up your hamstring slowly as chills ran through your body. You shuddered and let your eyes fluttered close. You were already anticipating the incredible sex that would come after all his teasing, so you didn't mind.

Then, as if to deliberately rip your mind away from thinking of anything pleasurable, Jungkook dug his nails into your skin and ran them along your flesh, leaving burning trails in their tracks.

"Ow! What the fuck?!" You pushed yourself off of Jungkook and stood up, looking down at your legs to see claw-like marks running across your leg. Your jaw dropped in utter disbelief.

"Y/N, oh god, I'm so sorry. I wasn't---" Jungkook immediately stuttered and stood up.

"What is wrong with you?" You snapped, taking a step back and putting a hand up as if to ward him off. Jungkook refused to take a step forward and his face fell upon seeing your panicked expression.

"Y/N, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. It was an accident and it won't happen again. I promise." He said in a calming voice. You lowered your hand reluctantly while the other one continued to hold your hamstring, soothing the pain with soft rubbing.

"I think I should go home for tonight." You said hurriedly, grabbing your jacket and purse from the couch and turned to head out the door. As you fumbled with the lock, Jungkook approached from behind you, pressing his against the door.

"Y/N," he whispered into the shell of your ear. You froze and let his hand trail down your arm until he reached your hand. Jungkook squeezed it softly. "Have a good night." He said before pulling away. You exhaled sharply, very much tempted to stay and forgive him, but the mood wasn't right and you already had the door unlocked. In the end, you left Jungkook's apartment and drove home; your mood already bitter for the night.

A few nights passed after your falling out with Jungkook, but he still came by during work to say hi and converse before going to work. Even after a few nights passed, the marks Jungkook left on you that night still remained. Taehyung wasn't blind to it either. He noticed the uneasiness you portrayed when Jungkook came by the shop and he saw the way you clung to your body tightly, hugging yourself as if to make you smaller whenever you were in the presence of Jungkook.

He also noticed the red marks that mysteriously appeared after the weekend. He noticed how you wore long jeans instead of shorts despite the sweltering heat and when he asked why, you dodged the question. Taehyung wasn't dumb. Sure, he was a goof and was always looking for a good time, but he could read in between the lines. It was when the bruising hadn't gone away for days that Taehyung finally asked you about them.

"How are things with you and Jungkook?" Taehyung asked as you were wiping down the counters. You didn't react too much, but even from the slight twitch of your mouth Taehyung knew you were hesitant to answer the question.

"We're fine. We still see each other everyday and we hang out on the weekends." You answered quite vaguely. Taehyung frowned knowing that you were still dodging his questions.

"Y/N," he said, his tone firm. You glanced up at him meekly. "You know you can tell me anything."

Silence laid between you save the scratchy radio playing over the speakers and the soft humming of the smoothie blender behind you. You swallowed thickly. You were definitely afraid to tell Taehyung. This was something that happened in your relationship and you weren't sure if letting people know about it was a smart idea.

But Taehyung was your friend, your closest friend, and you felt guilty for making him worry.

Clearing your throat, you responded. "A few days ago, I was over at Jungkook's place. You know, Saturday is movie night and I went over to spend time with him. But then... things escalated and---"

"Escalated? Like how?" Taehyung leaned in over the counter. You gave him a look despite the seriousness of the conversation.

"You know what I mean," you said and looked down at the inside of your wrists. The mark was fading away, but the coldness and apathy you felt from Jungkook that night still made you shudder. It was as if he was a different person. "I thought he was being romantic and everything, that was until he---"

"Did he hurt you?" Taehyung perked up, nose flaring in silent rage. "He hurt you, didn't he?"

"No," you interjected quickly. "Well, not exactly. I don't think it was intentional."

"Y/N..." Taehyung sighed as if to one, collect his thoughts and two, hold himself back from saying something he might regret later. "I don't think that's healthy at all."

You nodded in acknowledgment. "It's okay, Taehyung. I'm okay."

"It's not!" Taehyung exclaimed loudly. You stared at him with wide eyes, clearly startled by his outburst. Taehyung took a deep breath and calmed himself. "It's not okay, Y/N. This is wrong. You shouldn't be with someone who hurts you."

"I know," you nodded, refusing to say anything more than that. You knew it wasn't right, but you wanted to give Jungkook the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was just a one time thing. Maybe it was an accident.

"If he does anything else, let me know." Taehyung grunted and turned away to release his anger elsewhere. A small smile twitched at your lips. You were happy, or more enthralled to know that Taehyung worried about you to this extent. Heart-warming yes, but did it ease your anxiety? The unsettling feeling you felt in your gut whenever you were around Jungkook? The fear that Jungkook would hurt you again? Definitely not.

You assumed, since coming to this small town, that nothing eventful would happen. That was somewhat true. During the day, the townsfolk carried out their routine as if it were any regular day, not caring about anything else; not even batting an eye at the news of a serial killer on the loose. At night, you could sleep carefree without having to wake up in the middle of the night to bang on your wall to quiet the neighbors.

That was somewhat true.

It was nearing one in the morning and you were absolutely determined to finish the latest season of the new show you started. You had been texting Jungkook all night up until he had fallen asleep on you in the middle of the third season. You were just laying in bed, eyes red and stinging from forcing them to stay open so you could finish the show. As usual, the residents around you were dead asleep and the only sounds were either from your laptop or the barking of a dog.

You were dozing off at around three with a couple episodes left when the most unexpected thing that could happen in your apartment complex occurred. You were suddenly jerked awake by the sound of glass shattering. You straightened up your posture, eyes wide and alert as you looked around wondering where the noise came from. Your windows were still intact, but the sound was so pronounced that it could only come from your neighbor's.

You grabbed a cardigan before walking out of your apartment and into the hall. You could see other residents coming out; their movements slow and groggy as they had just woken up.

"What's going on?" You muttered to yourself and headed outside the complex to see a gathering of people standing outside. You poked and nudged your way through their shoulders to see what the commotion was about, only to reveal an array of broken glass on the ground.

"What happened?" You asked one of the residents.

"The house got broken into." The person replied and pointed the smashed window. Egg colored curtains swayed in front of it from the slight summer breeze that passed by.

"Has anyone called the police?" You asked, reaching for your phone in case nobody had done so yet.

"Don't worry, they're on their way. It's a shame nobody here puts up security alarms anymore. That way, the police'll be here quicker."

Indeed, the police arrived long after the woman's house was broken into. You were debating on letting the issue go and returning back to your apartment to finish the show if only the police were investigating right outside your window. You didn't know that the resident was living next door. There was nothing stolen, but that was the least of your worries. The police had found out through hours of investigating that the resident, a 76-year old woman by the name of Meredith, was murdered with a knife wound to the chest and died of blood loss. It wasn't said amongst anyone there, but they were all thinking the same thing.

This was undoubtedly another victim of the serial killer.

The police came to the conclusion that there was no more harm done other than the one murder and they would be wary of anything happening like this again. They suggested that you stay inside for most of the time and if not, be careful of your surroundings.

After everything had settled down, you returned to your apartment. You didn't want to stay after and witness the paramedics escort the elderly woman out of her home. If you weren't already so tired and sleep-deprived before, you were most definitely depleted afterwards. Luckily you didn't have work the next day (or in a few hours) so you slept in. Before going to sleep, you texted Jungkook and Taehyung and told them what happened so they would hear it from you first before word got around town as quickly as it did.

You awoke to a bountiful amount of text messages from both of them consisting of panicked "are you okay?" and "are you hurt?" More of a frantic and urgent manner with random capital letters from Taehyung but that was just his personality. Jungkook wasn't much different, but he was more mature than Taehyung.

You walked into Sugarcoat the next day and was immediately bombarded with questions from Taehyung. It was so much that it went from worrying about you to scolding you for being so careless.

"Taehyung, I'm fine! I've told you at least a thousand times over text that nothing happened to me!" You laughed at his absurdity.

"Well, you should still be careful! Who knows, maybe the person was going from house to house!" He continued to scold you and you rolled your eyes at him as his words went in one ear and right out the other. Just then, the bell on the door jingled lightly and the both of you turned your heads. You raised your eyebrows in surprise to see Jungkook panting; his hair was disheveled and matted to his forehead with sweat.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at wo--" you asked but before you could finish your sentence, Jungkook ran towards you and cut you off with an extremely tight hug. You groaned in pain and tried to tap on his back to loosen his grip, but Jungkook didn't budge. Finally, after a desperate whimper, Jungkook released you and his hands went up to cup your face.

"You're not hurt or anything, are you?" He asked, tilting your face in all sorts of directions as he examined you. You gently pulled his hands down away from your face and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I told you, nothing happened to me. I'm perfectly fine." You replied in your best calming voice. Jungkook nodded, but you could tell he was still hesitant to let the thought go.

"I can't believe there was another victim. There hasn't been one for the longest time," Taehyung shook his head in disbelief. His teary eyes wandered to the glass display of donuts and he ran his fingers over it. "Poor Meredith... the coconut sprinkled donuts were her favorite." Taehyung reached into the display and pulled it out, taking an unenthusiastic bite out of it.

