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athena-athena · 6 years

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A Birthday Surprise - Part One

A/N I originally intended for this to be a one-shot, but as usually happens with me, it ended up a lot longer, so I’ve decided to break it up into two parts. I’ll probably post the second part in a day or so. :) It’s a loose sequel to The Picnic, though you don’t have to read that one first. Some things mentioned in this story make a little more sense if you’ve read The Picnic first, though. And I’ve also written a little flashback to the night of the picnic, just as a reference for myself to use in this story, but I like how it turned out, so I’ll probably share it later, too.

And, as always, a huge thank you to @animeaniseed for brainstorming with me, and generally being an inspiration for all things Yondu and Kraglin.

Summary: Reader finds out that Yondu has never celebrated his birthday, and is determined to fix that. Yondu x Reader. No warnings.

Tagged: @animeaniseed @misfitgirlwrites (Let me know if you’d like to be added to my tagged list!)

Masterlist

Even after knowing him for over three years and being together for the past couple of weeks, Yondu was still a private person. Though he had started opening up to you a little more, he very rarely volunteered information about himself. You figured it was a habit built on a lifetime of self-preservation, and while you wanted to learn everything about him, you respected him enough not to pressure him into talking about things he wasn’t yet comfortable enough to share. There were some things, however, that you thought were okay to ask him.

“So, when’s your birthday?” you asked, as you sat next to him in the cockpit. He had been teaching you to fly one of the smaller M-ships, and you had just finished the day’s lesson.

“Dunno,” he said, his eyes still on the control screen in front of him, as he turned the ship back towards the Eclector.

“You don’t know?”

“Nah. Ain’t got one.”

“You were born at some point, right?”

He finally turned to look at you. “Yeah, reckon I was. Jus’ dunno when.”

Your confusion must have shown on your face, because he continued, “I was sold to the Kree when I was jus’ a baby, so I ain’t sure when I’s actually born.”

“Ohhh…,” you breathed. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

You knew he had been a battle slave, but you hadn’t known he had only been a baby when he was sold. You were horrified.

“’S okay. Ya didn’t have a way of knowin’.”

“And you were just a baby?”

He turned back to the control screen and pressed a couple of buttons before replying, “Yep.”

You recognized his tone – he clearly didn’t want to discuss this topic. Understandable. But you didn’t want to abandon the birthday conversation. It was baffling to you that someone could have gone through their entire life without celebrating their birthday even once. You knew not everyone had grown up with the same experiences as you, and you knew how lucky you were to have had a family who celebrated each member on their birthday. It was always such a special occasion, and it broke your heart that Yondu had never experienced that. You also knew he wouldn’t want you to pity him, so, in a chipper voice, you said, “Well, we’ll just have to pick a birthday for you.”

He turned to you again. “What?”

“We can pick a day to celebrate your birthday every year.”

“Why’d we do somethin’ like that?” he asked, skeptical.

“You deserve to celebrate your birthday. It doesn’t matter if you know the actual date or not.”

“Jus’ seems silly.”

“Didn’t Peter ever celebrate his birthday on the ship?”

“Yeah, reckon he did, but he was jus’ a kid.”

“So? Age doesn’t matter.”

He didn’t look convinced, but if there was one thing you’d learned in the past couple of weeks of being with Yondu, it was that he would do anything to make you happy.

“I just think it would be fun. We could have a little party, and -”

“Absolutely not. I ain’t havin’ a party.”

“I thought you loved parties.”

“Not when I gotta be the center of attention.”

“And here I thought you thrived on attention,” you teased.

He looked at you, raised an eyebrow, and flashed his crooked grin. “Only on yer attention.”

You blushed – even after these few weeks together, you still managed to blush every single time he gave you that look.

“Okay, no party. But we can still pick a date for you. You and I can just celebrate on our own.” You smiled sweetly at him.

“I like the sound of that.”

“Okay, so let’s pick a date. What do you think?”

“I dunno. You can pick.”

“I can’t just pick a random date for you! Are there any dates that are special to you? Or a certain time of year you prefer?”

He docked the M-ship on the Eclector, then was silent for a moment as he looked out at the stars. You took the opportunity to admire his profile: his blue skin, the soft glow of his fin, and the slightly raised scars.

Finally, he turned and met your eyes. “What ‘bout November 30th?”

“Okay! What made you pick… wait… isn’t that - ?”

“Yeah, it is,” he answered, smiling slightly.

“The day we met,” you said softly. “You remembered!”

“’Course I did.”

“Why would you remember that?”

“Dunno, reckon it jus’ stuck with me. Same reason ye remembered.”

“Well, I was bound to remember it. It’s not every day that a handsome Ravager Captain walks into your shop.”

“Ya thought I’s handsome?” he asked, clearly pleased.

“Of course. I always will,” you replied, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

_____________________________________________

A month had passed since the conversation about birthdays, and it hadn’t been mentioned again. You were pretty sure Yondu had already forgotten about it. You hadn’t, however, and the date Yondu had picked had finally arrived. You had been busy trying to come up with something to do to celebrate, as well as finding the perfect gift. You knew a party was out of the question – you figured Yondu wouldn’t want the crew to know about it at all – so you had decided to plan a quiet dinner for just the two of you.

You had picked up his present on one of your last supply runs, as well as a cookbook and ingredients for a cake. The only thing left to do was to actually bake the cake, and you were slightly nervous about it, for various reasons. You had baked occasionally before you left Xandar, but you were out of practice now. You also weren’t sure how baking on a spaceship differed from baking back home. Would the anti-gravity fields wreak havoc with the ingredients? You didn’t think so, but you really should have paid more attention to your mother when she had tried teaching you to cook.