"Are you going to be okay with staying at home?" Jungkook pouted as he gave you his signature puppy dog eyes. His fingers pushed your hair away from the face idly as he anticipated your answer.

"Well," you took a deep breath. "The police are still swarming around the complex like bees so I'd rather not stay there."

"In that case, you can stay with me. I'm sure my grandma would love having you." Taehyung smiled innocently. You were about to reply when Jungkook intertwined his hands with yours.

"I think it'd be better if Y/N stayed with me. You know, since we're dating and all." Jungkook squinted his eyes and you could nearly taste the sarcasm dripping from his words. You hoped Taehyung didn't take any offense to it because you knew his intentions were good, but when you glanced at him, his smile was still strong.

"Y/N? Is that okay with you?" Taehyung raised his brows. You felt Jungkook's thumb begin to rub circles around your knuckles which was his way to calm you. He always had a way to make your heart skip a beat by doing even the slightest gesture.

"That's fine," you squeezed Jungkook's hand back. "I haven't been over in a long time." You gazed upon Jungkook with dreamy eyes. He smiled softly at you and kissed you just as softly.

"I'll see you soon, then." He said and released his grasp from your hand. Jungkook raised his hand to Taehyung in a casual farewell before heading out the front and running back to the pool where he should've been the entire time.

"Are you sure about this?" Taehyung asked, bringing you out of your longing stare out the door. You turned back to him to see Taehyung's eyebrows wrinkled. "After everything that happened, you still want to stay at his house?"

You couldn't seem to answer the question right away. It was harmless; in fact, you knew Taehyung was asking only because he cared deeply for you. For you, being with Jungkook seemed to overshadow the fear of him doing something again.

"I'll be fine, Taehyung. If anything happens, you'll be the first one I'll call."

So the night crept in and Jungkook picked you up from work. You could see as you left the shop after closing up how Taehyung frowning in worry as he watched you leave. He probably wanted to say more and stop you from going, but he really had no right to say anything anymore.

Jungkook drove you to his place and the two of you caught up on work, personal life, and even passed around inside jokes. It was so nice to catch up and talk to Jungkook that you completely forgot the worries you had. He had a way of doing that to you; to take all of your worries and cares away so easily.

Upon arriving at Jungkook's apartment, you immediately got comfortable and changed into one of his oversized hoodies(which always smelled pleasantly of fresh linen) and stripped yourself of any undershirts and pants. You know, for easy access. After being void of Jungkook's company for so long, it was almost impossible not to rip his clothes off and mark up every inch of his body. The two of you must've been fucking for hours, round after round with little to no time for rest.

And then came your period of rest, at around one in the morning as you slept curled up in his sweater. You fell asleep with Jungkook's fingers raking through your hair, snuggled in his chest that radiated warmth.

You didn't think it was strange for Jungkook to carefully remove his hand from underneath you and sneak out of bed. Maybe he was just using the bathroom, or getting a drink of water. Maybe all that rummaging and clinking was him trying to find a cup in his drowsiness.

Then, rough hands were tangled in your hair, pulling strongly at your scalp. The covers were thrown off your legs as you were dragged off of the bed. Your mind couldn't wrap around what was happening through the sleep drawn over your eyes, muddling your mind in confusion. You felt your legs get scratched by the laminated floors of Jungkook's apartment and finally after seconds of realizing the pain coming from your head, your hands shot up in an attempt to release the muscular hands that were gripping your hair.

Your body was slammed against a wall and your breath was knocked out of you; you didn't even have the strength to utter an ow.

Your eyes fluttered open and you tried to make out the blurry figure that was now kneeling in front of you. Hands roughly grabbed your face and squeezed to stabilize your head so you could focus on the person. It wasn't long before his wide, brown eyes met yours through his soft fringe.

"Are you awake now?" Jungkook's voice was as smooth as ever, still retaining that velvety tone that always made you melt. "If you aren't, there's still much more to come." He flashed a quick smile before releasing his tight grip on your face. Pain began to settle in quickly from the stinging in your cheeks to the burning of your back. He stood up and walked to the kitchen table and grabbed a frayed rope. He examined it for a few seconds before running his palm over it, feeling every fraud strand.

"W-What---" you tried to speak, but your words tumbled out of you in a quiver. Jungkook didn't bother letting you finish as he knelt down in front of you, grabbing hold of your leg. You gasped sharply, panic overcoming you as the true severity of the situation came to realization. "Don't touch me!"

Jungkook slapped you across the face and your mouth fell open in shock. Never had you been hit by your significant other, and for someone like Jungkook to do it was unbelievable.

"Stop struggling and we'll end this quickly." He growled under his breath. Despite all your struggling and thrashing, Jungkook still managed to push your legs together and tie them with the rope. He grabbed your face again and squeezed making you gasp and hold your breath in sheer fear. Your limbs weren't listening to you even though your mind screamed for them to move. Jungkook was so close, so vulnerable that with a single punch you could get away, but your arms were frozen. Trembling.

Suddenly, Jungkook was no longer the cute lifeguard that visited you at work. He was no longer your boyfriend that took you out to dinner and made mix tapes for you, about you. His eyes no longer looked at you with affection and adoration and instead a cold, glazed sheet fell over them. His hands that used to hold you in their comforting warmth were now working nimbly with ease and practice to tie up your wrists in a thinner rope.

Suddenly, Jungkook was no longer your Jungkook.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red ball gag, raising it in front of you for you to examine it.

"Open." He demanded. You didn't move. He grabbed your face again, fingers sinking into your tender cheeks. "Open up or else I'll rip your jaw open." He growled and your jaw fell open in obedient silence. He popped the gag into your mouth, scraping against your teeth as you resisted just slightly, but not enough in fear that Jungkook would do something to hurt you.

"Perfect," Jungkook smiled in satisfaction as he gazed upon his work. Your feet were bound together by the rope which dug into your ankles with a sharp pain every single time you struggled. Your hands were the same; tied tightly together by a rope and knotted for extra measures. "I knew your wrists would look beautiful in those ropes." Jungkook's hand reached for your face and you turned your head, shuddering in sheer fear.

"What's wrong? All of a sudden you hate when I touch you? What about two hours ago when you were begging for me to touch you? Hm?" Jungkook sang in a mocking tone and with every single word, the urge to vomit became stronger. How could someone you felt so fondly towards suddenly seem so revolting?

"So here's the plan, Y/N," Jungkook shifted into a squatted position. "You play it by my rules and I'll make things quicker for you. Painless, even. If you don't and you make one single sound, I'll make sure that pretty little face of yours won't be seen ever again." He stroked his knuckles against your cheek, too softly for a psychotic killer.

"Do you understand?" He asked, eyebrows wrinkled. You don't remember if you nodded your head or if you just sat there shaking uncontrollably. Whatever you did, Jungkook stood up from his squat and headed back to the table of supplies. As he ran his hand over them, his lips pursed in deep thought as he pondered on what to use. The clinking of metal rang in the apartment.

In the corner of your eye, you watched as Jungkook pick up a long, sharp knife that made a resounding shing. You cried out desperately, tears streaming down your cheeks.

"Oh, you like this one? I like this one too." Jungkook chuckled and set the knife aside. You squeezed your eyes shut and felt the tears pool at the corners of your eyes. You wondered what you did that caused you to end up in this situation. Was it because you forgot to wish your grandmother a happy birthday before she died a month later? Was it because you forgot to give the right amount of change to a customer? How could you have been so ignorant and blind to the fact that your boyfriend was a psychotic serial killer?

Jungkook returned to your side with cheerful steps and a drawstring bag slung over his shoulder. He knelt down and gripped the area where your feet were bound by ropes and then where your hands were before picking you up effortlessly. He reentered the bedroom and threw you onto the bed carelessly before stripping the drawstring bag off his shoulder. He opened it and pulled out the same knife that you saw before.

You cried out a muffled scream as best as you could with the gag in your mouth and thrashed around in a useless attempt to free yourself. The more movement you made, the more the ropes dug into your skin, peeling and scraping at your wrists and ankles until blood seethed through the shallow cuts.

Jungkook stilled your movements by climbing on top of you; straddling his thick legs over your waist. He held the knife in his hand as an eager smile curled at his lips.

"Why are you doing this?" You managed with a shaky voice, but with the gag in your mouth it came out as 'hwai aw hyuu doohing hiss'

Jungkook wrinkled his brows, clearly surprised that you could even speak in a situation like this. "Because I'm bored. I'm so unbelievably fucking bored in this shit town that I decided to take matters into my own hands. The police should be thankful that they're actually doing their jobs instead of sitting on their asses all day not even giving tickets to those who drunk drive."

Jungkook let out a frustrated huff after his monologue and you continued to stare at him because you knew he wasn't done.

"I know what you're thinking. 'Why not move out to the city if you're so bored?' Well, news flash, the city's boring too. There really isn't anything better than watching defenseless women cry and beg for their lives like sows."

You didn't realize how hard you were glaring at Jungkook until your eyesight became blurry from you squinting at him.

"What? You have something you want to say?" Jungkook asked and pulled the gag from your mouth; trails of saliva connected to it.

"You're a monster, Jeon Jungkook."

He frowned and shoved the gag back into your mouth, scraping against your teeth in the process. "I changed my mind. Unlike the others, I'm going to take my time with you. Slowly torturing you just to hear those sweet, sweet cries," he sang as he ran the blade along your cheek so agonizingly slow. You felt the blade sink into your skin as a sharp pain shot through your face; you whipped your head away and cried out desperately with your legs squirming beneath him.

Jungkook grabbed your neck and gripped it, his fingers digging into the sides of your neck. You gasped and your body immediately froze up.

"God, you're so aggravating!" He grunted and pressed his palms against your Adam's apple. "You know, I'd rape you right now, but knowing you, you'd probably like that, wouldn't you?" Jungkook released his grip around your neck and you gasped for air in rapid, desperate intakes. Jungkook pressed the knife against your other cheek and created another incision along your cheekbone. He continued to do so, inserting tiny cuts into your skin which gradually grew into larger, deeper lacerations which you could feel blood dripping from as they mixed with your endless tears.

Throughout the entire time, Jungkook seemed to be enjoying himself. It was obvious from the small smirk on his face as he worked on you. His crazed eyes burned with a manic glow.

Jungkook made his way to your jaw and scraped the blade along your mandible. Your breathing suddenly became erratic and frantic the moment you realized how close he was to your neck, your vital arteries which would end your life almost instantly. Feeling the blade sink into your skin, you squeezed your eyes as millions of thoughts zipped through your mind.

You wanted to apologize to your family for all of the stupid shit that you said or did to them. If not that, then maybe a simple goodbye would suffice. You wanted to see Taehyung again, to laugh with him again and talk endlessly about the most strangest topics. Your mind traced back on all of your mistakes and you regretted every single one of them, even if they didn't matter anymore. You regretted ever meeting Jungkook and lusting over him. If it weren't for you and your thoughtless actions, maybe you wouldn't even be in this situation. Maybe it was your fault that you were going to die without a last word to anybody.

To your surprise, Jungkook didn't slice into your flesh and have your blood spurt out and stain his bed. Instead, he pulled the knife away and tossed it aside.

"I just had a wondrous idea." He smiled and climbed off of you. A part of you was relieved that you didn't die. A big part of you, actually. But that was immediately overcome by the dread of what idea Jungkook could possibly have in his twisted mind. It was as if you had accepted your fate, not even resisting as Jungkook picked you up again and headed for the door. Before leaving his apartment, Jungkook pressed his mouth against your ear.

"Just know that if I hear a single peep from you, you will be responsible for an entire massacre in this town, do you understand me?" Jungkook hissed. You nodded, knowing that he was dead serious. Jungkook opened the door to his apartment and grabbed his keys which hung from a wall mount. Jungkook walked down the hall of his complex while humming an upbeat song. You contemplated on screaming out. Just straight up bellowing as loud as you could without a care of what your throats would feel like afterwards. It was a thought, but it was also a suicide mission. You decided not to, not because you were afraid of dying because at this point it was going to happen sooner or later, but because you didn't want to drag anybody else into this mess. If anybody was going to die, it was going to be you and you alone.

Jungkook loaded you into the trunk of his car before slamming it shut. You heard him walk around to the drivers side and climb in. The car started promptly afterwards and then he was driving off to who knows where. During the drive, you could hear Jungkook playing music which reverberated throughout the car. It was calming, in a very twisted way. You were swallowed in complete darkness and your heart was beating intensely, but hearing a familiar tune helped you take your mind away from the harsh reality you were about to face, even if just for a short time.

After what seemed like an eternity of laying in the trunk, the car pulled to a halt. Your eyes shot open and you focused on the sound of Jungkook getting out of the car; his footsteps became louder the closer he approached you. Then, the trunk clicked open and you were blinded with the sudden yellow fluorescent lights. You squinted to shield your sensitive eyes that burned from the abrupt shift from complete darkness to blinding light.

Jungkook pulled you out from the trunk and set you on the ground, which was an aged pier with wood splinters poking out. You looked around to see yourself on the dock. The long wooden platform was illuminated by the same yellow hue from the lights above that stretched all the way down the coast. It was completely empty, not a single soul to be seen or heard. Just the soothing sound of water crashing against the wooden planks holding up the dock.

You didn't have the pleasure of enjoying the lulling silence of the water before Jungkook yanked you away by your wrists and dragged you down the dock. You yelped as the wood stabbed your legs with splinters, but your cries went unheard.

Taehyung raised his head from behind the giant crate of fish, still fresh from today's catch. He looked around with wide eyes, body frozen stiff.

"What... was that?" He muttered to himself. Ever since he started working at the docks, the older fishermen always teased Taehyung about ghosts showing up at night. His fear of the supernatural was already a nuisance enough, but now that he was staying late into the night, his paranoia was amplified tenfold. Not to mention he was alone tonight after his superiors had left him to do all the dirty work like they did every night.

Taehyung considered leaving the fish to rot while he ran for his life, but not only would he get an earful and possibly one less job, but he was sure the ghost or whatever was out there would find him. He quickly placed the lid over the crate of fish and peeked out from behind it again to get a better view of the dock.

There he saw it. A limping woman in her pajamas, all bloody and hair strewn over her face...

A stifled scream rumbled in Taehyung's chest and he ducked behind the crate; his hand clutched over his chest to calm his beating heart. Okay, maybe the old men weren't joking about a ghost, not that Taehyung ever doubted them, but to see it in the flesh was completely different than hearing about it.

Taehyung, letting curiosity and wonder get the best of him, slowly peeked out from behind the crate again to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. And to his surprise, the woman had disappeared. That was either a good thing or bad if she had suddenly decided to pop up right behind him.

Taehyung's eyes wandered the docks in search of the ghost when he saw something strange. The front of a car parked at a careless angle. He narrowed his eyes at the familiar dented bumper.

"Is that..." Taehyung muttered, slowly creeping out of his hiding spot to catch a better view. The closer he got, the more Taehyung was sure that the car belonged to Jungkook. He could recognize that car anywhere. But what was Jungkook's car doing here? And more importantly, where was Jungkook?

He crept out of his hiding spot and tip-toed to the car with light steps, making sure the weight of his footsteps didn't cause the dock to creak. When Taehyung saw the car up close, he was certain that it was Jungkook's car. There was no doubting the matching Playboy air fresheners that hung from his rear view mirror (Jungkook's was black while Taehyung had a white one).

Taehyung peered down the dock, squinting his eyes to adjust in the darkness that swallowed the end of the dock despite it being lit by the lights overhead. Then, he caught a slight movement---a jerking motion as if... as if someone was dragging a heavy object. Something in Taehyung's mind clicked together and he ducked behind the car as his hand shot over his mouth to silence any sounds that could possibly be heard.

There was no mistaking that Jungkook was here, but who was he with? Why would he be here in the dead of the night? What business did he have at night, disposing of something large into water that was so thick with dirt and blackness? It was a perfect place to hide something, or worse, someone. If that were the case, then Jungkook could possibly be...

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Taehyung didn't stop the stream of curses that came out his mouth as he ran his hands through his hair in a frustrated manner because he didn't know what to think at this point. He didn't even dare think of the hypothetical that his best friend for years had been murdering women and dumping their bodies into the waters of the town that he grew up in his entire life. It was just impossible.

Not believing his own thoughts, Taehyung peered over the car again. The figure, which Taehyung knew was Jungkook at this point, was getting further down the dock. If he squinted his eyes hard enough, Taehyung could see legs flapping around in a frantic manner.

"They're still alive!" Taehyung gasped in relief and shot to his feet. But wait, if he were to go over there, what could he do? Kindly ask Jungkook not to kill an innocent person? Even if Taehyung were to barge in there, the outcome will be the same.

Fuck that. This was a human life he was talking about. Nothing is more precious and important than that and Taehyung was more than prepared to put his own life in danger if it meant saving another.

Before heading over, Taehyung rang the local police station, silently cursing them for not picking up immediately, but when they did he informed them of the possible danger that was about to go down.

"Hello? Yes, I have information about the person who broke into Meredith's house recently." Taehyung said as he took slow steps down the dock. He wanted to move faster, but he also didn't want to risk getting caught by Jungkook and add another name to Jungkook's kill streak.

"How do you know that?" The officer asked.

"My friend lives in the same apartment and she saw the face of the intruder. She wasn't able to report it to the police because she had to leave town for a trip."

"I see, thank you. Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the docks and the intruder is here. I saw him walking just a while ago."

"I understand, we'll be there as soon as possible." They said before hanging up. He felt bad for lying to the police, but at least it'd give them a real reason to come down to the docks instead of trusting some boy's guttural instinct about his best friend being a serial killer. Taehyung turned the flashlight on his phone on and flashed it down the dock as he approached the end.