Your biggest problem would be keeping it a secret. You had never asked the ship’s cook – whose name you still didn’t know because everyone just called him “Cook,” – if you could use the kitchen before, so you were sure he would wonder why you were suddenly showing an interest in the culinary arts. And, if you actually succeeded in baking an edible cake, you weren’t sure how you would get it to your room without being seen by any of the Ravagers, all of whom could sniff out food within a quarter mile.

You wanted everything to be perfect – Yondu deserved that. You took a deep breath, then let it out. “Okay, first things first… time to decorate.”

You were pretty sure Yondu wouldn’t be looking for you at this time of day – he was too busy planning the crew’s next mission - but you locked your door, just in case.

You walked to your bed and pulled out the box of decorations you’d smuggled onto the ship the week before and hidden underneath the bed. You didn’t think Yondu would ever go digging around under there, so it had been the perfect hiding place.

You hadn’t been able to find many decorations on the supply run, but you were just happy to have found any. Apparently decorating for birthdays was not a popular custom throughout the galaxy. You’d managed to find some streamers – red, yellow, and purple – and two balloons – one blue and one red. You shook your head and sighed. Still, it was better than nothing. You quickly hung the streamers, and used a small helium pump you’d borrowed from the maintenance wing to blow up the balloons. You had also found a small banner at the shop, and you had already written “Happy birthday, Yondu!” across it with blue paint. After making sure the paint was dry, you hung it on the wall behind the small table you had moved into your room earlier in the day. Standing back to check your handiwork, you had to admit it didn’t look too bad.

You returned to your bed, and pulled out another, much smaller, box from underneath it. You hoped Yondu liked the gift you’d gotten him. It was another trinket for his collection, but one you’d had custom made. It was a small snow globe, with glittery stars instead of snow; inside was a floating version of the Andromeda constellation. You smiled to yourself as you thought about that night after the picnic. You and Yondu had been stargazing, and you had pointed out Andromeda, which had been shining brightly above the two of you. It had felt like the pair of you had been the only two people in the galaxy. You had ended up telling him about the myth of Andromeda and how Perseus had saved her. When you’d finished, Yondu had teasingly said the constellation should belong to the two of you, because he would always protect you. He may have been joking, but ever since that perfect night, you had considered it yours and his. You hoped he would make the connection when he saw the globe.

You carefully wrapped it in tissue paper and placed it in a small box, then tied a red ribbon into a bow on top. The easy part was finished – now it was time to bake a cake.

You left the gift on the bed, then looked around for something you could use to bring the cake back to your room. You spotted the picnic basket on a shelf on the other side of the room – perfect. You picked up the cookbook and cake ingredients, and placed them in the basket.

#yondu #yondu x reader #guardians of the galaxy #yondu udonta #gotg #gotg2 #my writing

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i-just-like-commenting · 7 years

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Final Thoughts While Reading “The World of Ice and Fire” (part 6)

"Some of that is, Here there be dragons," Martin cautioned. "It's beyond the world they know."

Once you get beyond Westeros, the tenor of the book starts to change. You get a lot more talk about things being “exotic” or bizarre or mysterious. Martin himself has said that the further you get from Westeros, the less seriously you should take what the book says, because the more Yandel is relying on hearsay and third- or fourth-hand accounts. You wind up with different levels of knowledge:

The six coastal Free Cities, Braavos, Pentos, Lys, Myr, Tyrosh, and Volantis, all of which have extensive trade and interaction with Westeros directly

The three interior Free Cities, Lorath, Navros, and Qohor; the Summer Islands; and Ib, which while they trade with Westeros are much more reclusive and harder to reach

Central Essos and the Basilisk Isles, which Westeros is more likely to trade with via intermediaries

East of the Bones, and Sothoryos, which are mostly rumor and speculation

Also, this section of the book can be hard to follow unless you have a nice big map of the Known World that came with The Lands of Ice and Fire, which a certain someone just so happened to get for Christmas:

…so let’s started.

How many weird-ass societies can you come up with?

There are a ton of orientalist overtones in this section of The World, but that is, I think, intentional. It is imitating the tone of European works on “the East” for the presentation of Essos. Within the books, too, there tends to be a POV-derived sense of things being mysterious/exotic/bizarre. The characters who are just sojourners there, like Tyrion in Volantis and Dany in Qarth very much have these ideas in their minds. In contrast, Braavos (though not the Faceless Men) becomes more and more ordinary the longer that Arya lives there. I’m looking forward to her reverse culture shock when she comes back to Westeros.

What I do find impressive about this description of Essos is how Martin, for the most part, tries to avoid doing direct one-to-one parallels with real-world cultures. Especially with the Free Cities there’s a strong sense of their situatedness within his own universe and history that defies attempt to make them perfect analogs of anywhere in Europe or the Middle East. The Summer Islands, Sarnath, Ib, Hyrkoon, Qarth, the Dothraki…they all take cues from cultures in real life, but are so mish-mashed that they don’t feel like fantasy counterparts of anywhere real. Some are problematically culturally monolithic (especially with the Dothraki), but at least this particular snarl is avoided.

The one major exception is Yi Ti, which is China. Or rather Cathay, the Medieval image of China as it was received passed down and exaggerated by travelers. Setting aside the fabulous extravagances, there are similarities to Chinese history with its periods of long dynastic stability interrupted brutally by civil war. The monosyllabic nature of most names and words hints at a tonal language ala Chinese (though the consonants, with the inclusion of non-nasal final consonants, are very different from modern Chinese). It’s not a particularly offensive fantasy-China, however, so I’ll let this one slide.