"Who's there?!" He shouted, loud enough for Jungkook to whip his head around in panic.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath before pushing your body behind a ole of fishing nets. His hand stroked your hair gently, too gently for the words that came out of his mouth afterwards. "I won't hesitate to give you a swimming buddy if you make a single sound, do you fucking hear me? Not a single sound." He gripped your leg tightly before standing up.

"It's me, Jungkook." Jungkook replied to Taehyung, covering his eyes from the blinding light from Taehyung's phone. He lowered it and his eyes widened in shock.

"Jungkook? What are you doing here so late?" Taehyung asked, stepping closer.

"Just taking a breather."

"What about Y/N?"

You tensed at the sound of your name. It was the perfect opportunity to scream out and get Taehyung's attention, but the image of Taehyung's dead body sinking down beside you stopped the scream mid-throat. You simply sobbed silently, trying your best not to let your shaking shoulders move the net.

"She's still asleep. Why are you out?" Jungkook asked nonchalantly, clearly unshaken by the sudden interruptions in his plans.

"I'm still working. They're still making me stay behind to finish inventory and shit like that." He laughed shakily. There was no way Jungkook couldn't sense the uneasiness seething out of Taehyung. He was nearly shaking in his own skin.

As the two talked mundanely about work, your mind raced with ideas of getting his attention. Maybe if you moved while they were talking, Taehyung could see you. But then what? By doing that, you'd put Taehyung in danger as well. Then again, you could just sit here and do nothing. Your life was in danger and you were not about to just give it up to some psychopath who you thought was your loving boyfriend.

As you slowly inched yourself into a position where you could raise your legs more easily, you were grateful to hear their conversation include more laughing than interrogating. It was just a slight raise of your legs, but it could very much be considered the deciding factor of your life.

Taehyung was no different than you. He was simply stalling Jungkook in order to make time for the police, but anxiety still bubbled in the pit of his stomach. What if he was too late? What if Jungkook had already disposed of the body before he reached him?

Taehyung's eyes began darting around frantically as he was running out of conversation starters and searched for another way to distract Jungkook.

Then, he saw it. The rustling of the fishing nets shied away in the shadows created by the dock lamps. At first he thought it was just being pulled along by the crashing waves, but remembering how long it took Taehyung to heave those nets out of the water, he knew that wasn't the case. Jungkook was too busy talking about his job to hear the rustling and the waves were too loud to hear it, but Taehyung was positive he saw it move.

They're alive.

The only thought that ran through his mind was such and a wave of relief crashed into him. It took him a lot to hold back on pumping his fist in joy.

"You know, you've been working hard, Taehyung. Why don't you go home and rest? Don't you have work tomorrow anyways?" Jungkook said.

"Well," Taehyung paused and took a breathe. "I should say the same to you. Making sure little kids don't drown sure sounds tough." He chuckled and jungkook pulled a smirk.

"Well, it's a good thing bodies float, right?" A thick silence filled the space between Jungkook and Taehyung as they stared at each other with tense glares. The only sound present was the softly crashing waves against the poles underneath the dock, the faintness of police sirens in the distance, and the slight scraping against the wood coming from your direction. Immediately, Taehyung's eyes darted to you and his heart dropped the second Jungkook turned his head around.

In an instant, Taehyung leapt towards Jungkook, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pushing his weight against him. Jungkook slammed against the dock and groaned in pain. Taehyung held him down as he pulled his legs over him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Kim Taehyung?!" Jungkook shouted as he reeled back and swung at Taehyung. He moved back slightly, luckily only getting brushed by Jungkook's knuckles. Just when Taehyung thought he was safe, Jungkook's other fist met Taehyung's side and sent him doubling over.

"I should ask you the same thing!" Taehyung grunted and knocked Jungkook in the cheek. His eyesight was laced with rage as he continued to parade on Jungkook's face with fists. While doing so, he looked up at the fishing nets. He didn't know if you were watching, but you must've heard what was going on. Taehyung saw only the outline of your leg in the light, but he shouted anyways.

"Hurry up and move!" He yelled and Jungkook punched Taehyung in the gut.

Their brawl continued and you were giving your best effort to roll away from the edge of the docks because one wrong move could have you tumbling over and sinking down to the ocean floor. You managed to pull yourself over onto your side. The best option would've been for you to keep rolling over until you were in a... safer place. Nothing about this situation was remotely safe. The next best thing was to get somewhere far away from Jungkook.

"Get the fuck off of me, Taehyung!" Jungkook growled and pushed Taehyung's chest, but he was resilient and determined to hold Jungkook down. It was just until the police arrived, but it was starting to feel like an eternity.

"You do realize what you're doing, right? This is murder, Jungkook!" Taehyung retorted back with a punch, which Jungkook skillfully dodged with a jerk of his head.

"Of course I know what I'm doing! Stop treating me like I'm some sort of kid!"

"Then grow up! If you've got nothing else to do besides murder and ruin people's lives, then maybe you should leave! Leave and never come back!"

At that, Jungkook lunged at Taehyung. He gathered his strength and sat up, causing Taehyung to topple over. Jungkook grabbed Taehyung's collar with one hand, gripping it tightly in his fist while his other hand rained down on Taehyung with punches.

It hurt you to see your dear friend get beat up so you turned away, inching further down the dock, further away from Jungkook. You kept repeating 'please be safe' over and over in your mind because the last thing you wanted was Taehyung to be in the same position as you.

You were almost to the end of the dock when you felt your leg get pulled behind you. You yelped out loud and turned back; your face fell when you saw Jungkook holding onto your leg. His face was painted over with pure rage. He had cuts and bruises all over his face especially around his cheekbones and nose and his hair was matted to his forehead with sweat. You glanced over at Taehyung who was on his side, holding onto his stomach as his face contorted in pain.

"You..." Jungkook heaved and pulled you up by your wrists. You screamed and although it was muffled by the gag, the shrillness of it reached across the dock.

There was no hope anymore. There was no savior, no superhero to come to your rescue.

"You really pulled a fast one on me there. Both of you," Jungkook turned back to Taehyung and breathed out his nose. "You must've been thinking you were getting the upper hand, weren't you?" He snorted condescendingly. Your face exploded in embarrassment because he was absolutely right. For a moment, you actually thought you were going to live.

Jungkook walked closer to the edge of the dock and for some reason, the feeling of fear left you. You had no energy, no will to resist nor fight back. At this point, death was pretty much inevitable. Now, you wondered what drowning would be like. How long could you hold your breath, or should you even hold your breath at all? How cold would the water be as if enveloped you in its soothing embrace? How long would it be for people to find your body? Decaying and eroding away in time with the ocean's current, snuggled safely in the soft sand on the bottom of the ocean sounded like a dream.

By the grace of the gods, Jungkook released you. You were too doped out and dazed in your imagination to realize that the police had pulled up.

"Freeze! Drop the girl and put your hands in the air!" An officer yelled and Jungkook followed their orders. His hands slowly reached above his head as he clasped them together. He couldn't do anything now, not when he was surrounded by people carrying weapons.

The police immediately rushed in and took Jungkook custody by pulling his hands down behind his back and locking them with handcuffs. A few officers ran to your side, brushing the hair out of your face to see if you had any serious injuries or if you were even alive. They promptly untied the ropes from your joints, but since you were in that curled up position for so long, it seemed almost impossible to stretch out from it. It was as if you were paralyzed.

Taehyung seemed alright, for the most part. When the police arrived, he had already gathered enough strength to stand, still clutching his stomach which ached whenever he moved. Taehyung watched Jungkook get pulled away by the police, trying to hold back a smirk. He knew it wasn't the appropriate time, but he couldn't help it. He saved you.

The police had wrapped you in an emergency blanket and carried you out to the ambulance which arrived just shortly after the police had. You sat on the edge of the truck as medics attended to your wounds, wrapping them up in what seemed like an endless supply of gauzes. You were silent for the entire time and found it hard to find your voice. Although, you knew you had to speak up at some point for future interrogations with the police. Everything happened so fast, you were stuck wondering if it was really over.

After treating you, the medics gave you a cup of coffee, but they didn't provide any cream or sugar so you simply held it in your hands to warm yourself up. All of a sudden, Taehyung's shouted your name and your head whipped up to see him rushing towards you. You set the coffee cup down before Taehyung knocked it down with his squeezing bear hug. You whimpered in pain, but there was something comforting about Taehyung's arms binding you together tightly.

"I'm so, so so so so so glad you're okay!" Taehyung exclaimed, his voice cracking from holding back potential tears. You gave him a sympathetic smile and returned the hug.

"Thank you, Taehyung. Seriously, I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't come." You replied as tears blurred your vision. You bit your lip and a hand went up to dab them dry. Even through your efforts to hold back tears, they all decided to come streaming out at once from the overwhelming emotion of reassurance that still didn't seem real. To be completely logical, your psychotic boyfriend attempted to add you to his long list of victims. Sobbing shamelessly was completely reasonable.

Your light tears eventually turned into frantic hiccups which Taehyung tried to calm down by stroking your back. He sat beside you on the truck while looking out onto the scene that played before him. Police officers were scattered along the dock, marking it up for potential evidence. Taehyung glanced over at the police car that held Jungkook and his heart sunk into his chest. He sat there in the backseat, staring off into space with a tense expression. His locked jaw and dead fish eyes were enough to express the frustration Jungkook must've been feeling. Thinking about what could've happened to you if he hadn't intervened sent shivers through Taehyung's body. He might've been considered a hero in your eyes, but at what cost? Both of you were traumatized and you might never trust anybody ever again.

Just then, as if Jungkook knew Taehyung was watching him, he looked over and locked eyes with him. Taehyung inhaled sharply and straightened his back in a poor attempt to look stronger despite getting his ass handed to him just minutes before. Jungkook smirked and his lips moved slowly as he spoke. It was slow enough for Taehyung to read his lips as he annunciated every syllable and when he realized what Jungkook had said, he paled and found it extremely hard to swallow.

See you soon.

It wasn't long before you got back into the swing of things. The doctors suggested you take things slow and not to engage in too many extraneous activities (which you used to your advantage and made Taehyung wipe down all he tables after closing) and they had you come in for regular checkup. Luckily, since you had no fractured bones and nothing was torn, your recovery didn't take long at all.

Talk of Jungkook being the mysterious serial killer became the only thing the town talked about and still hadn't died down even after your recovery. You couldn't imagine what they must've been thinking; a young boy that everyone saw grow up only to turn into some sort of... monster. Especially Jungkook's parents who couldn't even look anybody in the eyes after that. They locked themselves up in their house, away from everyone's stone cold, judging eyes. You felt sorry for them, so say the least. It wasn't their fault their son turned into a psychopath killer. In all honestly, there was nothing they could do to change what Jungkook became.

You heard news that Jungkook had been sent to a solitary prison across the state, but despite the distance between you two, the mark he made on you still managed to keep you up at night. Sometimes you would wake up in cold sweats, arms wrapped around yourself to still your shaking body. He would appear in your dreams and flashbacks of the incident would interrupt you in your daily life. Sometimes, your imagination would make you think you saw Jungkook riding down the sidewalk on his skateboard, but he would disappear with a double take.

You started calling Taehyung in the middle of the night because he was one of the people that could calm you down. Him, as well as your parents, but you always felt bad for calling and interrupting their sleep so late at night. Of course, you felt bad towards Taehyung too, but he reassured you that he didn't mind, so you took his word for it.

Although your body has recovered from the wounds, there was still a deep scar in your memory that still haunted you after the fact. But you were fine, for the most part. You still had your job, your family, your friends, what else could you need? What else could you possibly ask for?

Perhaps, maybe a pill that would erase your memories and heal your insomnia, but other than that, nothing.

#jungkook smut #jungkook angst #jungkook scenario #bts jungkook smut #bts scenario #bts smut #GOD I AM REALLY SORRY FOR NOT WRITING #X1000000 APOLOGIES

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techno-sorcerer · 6 years

Text

Adjusting to the Dark Chapter 5: Cassandras Part 2

Story Summary: After recovering from an attack, Kaiba attempts to return to work. The problem: it was a vampire attack, and he didn’t recover so much as turn. Meanwhile, demons lurk ready to strike and take Kaiba Corp at the first sign of weakness.

Chapter Summary: After a hospital visit that goes according to neither Kaiba’s, the doctor’s, nor Shadi’s expectations, Kaiba finally makes it back to the manor. In both events, listening or not bears consequences.

Words: 6,790

Chapter Content Warnings: Body horror, allusions to cissexism, near major character death (no one dies though), Hallucinations

Notes: I am a very serious writer with very serious plot points. /s That said do not kill me. Also, I updated chapter 2 with information relevant to this chapter, so if you havne’t read that since I posted it, check it out. (It is a few paragraphs after Kaiba is told how long he’s been missing.)

Links to Chapter 1: tumblr, ao3

Almost an hour into his visit, the final drop of blood slid from the blood bag down the tube and into Kaiba’s arm. The sweet overtones of the aroma wafting up from the inside of his elbow disappeared leaving only sour scents lingering in the air. The pink veins leading up his arm started to retreat and shadows took their place. A tendril of darkness left his arm through the needle and traveled up the tube, moving along the thin film of blood coating the inside of the plastic.

Seto Kaiba did not notice most of these details; he was too busy staring absentmindedly at the ceiling. His pupils felt like they were the size of saucer plates, and sparklers were going off in his brain.

“Well, that went quick.” Kaiba rolled his head to look at Dr. Uramoto, who was rubbing her arm as she spoke. “I was under the impression that it normally took longer than this, but then again you aren’t exactly normal.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “Not many people my age are CEOs. If you mean anything else… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He turned his head away as if to suddenly find the poster on the hospital wall very interesting. Of course, he knew exactly what she was talking about; he just didn’t believe it. While his hormones did not appear to bother her, Dr. Uramoto had revealed herself to be fairly superstitious, and part way through the blood transfusion, the superstitious prattle had increased tenfold. Kaiba had decided to blame Shadi.

“I’m not paid enough for this.” Dr. Uramoto let out a heavy sigh. She then mumbled softly to herself, “Though I guess it’s not your fault you couldn’t see yourself. I wonder if mirrors even would still work.”

“The mirrors aren’t broken, only my brain,” Kaiba said continuing to face the wall, or at least tried to say that since the word ‘broken’ came out more like ‘borken.’ He then realized what he said out loud and regret hit him like a brick. To admit that to a stranger… usually he thought things through a bit more. He curled further into the hospital bed. “Oops.”

Dr. Uramoto walked around the hospital bed to stand in front of Kaiba, and he waited for her to make some remark about his comment. Instead she said something else, “Are you going to let me take that thing out of your arm or are you going to try to bite my head off again?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Kaiba mumbled, and indeed he hadn’t.

He had mentioned something about the area around the needle starting to tingle, and Dr. Uramoto had then said she was worried about a possible allergic reaction. However, as she reached over him to take the needle out, he panicked. It felt good. No, it was good. He needed it. So, before he thought anything through, he grabbed her arm and barred his teeth. Don’t. Looking back, barring his teeth didn’t make much sense, but at the time the action felt natural and right. It wasn’t until after she flinched away and yelped that he realized what he had done and let go. Glancing down at her arm, Kaiba noted that the spot where he had grabbed her was still red.

“It doesn’t matter what you meant to do. You did it. Now, I need to know whether you are going to do that again. Do I need to bring in security?”

Kaiba shook his head before looking up at the blood bag. It was empty, and the urgency was gone. “Could… I have more?”

Dr. Uramoto shook her head, “After seeing what that first bag did to you, no.”

“But… but…” Kaiba sputtered, “I’m in shock.” That is apparently what Shadi had told Dr. Uramoto to write in his record, and after she checked his vitals, she offered no better explanation. His blood pressure was abysmally low, his heartbeat impossible to find, and his body sat at room temperature. Dr. Uramoto had had no better luck finding a pulse than he had.

“The diagnosis has changed, and even if it hadn’t, you’re as high as a kite, and your arm looks like something out of a horror movie.”

“I’m not high, but…” Kaiba held out his arm. “You see that too?”

Dr. Uramoto nodded. The veins and capillaries spreading out from the needle had become a web of black, which stood out all the more due to his ashen skin. Meanwhile, less distinguished shadows danced and writhed around the needle. Their movement almost felt joyous. As Dr. Uramoto removed the needle, a strand of his own discolored blood held on like a thread being pulled from a spool, but eventually it broke. Kaiba felt his arm tense for a moment. The moving shadows continued to pulse around the dot of sour blood that indicated where the needle had been. Dr. Uramoto cleaned the area with a band-aid ready, only to find unbroken skin.

Kaiba poked his arm. It felt good, amazing even, and fundamentally alive. He turned to look up at Dr. Uramoto with a pout. “You sure I can’t have more?”

“No.” A crease fell across her eyebrow as she glanced back down at his arm. “How can that not worry you?” A trace of a giggle escaped Kaiba’s lips as he shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure this is happening.”

The crease turned into a full on frown, before Dr. Uramoto shook her head and let out a sigh. “Shadi wanted me to give you blood, and having seen what I’ve seen,” she gestured down at him, “I can see that he was serious about it being for home, but the hospital has a strict policy on doing the transfusions in clinic, so unless I want to lose my job, that isn’t an option. There’s not much more I can do for you unless...” She glanced him over again and considered something for a moment. Fear radiated off of her. “… that’s not worth the risk. I’ll make sure you don’t get lost on the way back. You barely look like you could find your way out the door at the moment.”

Kaiba swung his legs off of the hospital bed and sat up. “Whatever Shadi told you was a lie.” He fidgeted for a moment before grabbing the outer shirt he’d taken off for the transfusion and awkwardly jabbing his arms through the sleeves.