The oddest culture is Hyrkoon, dominated by women who supposedly castrate all men but a handful they use for breeding. It would be great to know more about their history and how much of these tales is true, but unfortunately Yandel’s only real source is Addam of Duskendale (the Marco Polo of Westeros), who

instead spends most of its time finding ways to remind readers that the warrior women walk about barebreasted and decorate their cheeks and nipples with ruby studs and iron rings.

In other words, rather than give cultural background and history, he was too obsessed with just talking about the sexy~~~ bits and I think this might be Martin throwing some shade on the show, especially since this was written around the same time that the notorious Dorne arc happened in seasons 5.

Where do dragons (and other creatures) really come from?

The Valyrians say that dragons were born naturally out of fire and that they were the first to tame them. In Asshai it is said that some pre-Valyrian people tamed them in “the Shadow” and later taught the Valyrians. The maesters assert that there were dragons of some kind in Westeros long before they were tamed in Valyria. And Septon Barth says that dragons were created by Valyrians using fire magic out of the monstrous but not particularly supernatural wyverns that live in Sothoryos.

A good rule of thumb is that Septon Barth is probably right, but that means having to figure out how all the other pieces fit together. Some can be dismissed as self-aggrandizement, but there seems to be a common root in several of the stories, namely the importance of fire magic. Asshai is a major source of fire mages; if they had worked with Valyrians to create the first dragons, it could have served as the basis of their respective myths.

But that leaves the question of whether there were really dragons in Westeros before the Valyrians created them. I can come up with three major possibilities:

Septon Barth is wrong and there have always been fully functional dragons all over the place. I think we can dismiss this one out of hand.

The maesters correctly attribute things like knighthood or seven references to anachronism, but don’t with dragons. In reality dragons only appeared in Westeros as strays from Valyria much later in history.

The “dragons” from ancient Westeros were very different from Valyrian dragons – maybe related to the wyverns of Sothoryos, maybe even “feathered” to give rise to the idea of griffins. These extinct creatures took on the attributes of Valyrian dragons by later singers.

I’m partial to the third idea, because it would take care of multiple questions, and the best theories are usually the ones that explain the most data points.

Of course, griffins and wyverns are far from the only mythical creature that one finds in Essos. There are also mentions of centaurs, which are dismissed with the same argument given in our world, namely that people who didn’t know about horse riders got the wrong idea. Whether or not ice dragons in the North are real remains to be seen, but it would be interesting if “cold” became another element in the magical universe – it would certainly fit the Others more than the elements of earth or water. The brindled men of Sothoryos (who are seen in the fighting pits in Meereen so they’re definitely real) seem like another surviving hominid offshoot like the Ibbenese (who are clearly Neanderthals). Shrykes and winged men are probably mythical, given how far east they are. Tiger-men sound like skinchangers. The Jhogwin and Ifequevron may be proof that giants and the children of the forest were native to more places than just Westeros.

Indeed, a lot of what this does is put the local history of Westeros into a global scale, and on that note…

…let’s see if we can catch all the Lovecraft references!

The Deep Ones and the Drowned God’s famous words are really obvious Lovecraft references, so obvious that most people quickly notice them. There are others here in The World – lots of them, in fact, some of them fairly obscure.

BUT GUESS WHO’S GOT TWO THUMBS AND A SERIOUSLY PROBLEMATIC FAVE! I’ve added numbers on them, see if you can figure out why before the end. (cw: racism/anti-semitism/xenophobia on all these links, because it’s Lovecraft and he was a bigot)

Church of Starry Wisdom: originating in Yi Ti (4) but found throughout the world, including in Braavos (1), it originates in Lovecraft’s The Haunter in the Dark

The Black Goat of forested Qohor (2) seems a pretty clear reference to one of the titles of Shub-Niggurath (don’t think too hard about how that name is pronounced), “The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young”

“Ib” (2) references “Ib” in The Doom that Came to Sarnath

The idol of “a gigantic toad of malignant aspect” on Toad Isle (3) is a shout-out to Lovecraft’s version of Tsathoggua, an “amorphous toad-like god” dwelling in N’kai

The lizard men of Sothoryos (4) are a possible nod to the inhabitants of The Nameless City, though lizard people have a long history elsewhere

The lost city of Sarnath (3), as in The Doom that Came to, from above

The people of the Thousand Islands (4) worship “squamous, fish-headed gods,” included because nobody uses the word “squamous” unless they are doing Lovecraft pastiche, even though he only used the word once

N’ghai (4) might refer to N’kai, since N’kai is an underground city like Nefer

Carcosa (4) with its yellow emperor is an obvious nod to the pre-Lovecraft stories An Inhabitant of Carcosa and The King in Yellow that is sometimes used in Cthulhu mythos stories (though not by Lovecraft himself)

K’dath (4) is Kadath from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and if you have not read that novella, it is bizarre but one of my favorite Lovecraft tales and reads a lot like an RPG campaign

Leng (4) reference the Plateau of Leng, which is also in The Dream-Quest, but appears in At the Mountains of Madness and The Hound as somewhere in the waking world, in Antarctica or Central Asia. The people of Leng revered the Old Ones in ages past, a very obvious reference to the Great Old Ones, extremely powerful and long-lived aliens that serve the Outer Gods

I may have missed a few in the weirder names, too, since a few of these have messed up spellings. Now, with this many references, man, it might seem that this is straight-up part of the Cthulhu mythos, but there’s a reason I have those numbers. They correspond to the concentric rings of knowledge I started this entry out with, and as you can see, the references get more and more common the further you are away from Westeros and the closer you are to “here there be dragons.”