“He didn’t tell me much, but yeah, he lied,” Dr. Uramoto rolled her eyes. “He said he’d make sure I’d be safe, but I’ll have the bruises to remember this visit by. Though I suppose he was worried about something else, that doesn’t mean I should be grateful worse didn’t happen...” Kaiba glanced away. He didn’t want to think about what did happen let alone what Shadi thought might pass. The image of the corpses in the parking garage still flashed through his mind. He shook his head; he’d rather not be thinking at all right now. “… so, are you coming or not? I gave up a Friday night for this, and I imagine you have places you’d rather be too.”

Home. He’d rather be home. He nodded, and followed Dr. Uramoto into the hallway.

Kaiba’s nose twitched.

The whole building had smelled sanitized since he had entered it, but hospitals were places for people and therefore smelled like them. Exiting the small room and entering a common space, the layers multiplied. Kaiba took a deep breath and lost himself in them for a moment. Unlike the Kaiba Corp lobby, the aromas- for they smelled too intriguing and good to be called odors- were more varied and a number of the layers contained strange twists and turns. Even slightly off, they smelled like people, and thus smelled good. The only bad smells among them were the swirls of stress that permeated the hallway; most people did not enjoy being here.

A hand tapped his shoulder, and Kaiba looked over at Dr. Uramoto, who wore a worried, almost scared, expression and gestured for him to follow. Kaiba glared but followed. He’d simply breathed for a moment; there wasn’t anything ominous about that.

After trailing Uramoto down the halls for a bit, he caught a whiff of something distinctive – or at least more familiar. Isono. If his mind had been clearer he may have interrogated his intuition further and hated that he recognized it, but at the moment he was relieved. He was almost there, almost home. The slightest of smiles graced his face. He took a few more sniffs to confirm that it was the smell from earlier. It was, and it was close. Without half a thought he darted forward led by his nose and leaving Dr. Uramoto in his tailwind. Turning a corner and bursting through a door, Kaiba found himself in the reception room, where Isono was staring at his phone intently. The smile spread. Finally. He rushed over and got Isono’s attention by gently grabbing his arm. “Time to go.”

Isono nearly jumped, and the thumping in his chest raced. Kaiba wondered for a moment if he had done something wrong. The door behind him slammed against the wall before slowly closing. The receptionist behind the counter looked up.

“I… uh… didn’t hear you come in,” Isono stuttered, while getting out of the chair. He glanced down at where Kaiba was still holding onto his arm, at Kaiba’s chest, and then back up at Kaiba’s face. He seemed concerned. “Uh… did everything go well?”

“It went… weird,” Kaiba shrugged. The reception room door opened again, and looked over his shoulder at a very out of breath Dr. Uramoto. “I made it back.”

“Yeah… I see…” Dr. Uramoto panted. “I didn’t realize you would be so... fast in your current condition.” Fast? She was the one that was slow. Dr. Uramoto took a nervous look around the room, and Kaiba could smell twinges of relief peel off of her until her eyes landed on where he was holding onto Isono. She rubbed her own arm and looked Isono directly in the eyes. “Are you ok?”

Kaiba glared at Dr. Uramoto. Even with his mind fuzzy around the edges, he knew he hadn’t meant to grab onto her arm. That somehow without meaning to, without being in complete control of himself- which was the worse part of it really- he had hurt someone, not financially, not emotionally, but physically. But, the mere thought of hurting Isono, one of the few people who had been good to him. How dare she! His grip tightened on on Isono’s arm for a moment before he let go and simply curled his finger’s tightly around Isono’s blazer. Kaiba breathed in and listened for a moment. No, Isono was here and healthy and going to take him home.

Isono’s brow creased. “Kaiba is the one who had been assaulted and missing. I am fine. The real question is whether he is ok, and…” Isono looked Kaiba over again, “did you give him anything?”

“Uh...” Dr. Uramoto stumbled for a moment and stared at Kaiba. He continued to glare. She let out a sigh. “May I release the information?” “Are you going to talk nonsense?” If the doctor was going to start telling Isono about vampires, he was going to lose it.

Dr. Uramoto rolled her eyes and gestured around at the receptionist and the other person waiting for an after hours appointment. “No, only what’s going on your record. You can tell people the rest on your own time, though those that spend more time with you,” she looked back at Isono, “deserve to know what they are dealing with.”

“The rest doesn’t exist,” Kaiba tugged on Isono’s sleave. “We’re going home.”

“Don’t pity me for working for him. I know who he is better than you do, and I stand by him, But,” Isono looked Kaiba in the eye with a resolution in his eyes that Kaiba did not like. Isono then spoke very calmly but firmly, “I don’t want to argue with you, but it is my duty as your assistant and legally by our agreement to make sure you are okay I know this isn’t your usual doctor, but considering everything that has happened and your current condition, I would rather hear this from the doctor herself. If you and her are having a disagreement, I will make sure you get the treatment you need.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”

Isono didn’t move. “As said, I am on your side, but I will invoke our agreement if necessary.” “You wouldn’t. You couldn’t.” Kaiba was dumbfounded. It had been a year since Isono had last threatened to use the power the agreement gave him. In fact, there had been two previous times when Isono, put his foot down, and fortunately both times they had managed to come to a compromise. The first time had been over the issue of his schooling.

The second time had been over hormones. Not Kaiba’s decision to take them, but Kaiba’s decision to start a year earlier than recommended. Without Isono’s intervention, Kaiba would have simply bucked his doctor and used his resources to get what he wanted through less than official channels. Isono had forced him to sit down and at least consider medical supervision, and he had helped Kaiba sort through the web pages and phone calls, the bribes and visits, needed to do it. Knowing that the wrong dose could have increased his estrogen, it was probably for the best, but he hated the waiting.

Whether or not Isono actually could use his parental right to get the records, Kaiba knew Isono had to be dead serious to even mention it. And, despite how good he currently felt, Kaiba had to admit that he current situation may possibly perhaps be almost more important than the other times. He had nearly died.

“Fine,” Kaiba pouted turning back towards Dr. Uramoto. “I release the stuff on the medical record.” She said she wouldn’t talk about that bullshit, but she still believed it and somehow found ways to remind him of it. He bent down and buried his face in Isono’s sleeve. He wanted this to be over with. He wanted to be home. He wanted things to get back to normal, where people didn’t even think about the possibility of vampires or demons let alone expect him to take the ideas seriously. Where people hated him and called him scum behind his back but didn’t accuse him of actual murder. His ideas had been sharpened into weapons and sold for blood, but no one ever had thought he’d pull the trigger.

“He was in fairly severe shock when you brought him in. Its… a wonder he was even up and moving around. He did respond positively to a blood transfusion, but the sudden shift towards normal appears to have induced a wave of euphoria. You asked me if I gave him anything, but that was it. Its a testament to the shape he was in that it could have such an effect.”

Isono let out a chuckle. “Somehow I find that very hard to believe.” Kaiba pulled away and looked at him quizically. What gave him that impression? “Sir, you have been quite a bit more out of it coming back from this appointment than you were going into it.” He gestured at Kaiba’s still unbottoned outer shirt then to the place where Kaiba’s fingers were still tightly wrapped around Isono’s sleeve. Kaiba’s jaw dropped and he jumped back. His fingers hesitantly released the fabric and then rushed to straighten his shirt, shaking a little bit.

How had he let himself be seen like that? People could say what they want about him otherwise, but he couldn’t afford to look incompetent, weak, or out of control. And, while the contact with Isono wasn’t that bad, what if somebody got the impression that they were allowed to touch him?

Isono looked like he was trying to bite back a joke, though he managed to flatly state, “You even were smiling, actually smiling, for a moment there.” The statement was cutting precisely because Kaiba knew that Isono understood the large difference between a smile and a smirk. Kaiba rarely found an occasion worthy of the of the former, especially because the only times he put any effort towards happiness were to spite those who wanted him in pain. So, there was little that could actually make him let his guard down and enjoy himself, and the little that did exist were in brief moments with his brother.

“No, I-” Kaiba cut himself off with a pout. He didn’t actually remember smiling or not, but he had while running back to the waiting room been able to set aside how hellish the world and particularly this evening had been and focus on being able to finally being able to see his brother again. For a moment, things had seemed so very nice. To be able to forget all of what had happened… well, he was starting to see Isono’s concern. Blocking things out was easy; forgetting about them was a different matter. “She didn’t give me anything but the blood. Like she said, I’m lucky to be alive. Now, are you satisfied?”

Isono’s brow creased for a moment before he let out a sigh. “Well, so long as Dr. Uramoto says its ok for you to leave. If your condition is as bad as you say it is, I wouldn’t be surprised if you needed to stay, and I don’t want to hear that you bribed your way out of important medical care.” Kaiba rolled eyes. He couldn’t tell if Isono was joking, but that was how Isono’s humor usually worked.

“You couldn’t bribe me to keep him here.” Dr. Uramoto gave half a laugh and gave Kaiba a nervous glance. “In any case, I’ve done all I can do. More than the person who recommended him to me was probably expecting. The best thing for him would probably be to go home and rest. And… it would be best if he thought about what Shadi told him.”