And on closer look, a lot of these references don’t amount to much more than name-drops. The exact nature of the Black Goat in Lovecraft is unclear, and was probably him ripping off another story called The Great God Pan; Qohor’s religion owes as much to ideas of Baphomet and Satanism as it does to Lovecraft. The Cult of Starry Wisdom didn’t worship a fallen asteroid, as they do in Essos, but rather a device they could use to see between worlds. Tsathoggua didn’t preside over merrow-human hybrids as on Toad Isle. The Neanderthal Ibbenese in no way resemble the green-skinned, bug-eyed, voiceless Ib. Sarnath’s doom is from a very mundane Dothraki invasion rather than being transformed into monsters. Carcosa should be a lost ruin. Leng is a cold barren plateau populated either by people with horns and hooved feet or by “a corpse-eating cult,” not a tropical island with tall beautiful humans. Kadath exists only in the dream lands – and the dream cycle is also where you find Sarnath, Ib, and sometimes Leng, all explicitly imaginary places in a string of Dunsany-esque fantasy stories with minimal connection to the rest of the Cthulhu Mythos.

The only real exception are those Old Ones in Leng, trapped beneath the earth in sealed underground caverns. One of the reasons I doubt the show’s explanation of the origin of the Others is the one from the books is that it’s so local, entirely driven by the children vs First Men conflict, whereas in the books the Long Night was worldwide. I don’t know how the show intends to reconcile this provincialism with the prophecies of Azor Ahai; how could Asshai care about this if it happened on the other side of the world? And it’s far from the only culture with Long Night myths. Yi Ti has a fairly elaborate one, and the book gives many names for Azor Ahai: Hyrkoon the Hero (Hyrkoon), Yin Tar (Yi Ti, and a woman), Neferion (N’ghai?), and Eldric Shadowchaser (Andal? First Men? The name is a Michael Moorcock reference so who knows); we can probably add the last hero of Nan’s tales to that list.

That there might be another sealed evil in a can under Leng doesn’t seem impossible, but the series already indicates what they might be: the Others. It is entirely possible that the Wall is not the only barrier keeping whatever caused the Long Night from once again covering the earth; it may simply be the most vulnerable because Westeros no longer believes in magic and myth as it used to, and everyone is too busy with local politics to care about another hibernal apocalypse. Martin has created his own strange mythos, with giants that are radically different from our own legends, monstrous merfolk, the strange child of the forest that rather than elves, and the unearthly and ethereal white walkers with their armies of undead and giant ice spiders. Frankly it would be a disappointment if he grafted on someone else’s stories.

#a song of ice and fire #the world of ice and fire #spoilers #lovecraft #theories #eldritch apocalypse #tagging my skepticism

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daily-rubbersoul-redux · 3 years

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24 hours? Nah more like 60 minutes, here it is fuckers :]

As much as I regret it, I must put this under a cut due to the fact that some of it is graphic in nature (even though I try and avoid describing it too graphically, I still feel that this is the best way to go about this as to not accidentally expose someone to something they are uncomfortable with. I really don't want to say what exactly in order to avoid spoiling it, but I feel it is the right thing to do, so: If you're uncomfortable with death or self harm (possibly including more severe versions of this, i.e. suicide/attempted suicide) then maybe don't read this? Or just read it with caution. Again, I did my best to make it not too bad, but at the same time, I wanted to make it a good piece of writing, meaning not omitting everything, if that makes sense). However, this is also, well.... Incredibly long. I put a lot of time and effort into making it as good as possible, and I enjoyed every second of it. This plot, this whole thing, it.... It means a lot to me, because it's kind of the first OC related plot that I ever made that I was truly proud of. Or well, a version of it since y'know. The characters it focuses on aren't originally from the JJBA Universe. But still, I really hope you read it at all, and if you do that you enjoy it.

Also, just a few other things: This originally was going to have drawings throughout it, but a combination of not being able to make them look how I wanted, not wanting to interrupt the writing’s flow and just feeling as if I didn’t have enough time killed that idea. Also, I really don’t think the first part is too great, especially when compared to the later parts, but I didn’t feel like it warranted a complete re-write, so... Yeah, don’t judge it all off of that.

And I know, usually Author's notes go at the end but y'know. Figured I'd put something above the cut. :]

Part I: To say goodbye.

Friday, June 18th, 3:00 p.m.

Jacian glanced at the clock on the wall, as the hands aligned to spell out 3 o’clock. It was time to get ready for what was to come. He willingly pried himself from his seat, leaving his half-eaten meal behind him; It was not as if it was not already cold and spoiled. He calmly made his way to his room, opening his closet with a flourish. Anyone else may have been panicking in this situation, or at the very least stressed a little, but not him. He had already made peace with his decision, and with what he had to do. There was no way around it. He had his orders, and he would obey.

One of them would not leave this duel with any life remaining in their bodies.

His hands made their way to the very back of the line of identical school uniforms that stood before him, gently removing a much more regal outfit, complete with an armored pauldron. Fitting attire for a final duel; It was only right to show his respect by dressing appropriately. He took his time changing into the outfit; First the white undershirt, followed by cream pants, which the shirt was tucked into, then his black boots with red accents, which the pants were tucked into, his signature almost navy-blue jacket with golden accents and its decorative tassel, his neckerchief, which was expertly tied and tucked into his jacket, his trademark scarlet cape slung over his left shoulder, a shimmering black pauldron atop the cape, a pair of black armored gloves, and finally…

He walked over to his bedside table, gently plucking a white lily from the plant he had growing there and fastening it to his bosom over the top of the cape’s edge. White lilies… What an ironic choice. The flower he loved most, and one often symbolizing purity…

But also, a flower often present at the funerals of those who died young. How fitting.

He looked himself over in the full-length mirror that stood aside his closet, making sure his appearance was picture perfect as intended. His golden hair fell perfectly into place, his flowing red cape lay perfectly both as he stood still and as he posed a bit, and the matching red palms of his armored gloves complimented the whole look quite well. He adjusted his neckerchief a bit, ensuring that it was properly aligned, before giving a satisfied nod. Oh, how he wished it father could have seen him now… He wondered; would he be proud of him? Would he approve of how he had been doing his job, and upholding his values? After all, it was because of his father that he had decided to follow this path in the first place. He respected him; How he upheld his moral code no matter what, and yet was still able to make time for his family. He was such a great man, and yet… He bled all the same. Which was why Jacian had to take up arms in his stead; He had to protect his father’s honor, by ensuring that his sacrifice would not be in vain. And to that end, he would serve his Lord to his last breath as well, no matter what.

Ah, but… He was getting distracted, and nearly had forgotten the most vital part of his getup; The part that would be a true necessity in the events to come. He made his way to the two cases sitting on his bed, gently lifting the lids on them, and retrieving the contents from within. The smaller of the two contained his usual rapier, which he fastened to his right hip as he normally did. The second case however, contained a much larger sword, one seemingly custom made to fit some very specific requirements. Its almost greenish blade shinned in the small amount of sunlight that was trickling into the room via a curtained window as Jacian fastened this sword to left hip, though much more towards the rear of his body. He once again looked himself over in the mirror, ensuring that the two blades laid as they should, before giving himself a final nod of approval.

Now that that was all done… He had a few more things to check before he departed. He made his way back out into the living area of his apartment. What was in his private quarters did not matter much anyways; Out here was where he had spent most of his time. First thing first, he read over the note he had left on the table once more, just to be completely sure it expressed the things that he wanted it to. After a few moments, he deemed it to be fine, and so neatly folded it and left it next to his perpetually unfinished meal. That was done, and he had already left the notes he had prepared for Myojo, Suzu and Orlando in the council room and principal’s office respectively, so next… He walked over to the coffee table, grabbed the spare key he had left there, and tucked it away within his jacket for the time being. Was there anything else that needed to be done? He slowly scanned the rest of the living area with his vision, but before too long his eyes fell on the objects lining the shelves near his window. His stern expression softened a bit as he made his way over to them, nostalgic thoughts filling his mind.

Lining them were things he had obtained over the past five years, all of them from close friends both new and old. Most were simply small trinkets, though there were some bigger objects and even some things attached to the wall between the shelves and the window. He went over to the objects on the wall first; A motivational poster from Anton, a t-shirt from Orlando with a picture of his face on it, and a motivational cat calendar from Suzu. Not to mention the window they were all hung next to, which held a window planter Taiana had gifted him for his birthday which was now filled with campanulas. As for the shelves themselves, many of the objects they held were naught but small trinkets, such as a Maneki-Neko figurine from Kyō, a hand made lily pin from Kaitso, an ornate pair of scissors from Chiuji, a brooch and embroidered handkerchief from Taiana, a student council pin from Myojo, a rooster charm from Anton, a keychain from Orlando that was also of his face – along with a ‘Best Fiends’ necklace – and a crystal lily figure from Merridith. Of the larger images, two were cards; One from Anton and the rest of his group, commemorating his birthday a few years prior, and the other from Myojo, wishing him well when he had been down in the dumps and stressed previously. Finally, there were the larger objects; A decorative folding fan from Kyō, a solid gold sword replica from Kaitso, a pair of pastel blue and white roller skates from Merridith, a boxed set of The Power Puff Girls DVDs from Orlando, a book of flirting tips and pick-up lines from Chiuji, and the two Build-A-Bear stuffed animals that Suzu and Myojo had gifted him, as well as his own. All of this, from all of his friends… He felt a twinge in his heart. He really was going to miss them all; getting to converse with them, and even just spend time in their presence…

But even so, he stood firm with his decision. He had made his peace; and though he felt for those who he had cared for, he did not feel remorse or sorrow about what was to come. Giving one last smile at the contents of the shelves, he made his way to his apartment’s doorway. He gazed at the whole room one last time; It should have been a sentimental and sad moment, and to a weaker man it may have been, but to Jacian this was simply the end of one chapter of his life. He exited the apartment, fishing his key out of his jacket to lock the door behind him before stashing said key away in a potted plant between his own door and the door of his neighbor. His mother would know where to find it when she needed to; That was all that mattered. And with that, he began the long walk to the duel site he had specified, confidence in his every step and a determined expression on his face.

One chapter of his life had just concluded; And the final one was about to begin.

Part II: I understand.

Friday, June 18th, 2:47 p.m.

Taiana opened the letter she had found on her desk a little over a week ago, reading it once more just so that she could be sure there had been no mistake. Lo and behold, nothing had changed about the words that it contained, nor the signature at the bottom. Jacian…

…So, this was why he had increased the frequency of their duels for the past month. And now, it came to this. A duel to the death. She leaned back, her head hitting the wall she was sitting up against. What should she do…? No, no she had no reason to ask herself that. She already knew what she would be doing.