“Stop it!” Kaiba rolled his eyes. “I already told you: what Shadi said was bullshit.”

“Oh, yeah,” She immediately snapped back, “Shadi can have issues with communication that we’ll have a word over next time he stops by, but I think he did try to tell me. I was just too busy hoping you were someone like me. Someone he saved. Not… the person who’d… someone he’d… someone like you. It didn’t even occur to me that he’d help you, and because of that things went less than ideally. He should have been clearer; he should have made sure I understood. But, I could have listened better. I bet he tried harder to tell you, and I know that if and when things go badly for you, it will be worse than a few bruises. And, if saying something will stop that, I have to say something.”

As she finished speaking, her hand lay on the small stick of metal she kept on a string around her neck.

Cold iron, she had said, to protect her from one of her former patients. She hadn’t said what the patient had done, and Kaiba had figured the details weren’t much of his business anyway. Yet, he still heard the way her voice shook when she spoke of him, and though he doubted the piece of metal would do any good, she clutched it tightly while she spoke of him. She said that the patient had warped her own memories of what happened and when she had tried to reach out for help, it was as if people couldn’t hear her. Even though her story had flirted with superstition and the details shrouded in mystery, Kaiba understood the feeling well.

It had been Shadi apparently who had helped her, who made sure people heard, who made sure the patient never hurt her again. She had been surprised that Kaiba had called him a detective, but she put more trust in him than she did in the police.

“He may not have saved me, but I was attacked,” Kaiba’s voice began to crack, and he put a hand over his face. “I am the victim here!”

Dr. Uramoto’s face dropped. “I suppose so. That won’t stop anything, but I suppose so.”

At this point Isono stepped forward between Kaiba and the doctor, “I have no idea what you two are talking about, and I am sorry for whatever may have happened… but I believe its time to go.” As soon as Isono uttered the words, Kaiba turned on heel and stormed out of the door. Isono followed close behind, which was fortunate because Kaiba realized that he barely knew his way out of the hospital let alone where the car was parked.

By the time Kaiba made it home his head had cleared, though Kaiba suspected Isono may have taken a detour to give him time to sober up. His memory of the visit- particularly the portion after the blood transfusion- was apparently rather blurry. Not gone, but worrisome enough with his usually crystal clear memory. When they got home, Isono asked him if everything was still loud, and it had taken some prodding for him to even remember that as he had thrown himself in the car he had casually remarked how so very very loud everything sounded and smelled. Like sandpaper against his skull, so many details all at once.

“It’s manageable,” Kaiba said exiting the car. “You can go. I will likely be calling a board meeting on Sunday to discuss what has happened since my disappearance, and I will contact you in the time leading up to that. There is much to do first.”

The car stayed for a moment, and Kaiba turned to look at Isono, who looked like he was considering whether or not to say something. Kaiba narrowed his eyes. Since he didn’t say it aloud, it was probably something silly about resting and recovering, and Isono would already know what the answer would be. He was home. He was shortly to be with Mokuba. That was all the rest he needed. Recovery would only come when he made sure everything was under control; the world would not tolerate and would likely punish any less.

“You can go,” Kaiba repeated, and Isono drove off.

Kaiba walked up the stairs to his porch and entered his manor. Finally. He felt a strong urge to run up the stairs to his brother’s room, to see that his brother was alive and well and to tell his brother that he was alive and well, and he would certainly do that soon. But, he wanted to make sure he looked and smelled presentable first. His brother wouldn’t judge him; his brother never had. Instead Kaiba wanted to make sure that nothing was out of place, so his brother could really see that everything was fine that he didn’t have to worry anymore. From the orphanage to life under Gozaburo to even the battle out of that hell, Mokuba had been forced to worry far too much, and Kaiba hated when he was forced to add to that for even a moment.

So, his first task was instead to shower and get whatever remained of the dumpster off of him.

Heading directly up to his private bathroom, Kaiba was distracted momentarily by the glowing eyes in his reflection. He glanced it over, noting that at least this time his reflection was as dark as the room around him. He started unbuttoning his shirt but then glanced back at the mirror and the room around him. The room was in fact quite dark. The only light in the room was trickling in from the window, from the security lamps and moon outside; the room itself looked desaturated, cast almost in greyscale. He shouldn’t be able to pick out as many details as he could, the soap dispenser on the counter, toothbrush lazily against the edge of its cup, the towels stacked neatly on the rack. He hated how comfortable he felt.

Hesitantly he reached towards the light switch.

Flipping the switch, blinked and squinted as the light blasted against his pupils, and then his eyes adjusted. The room brightened and returned to color, but his reflection did not. Damn hallucination wouldn’t go away. His face contorted at the sight, upper lip pulling back in disgust. It shouldn’t happen with every damn mirror. “You choose now to be consistent?”

But, of course, that only revealed how consistent the hallucination was, since as soon as he opened his mouth, he saw the tips of two sharp fangs.

Kaiba lashed out at the sight.

The mirror cracked, splintered, and slid downward out of its frame. The back of his hand stung momentarily as a shard cracked and splintered against it. Glass scattered across the large quartz counter top, a few pieces near the far edge sliding off the far edge onto the floor next to the toilet.

Now, instead of one horrible reflection, he had several horrible reflections staring back at him from the shards. They were taunting him. He glared the reflections and pressed his lips into a thin line. He tried not to think about how the thin dark lines on the back of hand and the sour smell wafting up from them reminded him of the cuts Jun Liu and Detective Wasseem had asked about. But, the shards’ angles also were odd enough that they caught more of the ceiling than him, and his eyes fell on the shards less naturally than the standing mirror. The cuts on his hands must be shallow, since without any pain to remind him, they were easy to ignore. As much as he knew it ultimately solved nothing, it was better.

He scoffed and let out a small laugh, while sweeping aside the few shards that had fallen onto the floor. “Brain’s so fucked up, can’t even get fantasy right.”

Stripping down to shower, he noted that despite the blood transfusion his skin was still the same deathly pale. He hoped at the transfusion would do something, especially since it had induced… how had Dr. Uramoto referred to it? Euphoria. In any case, more blood in his system should have returned some of the color.

His eyebrows knotted in confusion.

Kaiba looked at the spot his inner elbow where the needle for the blood transfusion had stuck, hoping to at least see some progress there. It was the same as the rest of his skin. The vague memory of the area turning pink then black drifted through his mind. Shadows dancing across his skin, and his blood gripping onto the needle. That couldn’t be right, but he did seem to recall the doctor mentioning something about it herself. He frowned, unsure whether either part of it was real, and decided to move on. It was certainly improbable, and in either case, he couldn’t do anything about it now.

It did, however, mean that he couldn’t pretend with Mokuba that everything was ok, though perhaps his original plan to do so was a bit facetious. Mokuba was a smart kid. He would know. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t do his best to make sure that everything was as close to normal as possible.

He then also recalled Detective Wasseem’s comments about his skin being cool and the thermometer’s low reading at the hospital. Had the blood transfusion at least helped with that? Maybe, maybe not. More blood in his system should have improved his circulation, but it wasn’t like the doctor had heated the blood up either. If it helped, it would take time, and he didn’t feel any warmer yet. Then again, he also hadn’t felt particularly cold earlier. Not being able to tell one way or the other, he hoped the shower would warm him up.

Kaiba turned the water on and pushed the temperature past the point where he was usually comfortable. Hesitantly he tested the water with his fingertips. It wasn’t scalding like he expected, just warmer. It would do.

The shower itself was uneventful through relaxing. What few remaining smells from the dumpster went down the drain, and the sour smell from his hand quickly disappeared with it. Even after his nose was convinced the taint was gone, he scrubbed to get even the trace of the thoughts off of his skin. He didn’t want even a speck of dust from tonight to be left touching him, but with the water beating against back, it was easy to occasionally just stop and stare off into space. By the time, he exited the shower, it was already one o’clock in the morning.

Exiting the shower, he was left with one final choice: what to clothes to wear to see his brother.

He considered putting the spare school uniform away, and changing into pajamas instead. He may have worked until dawn more than a couple nights, but tonight the idea of shutting the world out and resetting- if not everything else- then at least his own mind and brain was alluring. Moreover, even if he didn’t want to go to bed, he knew Mokuba would insist on it, especially given his current physical condition. Isono already tried to. Perhaps the two were right.

However, he also didn’t feel remotely tired, and there was so much to do. He started putting the school uniform back on, thought his time with access to his spare packer, a binder, and a pair of shoes, while making a mental to do list for later.

Isono had mentioned that the Big Five were getting antsy over stock prices, but how had they actually responded to the news of him going missing? Kaiba had worked hard to check them in place, to strike a certain balance between them, and while he had no doubt that they kept their reactions guarded, he knew they harbored no grief over his disappearance. The question really was instead whether they had made any plans in his absence, and if so what those plans were. Tonight would be an invaluable time to sort through the possibilities, check for traces of any suspicious activity, and formulate counter plans.