She would accept, of course. It was only fair, and besides. If she was to truly be a knight, then it was her duty to never back down from a duel. Still… If this would be the grand finale, then she should probably dress for the occasion. She looked down at her school uniform. Sure, it was what she had worn to every other duel, but, knowing Jacian, he would have some extravagant garb on for this one. So, it would only be appropriate for her to do the same. She glanced at the bag beside her, which held just that; An outfit truly fitting of a knight, and one she had been saving for the most special of occasions. Tucking the letter away within her right pant pocket, she got to her feet, and slung the bag over her shoulder. School was out for the day; it was time to get ready.

The walk from the campus to the café Jacian worked out felt longer than usual. Of course, he would not be working there today; He had not shown up for school that day either, unsurprisingly considering the occasion. She gave a friendly wave to the blue-green haired man behind the counter as she entered the establishment, before promptly heading back to the single-person bathroom at its back. Locking the door behind her, she began the process of changing into her much more elaborate garb, her mind drifting as she did. Gabbrielli had seemed much less stressed out that day, which was nice… Still, it felt a bit bad to have to decline his offer for lunch. But today was not the day for that. Maybe once this was all said and done, they could get lunch with Jacian as well.

…Well, no, I guess not, considering it was a duel to the death… One of them would not be leaving that battle grounds. Speaking of the battle grounds… She reached into the right pocket of her now-removed school pants, retrieving the letter from its depths. She scanned it over once more, this time solely focused on the address written neatly towards the bottom. Taking a few moments to try and memorize it, she nodded, seemingly satisfied with herself, before tucking it back away within her school pants and subsequently tucking those into the bag she had brought her new outfit in. Once she quickly finished changing, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, putting the finishing touch on her outfit.

A red rose… Not exactly a fitting flower, typically they symbolized naught more than love or romance, but still one she had worn for longer than she could remember. Perhaps it was because of the romanticized versions of knights, and scenes of them rescuing others often were depicted with rose petals floating around them dramatically. Really, things like that were primarily why she had decided to become a knight in the first place; She just… feel in love with that fantastical version of them and wanted to fill that role herself. In reality, it was a thankless job spent entirely serving the whims of one’s master. But with a master like the people as a whole, well… She loved it more than anything. Even if she was doing something as simple as helping someone perform some trivial task, she could not think of any greater joy in life. She was really helping people, serving the people in a way that she wanted to, and still fitting that romanticized image, to a degree.

She finished fastening the rose above the small tassels hanging from her coat, looking herself over in the surprisingly large bathroom mirror once more. Her short, green cape, fastened to both of her shoulders via a pair of golden shoulder pads with a fringe that matched the tassels on her coat’s breast, contrasted her long, bright orange coat, with the gold accents all over the rest of the outfit complimenting the whole look quite nicely. She fixed one of her gloves, ensuring it was on properly this time, before slipping on her mask. Alright then, she was ready to leave. She gazed up at the bathroom window; It was too high for her to reach from the ground, even with her skills at jumping and parkour. Even so, she had planned for this, and began to put said plan into action as she slung her bag over her shoulder. Leaning her sword against the wall, while being sure to keep a grasp on the leather strap connected to its sheath, she gracefully leapt upon its guard, using it to propel herself up to the window which she grasped the ledge of and pulled herself partially through. Before she jumped out completely though, she sharply yanked the leather strap she was holding onto, bringing her sword flying up to her, where she caught it in midair with a simple swipe of her hand. With that, she jumped down from the window, landing solidly on her feet and causing her boots to make a resounding THUNK as they made contact with the pavement. She then headed over towards some nearby bushes, stowing her bag away within their depths. There, she could return for that once all was said and done. But now, she was ready. With a determined expression, she headed off in the direction of the specified duel grounds, fastening her sword to her left hip as she walked.

This was it. The final showdown.

But for some reason, her heart felt heavier than she had expected it to.

Part III: Scarlet curtains fall.

Friday, June 18th, 3:39 p.m.

Gabbrielli gave a small wave to the store clerk as he left, plastic bag in hand. Letting out a sigh, he began the fairly short walk home. He had planned on getting lunch with Taiana and Jacian today, but the former already had plans and the latter was absent from school, which was surprising considering his usual punctuality. Ah well, they would simply have to go out another day. Today he had decided to bring home some ice cream and spend time with his siblings instead. He figured it would be nice, especially since Cammylle had finally been opening up and becoming more willing to spend time with the others. Not to mention that Villette had been accepted to that college in America that she had dreamed of going to, so they had all the reason to celebrate together. He began humming to himself as he walked, his thoughts wandering. It was certainly a nice day out today; A bit cloudy, sure, but that only really improved the weather by obscuring the scorching June sun. Not only that, but it was quiet, peaceful… For once he was not being swarmed by unwanted affection or gifts. He smiled to himself, rounding the corner onto the street he lived on. One thing may have gone wrong that day, but at the very least the rest of it was turning out quite swimmingly. He made his way to the front door of his house knocking on it gently enough for it to be audible, but not overly loud. He waited, but…

There was no response, which was odd considering that at least one person should be home… He tried again, this time knocking a bit harder, but still to no avail. He thought it a bit odd, but perhaps whoever was home was simply upstairs. He crouched down, retrieving a spare house key from beneath the doormat. It looked as if he would just have to let himself in. Inserting the key into the lock with a small sigh, he proceeded to turn it, unlocking the door, and opened it, stepping inside. It was quiet, which was certainly strange, but he paid that no mind, making his way to the dining room. The lights were off, which was unusual as well, and as he stepped into the room, he decided to announce his presence.

“I’m home, and I picked up some ic-” His words caught in his throat, as he took in the scene before him. His mind went blank, and everything just seemed to stop. He did not even notice the grocery bag falling out of his hand and hitting the floor with a dull thud.

What lay in front of him, was four forms collapsed onto the ground in various locations withing the large room. All of them lay in pools of their own blood. All four of them. All four of… Of his siblings.

He began to scream, his legs moving on their own as he rushed over to the nearest body. Her face was not visible, her long blue hair having presumably fallen over it as she fell to the ground. Gabbrielli threw himself to the ground next to her, his screams echoing in the room. “Vi, Vi please! Get up, you have to, you can’t-” His words once again caught in his throat as he brushed her hair aside, revealing her face. Both her eyes and mouth were wide open, as if she had been in shock before she died. And, though the fact she was not breathing should have made it apparent, her blank, glassy stare is what finally made Gabbrielli accept the situation.

She was dead. No alive person would have eyes so hollow, so glossed over… It was if all the color had been drained from them, as if the bright crimson that used to occupy her irises had spilt onto the ground along with her blood. He shakily stood back up, turning his gaze to the other bodies in the room.

Fabriano had the same eyes.

Georganna had the same eyes.

He could not see Cammylle’s face, but… He could only assume it was the same.

And Father was nowhere to be found.

Gabbrielli felt numb. Why… Just, why… He had no idea how to process this, or what to do, or…

And then, out of the corner of his eye, movement. Not much movement, he very well could have been imagining things, but… As soon as doubt entered his mind, Cammylle’s hand once again twitched.

He could not take any chances. He immediately rushed to her side, scooping the younger girl up in his arms. She was warm, and more importantly….

Her eyes were not like the others. No, rather they were clenched shut as if she was in immense pain, and her though her breathing was shallow and labored, it was still there.

“C-Cam, oh god, oh thank god….” He sobbed softly. But even though she was alive now, she… She may not stay that way for long. She was still wounded. Not knowing what else to do, Gabbrielli did what he only then realized he should have as soon as he came upon the scene.

He called for help.

“H-hello? Yes t-there’s… Oh god, my family was attacked, a-and…

T-there are three dead, one w-wounded and one missing. P-please send someone as soon as you can I-I can’t….

I can’t lose h-her too….”

Part IV: One last time.

Friday, June 18th, 3:57 p.m.

Jacian checked his ornate pocket watch. He had arrived at the abandoned warehouse that would be the grounds for this final showdown quite early, but… Now only three minutes remained until the designated time. Though, knowing Taiana, she would be arriving before the next minute was up. Silently tucking the watch back into his pocket, he began to let his thoughts wander a bit. He had made his peace with what was to be done; Having nearly two weeks to prepare himself, that was to be expected. But even so… Deep down, he was quite sad that his incompetence had let it come to this. He knew that people would be hurt, and that they probably would not understand. But he had his orders, and he had to carry them out.

There would only be one survivor. That much, he was certain of.

“Jacian.” The boy turned towards the approaching voice, as the figure it belonged to emerged from the shadows, her blue eyes illuminated from beneath her mask. “…So, this is it, huh? At the very least, can I ask why? To go to this length, you… Couldn’t have made this decision yourself, no?”

“Of course not, I simply received new orders; This whole ordeal has been ongoing for over five years at this point, and though I had no wish to change our way of doing things, my Lord understandably had grown tired of it. As such, I now must do things his way, so to speak. And as we are both here…” He unfastened the larger of the two blades he had brought with him from his waist, holding it out in front of him as he removed the sheath, before tossing it to the side. It hit the ground with a clatter as he brandished the blade which gave off a sort of soft glow in the darkened area. His serious expression deepened to one of intense focus as he continued. “…I believe it is time that we start, and end this.”

Taiana had so many questions that she wanted to ask, but… She knew that asking them would not amount to anything now. This duel would happen regardless. She understood that, and she understood why, but… She had a bad feeling about this whole thing. She unsheathed her own blade, the ribbons tied to the hilt gently flowing along with the draft of air flowing through the building as she took up her own stance. “…Alright then.”

“Good. Now then…

…HOLD NOTHING BACK IF YOU WISH TO LIVE!” Without even giving Taiana as much as a moment to react, Jacian sprung forward. It would have been expected for him to have a hard time handling the larger blade, as he had been using naught but a rapier in his duels for half a decade, but Jacian was no fool; He had been training excessively with the blade in his spare time and could handle it as naturally as if it was his own limb. He made the first attack, slashing at his opponent which caused the blade to leave a trail of electricity along its path.

Taiana narrowly dodged, a bit caught off guard by both the suddenness of his charge, and the apparent powers of the sword he was wielding. She jumped back in order to put some distance between the two, quickly regaining her composure and stance in the process. This was bad, especially considering that she had no clue what this sword was capable of. But still, she had been warned that he would be going all out within the letter she had been given… So, if she had to fight fire with fire, then so be it.

…Well, more so fight electricity with fire, but the point still stood. Still, she would rather not have to resort to that if possible. It may be a duel to the death, but… She did not want to hurt him. He was her friend, and… She really cared about him…

Seemingly noticing her distraction, Jacian went on the offensive once more. This was what he had trained for, what was his duty… Whether he wanted to do it or not was not a factor in whether or not it would happen. Still, he did not expect it to be easy… Both would doubtless make full use of their abilities in this battle, which meant that Taiana would be near impossible to hit… Well, she would be for someone who had not prepared for her skillset, at least. He feinted a strike to the left, utilizing electricity to make it appear as if he was actually following through with it, before striking to the right at full force. Seemingly not realizing quickly enough to dodge, Taiana was forced to block the blow, and the two were thrown into a blade lock. They held fast for a while, neither wanting to give in to the other’s pressure, until both realized that this would go nowhere and sprung apart.