Fortunately, it likely wouldn’t take much. They already knew at this point what he was capable of.

That was of course on top of that was the work he had fallen behind on. After the attempt on his life, the schoolwork felt even more frivolous than ever, but his work at Kaiba Corp felt more important. It was his life.

In addition to the usual duties of a CEO such as setting company policy and meeting with the board who in this case was simply the Big Five, he prided himself on getting involved in company projects. Not micromanaging them certainly. There were too many projects, and the individual projects were too big for that. But, even before he had taken the company’s reins, his inventions had taken the company to new heights. It was only natural that he continued to tinker and provide technical advice. Some departments had even made a habit of asking him for input, though the tasks they needed help designing and analyzing algorithms for were sometimes quite strange.

Isono had said the projects weren’t urgent and that they could wait, and he should first make sure that everything else was settled, but sinking his teeth into a project sounded like such a productive and welcome distraction from the past night.

The past four nights, Kaiba reminded himself as he finished buttoning the outer shirt and went to grab a pair of shoes from the closet. He was attacked four nights ago.

That in and of itself was something to look into. While Shadi’s comment did suggest that his attacker did have some relation to Yugi, he had no way to prove it, and with Shadi running interference at the police department, the department might not even help if he could. But, he needed to know who had attacked him. He needed to be able to do something about it.

All of that, he thought as he finished tying his shoes, was for later. Now was for Mokuba.

Kaiba walked the short distance down the hall to Mokuba’s room, pace quickening as he could already smell him- at least what he presumed to be him- before even opening the door. Cracking the door open, he saw Mokuba laying there peacefully on the bed that was entirely too big for him. Kaiba reached over to turn the light on, and Mokuba shifted uncomfortably but did not wake. Kaiba moved to kneel beside the bed and rested a hand on Mokuba’s arm, giving him a slight shake.

Mokuba’s eyes fluttered open and then immediately lit with joy and astonishment. “Brother, you’re… you’re...”

A smile broke on his brother’s lips as he struggled to get the words out, and Kaiba felt a smile threaten to crack his own face in half. “I’m here.” He grabbed Mokuba’s hand in reassurance.

Mokuba began to tremble, and his eyes began to water. Kaiba felt his heart drop, and he began to panic, worried that something was wrong, that his hand still wasn’t warm enough. His brother sat up, and the words poured out. “The cops kept acting like it wasn’t that big of a deal. That since they had confirmed that the Mutous hadn’t done anything and since no one posted ransom that you’d just wandered off or something. They posted reports and the reporters swarmed with questions, but you could tell that they were all just thinking,” Mokuba raised is free hand to do air quotes while he mocked, “‘Its only been two days. I’unno, a kid running a company, maybe he cracked under the stress. Imagine he’s out partying.’ It was awful. Only today did they start to understand how bad it was, and the only cop who took it seriously from the beginning told me that you were probably dead.”

That was probably Shadi. Kaiba was finding more and more reasons to hate that man. He gently squeezed Mokuba’s hand. “He was wrong. I am alive.” He let Mokuba continue.

“Well, you were gone, and it sucked. Kisara couldn’t find you, and she checked everywhere. She said she had even went to the Kame Antique Store herself before going to the police. She kept stopping by as if to check that I hadn’t disappeared too. And, even if you sometimes don’t come home, you always answer your phone when your phone when I call, and you didn’t. You weren’t pestering me to do my homework, and you weren’t waiting to see me off when I left in the morning. You didn’t tell me I should go when they gave me time off.” The tuh-thub in his brother’s chest had been steadily quickening, but now jumped faster. Mokuba pouted, and anger hissed out of his lips. “Where were you?”

Kaiba was at first taken back by his brother’s anger, but then again he was angry too.

Damn the boy for hurting him and then leaving him for dead, tossing him aside like trash. Damn the boy for making him wake up in the dumpster, pinned down not just by the garbage but by the overwhelming odor. Damn the boy for making him wake up again surrounded by death. For making him shirk his responsibilities to his company, to his brother. For putting his brother through this. He hated all of this, every ounce of this situation, and since it was the boy’s fault, he hated the boy most of all.

Kaiba felt himself shift with the rage, as if his body was ready to fight- physically fight- the boy right then and there. But his enemy wasn’t here. Only Mokuba. And, in any case, battles were won on the mental playing field not the physical one. So while he held onto his rage, he let the feeling pass before answering. “Somebody attacked me. Tried to kill me and almost succeeded. But, I’m finally better. I’m back.”

“Better? Bro, you look sick.”

“The doctor said I was in shock, and the blood transfusion is still kicking in.” He didn’t want to inflict the details on his brother, but he couldn’t hide them either. “I blacked out. Then, I was trapped… buried under trash. If I could have come back sooner I would have.”

“Who? Who did this?” Mokuba almost yelled.

“I...” Kaiba lowered his head. “I don’t know. I’m going to find out.”

“Good.” Mokuba puffed his chest out defiantly, pulling his hand out of Kaiba’s to curl it into a fist. “Cause when you do, I’m going to personally let him have a piece of my mind.”

A chuckle escaped Kaiba’s lips. While the idea of his brother actually trying to fight his attacker was rather disconcerting, he knew Mokuba was smart enough to not try it, at least so literally. He fussed his brother’s hair. “And, steal from me the satisfaction of doing it myself?”

“I guess not, but at least let me get in a few licks.”

“I’ll consider it.”

They sat there in comfortable silence for a moment before Mokuba finally reached over for a hug that Kaiba accepted. He pulled Mokuba in, glad to have the tactile reminder that his brother was here, that he was here, that the night was almost over. He couldn’t say that everything would be okay; things were rarely anything approaching okay. Yet, perhaps things would start to get back to normal, and at least he knew he could handle normal. He rested his head on Mokuba’s shoulder.

Suddenly there was a noise- a downward flow- by his left ear. The noise itself was soft and subtle, barely there, but it felt like a thousand hooks catching on his brain, pulling him in closer. His body shifted again but in anticipation.

Kaiba breathed in, and his brother’s scent and all its nuances filled his lungs, wafting through his nose, sliding over his teeth, and tickling the back of his throat. Despite his attempts to remind himself that none of that was real, that his nose was probably lying, every detail seemed so real. In addition to the shampoo clinging to his brother’s hair and the detergent sticking to his clothes, there was the lingering trace of chocolate, probably from a parfait his brother had downed before bed without anyone to tell him not to. Behind that was an aura of relief, fragrance of joy, and tangs of anger. It was a turmoil with his brother’s exhaustion evident. A frown flicked across his features.

The downward flow- no two downward flows, a larger one hidden behind the first, too deep to reach- called. While Mokuba’s scent carved itself into Kaiba’s mind, his throat lurched. Saliva flooded his mouth.

Despite Mokuba’s exhaustion, Kaiba’s senses screamed that his brother was at least here and healthy. The rhythmic pounding in his brother’s chest. The full delicate balance of his brother’s scent. The breathing by his ear. The downward flows. Life. It had been a long four days, but they had survived and come out the other side. Kaiba squeezed his brother in closer, his right arm snaking around till his hand rested on the left nape of his brother’s neck. His brother squeezed back. He was here. He was home. Mokuba was alive.

Alive.

The word hung in his mind before ripping in two.

Two next logical thoughts pulled at his attention, both demanding, nagging, insisting that they and they alone be next, yet chaffing and contradicting each other. Caught in the tug of war, he could barely think either. His brow creased.

The thoughts did agree on something though. Good. Alive was good.

He lightly shook his head to clear his thoughts before it turned into a tilt, and his jaw opened as if in a yawn.

“You monster!” A young voice cracked through the room. If the downward flow had been a thousand hooks, the voice was like ripping off velcro, almost literally as Kaiba jerked away to look up, upper lip pulling back in anger. The whole world readjusted and refocused.

Mokuba had not spoken.

Instead staring him down as if he were evil incarnate was a young Seto, wearing the shirt and sweater vest from his time at the orphanage some six years ago. The young Seto’s eyes were narrowed in a glare, hands curled into tiny fits that pounded at the air, and round cheeks trembled with rage.

Fuck.

Author’s note: Yeah that may not have been the best place to put your face, Kaiba.

But, yeah, I knew I wanted the “You monster!” thing early on especially when he got back to see Mokuba, and then at some point a part of me was like ‘you know a person’s face can get really close to another person’s neck during a hug’ and I looked at that part of me and went ‘You’re evil. I hate it and love it.’

Also, my logic with the blood transfusion was that the curse would be really happy because ‘yay, blood’ but it is also really confused and not used to processing it this way. So, this leads to it giving Kaiba a disorganized euphoria. However, I’m not going to deny that this started as ‘Lol, what if blood transfusions made vampires high, lol’

Did you catch that moment with two layers of dramatic irony at once?

#yugioh #ygo #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #isono #roland #vampire #vampire au #body horror #near major character death #no one dies though #hallucinations #fanfic #orgnpst #cliffhanger #do not kill me #dramatic irony #fic: adjusting to the dark #attd content

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