The sounds of metal hitting metal, boots scaping on concrete, and the occasional shout or crackle of electricity echoed throughout the battle grounds, as the two continued to clash. Though both found themselves on both the offensive and defensive at several points throughout, neither could truly claim to have the upper hand. Still, both persevered, each trying to put the other into check by planting their blade firmly at their throat. However, neither was having much luck, and already this duel had more than doubled the usual ten minute time of their previous ones.

Taiana had during all of this somehow come up with a plan. The only question was, would she be able to execute it in a way that would not backfire? It was risky, she would have to let Jacian get incredibly close to hitting her, but if it worked out then it could turn the tides of this battle in her favor. As she thought to herself, Jacian saw yet another opportunity to strike, and took it without hesitation. As he got close enough to strike, however, Taiana chose to reach towards him with her empty left hand, rather than make any move to block or dodge.

Jacian noticed that her palm had begun glowing a bit. Something was amiss, he was sure of it. Just as he pulled his blade into more of a defensive position, using it almost like a shield, flames began spewing from Taiana’s palm, sending him flying back a bit. He skidded himself to a stop, keeping his balance as he did, before cutting through the remaining flames with his blade, causing a loud crackle to echo through the area. Though it would have been normal for his sword to be at the very least warped due to the heat, it showed no sign of damage, fire related or otherwise.

Taiana was breathing heavily at this point, slowly lowering her arm. Shit… She had hoped that Jacian would at the very least be forced to switch to his standard rapier due to the attack, but… Nothing. And the fact that this duel was both lasting longer and going harder than any one previously was beginning to take a toll on her. She needed to end this, and soon.

Jacian was beginning to show similar symptoms of fatigue. This needed to end soon… Within the next few clashes, or else they may both simply be too tired to continue. And if that were to happen, then… He would not be able to bring himself to finish this for good. No, there HAD to be a victor; A draw would be unacceptable.

This would be his final charge.

The two locked eyes, brandishing their blades with a final determination. They seemingly both had come to the same conclusion; That this ended now. As they charged at each other from their places across the warehouse, time seemed to slow to a crawl. The distance between them closed, as they began to swing their blades as to lead to the other’s defeat. It seemed as if neither were at an advantage, same as the rest of the duel, until, at the very last possible moment, Taiana once more used her empty left hand; But rather than do anything like before, she used it to intercept Jacian’s blade, receiving a nasty slash on her palm in the process.

Jacian had not expected a maneuver like that, and before he could fully process what had occurred…

Taiana had claimed her victory. Her blade lay mere millimeters from her rival’s jugular, as she panted heavily from a mixture of exhaustion and pain. Her expression remained stern and on guard for a few seconds, but… As soon as she realized what had happened, and what her victory meant, her expression fell away.

Jacian however, remained perfectly calm. He simply tossed his sword to the side, where it hit the ground with a loud clatter of metal against stone. He looked Taiana directly in the eyes, his expression serious and his blue eyes piercing. “To the victor goes the spoils, as they say; You are the victor Taiana. My life is yours to take.”

Neither of them made any move or spoke for the next full minute, though it felt more like an hour. She… Those were the conditions of the duel, but she could not… Her hand began to tremble, as she slowly lowered her blade. “…No. I can’t- No, I won’t take your life Jacian. I… I refuse! How could you expect me to do something like this, after all we have been through together? You’re my friend, I… I care about you! I understand why you have to do this, but… I won, and I refuse to kill you! So… So that’s that!” She had neither realized that she had begun to shout, nor that tears had begun trickling down her face, but she did know that no matter what, she…

She would never be able to bring herself to kill him.

Jacian’s expression remained unchanged, though he did let out a small sigh. “…I expected as much. Well, if that is the case, then… Simply hear me out, Taiana.” He did not even wait for her to respond before he continued. “The past five years, dueling with you, have been… Some of the best times of my life, truth be told. Though they may be marks of my own failure and incompetence, they will for ever be precious to me. As… As will you Taiana. No matter what happens, please…” He moved his right hand to rest on the handle of his sheathed rapier.

…Always know that I love you.”

Before she even had a chance to process his words, Jacian pulled his rapier from its sheathe, though he held it as if it were a knife that he was going to use to stab someone rather than holding it in his usual fashion. And then, without an ounce of hesitation,

He plunged the blade into his own chest, using both of his hands rather than just the one he had grabbed the blade with.

Time slowed as Taiana lunged for the now falling Jacian, whom had been blown back by the force of his own swift stab. Blood splattered against the wall behind him in slow motion as he fell to lean up against it, resulting in what appeared to be a crimson halo around his head. His eyes were closed, and on his face was a smile.

Taiana could not hear it, but she was screaming.

That night, the news would report on two things: How a boy had come home to find his family had been attacked, with a total body count of three dead, one injured and one missing, and how a seemingly fresh pool of blood and two bloody swords had been found in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town, seemingly without any trace of a body or injured party.

#[actual lore?] story post #[white lily knight] jacian von rittedel #[bladed rose] taiana seiryu #[blue sky prince] gabbrielli roi #[pink carnation] georganna roi #[black dahlia] cammylle roi #[sunny bluebells] villette roi #[speed incarnate] fabriano roi #[flower adorned throne] natalio roi #I won't be tagging this until later as to not spoil the characters in it :]#even though it should be apparent what this is by now. i did forshadow a few days ago #:]

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