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guaxinimraccoon · 3 years

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jesus christ why-

oh mY DEAR GOD-

FIRST OF ALL I'm SO sorry for taking so damn long to answer those, I've been really really busy and I'm very sorry, I'm doing my best to answer everybody ; o ;

BUT FINALLY let's talk about our big last Euphoria reveal (about four months ago but ok-), where I showed you guys that Alex is Brad's father and Elisa is Toby's mom.

"BUT GUAX WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??? HOW?? WHEN??? WHERE??"

SHUSH , CALM YOUR TITS DOWN and let me explain:

Ok, so I'll be putting some links here and there because yes, Alex and Elisa's story is very, VERY connected to Brad and Toby's.

And get ready for a veeeeeeeeeeeeery long post. You were warned.

As you all already know, Alex and Elisa had a troublesome meeting, but eventually got closer to each other, they fell in love yadda yadda yadda BUT their will to get closer to each other, in other words, their relationship brought HUGE consequences.

Yes, they did manage to build a healthy relationship, they were happy, they were fine.

But they were also adults, adults that wanted something serious and concrete, they couldn't spend the rest of their lives as forbbiden lovers.

So Elisa did something literally illegal. She did a potion that was forbidden by the Colony authorities - a shrunken potion - to get closer to Alex.

Those potions were never developed, they're rustic and really antique, so they could do more harm than good or not work at all.

But Alex didn't care, he took the risk and drank the potion to get closer to his girl, the woman that was the love of his life.

The effect of the potion is temporary, so Alex would drink them from time to time whenever he had the opportunity to visit the Colony, spend some time with Elisa and, of course, be a part of her life.

He wasn't just trying to "be like her", he was also trying to be a part of her home. He made friends with her friends, he met her family, he met new imps, new fairies, all of it under his "imp disguise". He even fought for the Colony at it's war times (that is lasting till the current story time). He EVEN presented himself with a more “impish name” - Turk - to make sure people wouldn’t suspect anything.

Of course, people eventually started to ask why didn’t he live in the Colony with Elisa, why did he only showed up from time to time. Alex and Elisa lied, obviously, they told everyone that Alex belonged to a secluded imp tribe that lived walking around the forest as nomads, which made sense since those types of imp communities do exist.

ANYWAY THE POINT IS Alex grew affectioned of those people and with their lifestyle. He started to feel like he was one of them.

And, of course, he was now closer than he ever was to Elisa.

Since they were different species, they never worried about having kids. I’ve never said this before but Alex is a doctor, he knows about this stuff, so he always made sure to reassure Elisa that "they were their own condon" and, as sad as it may sound, they couldn't have kids.

... Or so Alex thought.

You know how tigers and lions can have offspring together? Yeah, it's the same thing.

It's very hard to happen, but they spent YEARS together if you know what I mean so yeah

That's how Alex and Elisa gave birth to their first child: Tobias, the only one of a specie that is a mix between human and imp.

His parents were really worried at first, afterall, they new NOTHING about Toby's condition. They didn't know if he was going to grow as large as a human or if he'd assume imp proportions forever. After some research with his son's blood, Alex found out that Toby was indeed half human and half imp, but he was predominantly physically an imp. That means his biological features are, mostly, imp like: he'd hardly grow as large as a human through his life's course and could live as a normal imp in the Colony. The fact that he showed talent for magic (once he was old enough to do so) and was able to do it just like any other imp in the Colony also made things easier.

Elisa and Alex chose to raise Toby in the Colony, they believed it’d be healthier and safer for him (especially after some events that I’ll be talking about in other posts), although it hurt Alex to pretend that he was an imp to his son and that he couldn’t see him everyday.

Even if they couldn’t see each other everyday, Alex and Toby were very close. Toby loved his daddy very much and was very attached to him.

After five years after Toby was born, Elisa got pregnant again and gave birth to their second child: Bernardo (that’d eventually be nicknamed as “Brad”), one of the two only beings of the specie Alex and Elisa accidently created together.

For preucation, Alex took a bit of Brad’s blood and made some research, just like he did to Toby.

And what he found out wasn’t exactly... relieving.

Brad, just like Toby, was half human and half imp, but he had expressed mostly human features in his physical body. He was as small as a baby imp now, but it was a matter of time until he started to grow very VERY large.

Unlike Toby, Brad couldn’t live as an imp in the Colony and things got very complicated for them.

Alex wanted to leave. He told Elisa the Colony’s community would NEVER accept their youngest, they would never accept Alex and probably wouldn’t accept Toby either. They had to leave that place before they couldn’t hide the truth anymore, even if it cost revealing Toby, a five year old child, that most of his life was a lie.

But Elisa was hesitant. She didn’t want to leave her home, her parents, her friends. She knew Alex was right, they couldn’t stand that play for too long, but how to leave everything she had built behind? How to leave everything she knew as home behind? It wasn’t that easy.

Until something very bad happened.

Remember I said Alex made a few friends in the Colony? So, one of them was Stefan, a experienced fairy soldier that had known Elisa for as long as she was alive. He was pretty much her best friend (even if he was old enough to be her father) and now he was also great friends with Alex.

Stefan is important here. He has a very tragic backstory involving humans. He lost pretty much everything to them: his whole family and his wings, something that meant more than just flying to him.

So, as expected, he hates humans and truly believes that they are nothing more than monsters that try to manipulate you and to get advantage from imp’s and fairy’s magic.

After some years, he started to get very suspicious over Alex. Some things weren’t making any sense anymore and that “nomad imp community” was starting to sound way more like an excuse than the actual truth. He simply didn’t understand what was stopping him to live with Elisa and his sons for once.

So he did some investigation. One day, he followed Alex (that he knew as Turk) out of the Colony, in one of the days he had only come to visit his family. Alex had said earlier that he had to “go back to his own society”. Yeah, right. Stefan was hiding the whole time and followed Alex till a good distane from the Colony’s limits.

And he didn’t get exaclty happy to see his best friend growing impossibly huge out of nowhere.

Stefan now knew the truth: Alex was pretending to be an imp using shrinking potions. He didn’t belong to any nomad imp group, he was a human that lived in his own house and was coming to the Colony to play family with them.

Of course, he didn’t only felt betrayed, but pissed as fuck. Stefan didn’t waste any time: as soon as Alex came back to the Colony he confronted him. Alex tried to explain himself, but they only argued and ended up having a pretty bad fight.

In anger, Stefan didn’t want to hear no more explanations, so he told some of the Colony’s high authorities about Alex’s lies and that they had to do something about it.

The Colony’s Council decided to call Elisa and solve things between imps and fairies only. But they showed her no mercy.

They basically gave her two options: or she’d prove her loyalty to the Colony and would kill her husband and her human son, or the Colony would sentence all of them to death penalty, including Toby and Brad, children that they claimed should have never been born.

Elisa was in shatters. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t kill the man she loved and her baby child, she just couldn’t. She was about to accept the second option, rathering die with her family than killing them, but Stefan decided to help her out.

He wasn’t expecting the Council to be so cruel and he started to regret his decisions the moment he saw how Elisa was worried about her family and how much she loved them, even if they were human. He hated Alex and Brad, but seeing Elisa in excruciating pain over them was impossible for him, so he made up a plan with her to save everybody.

It cost Elisa to trust Stefan, he had told their secrets to the worst people possible, but she had no option aside from accepting his help and following his plan.

The plan was simple: Elisa would tell the Council she’d kill Alex and Brad and would tell Alex that she had changed her mind and that they should leave the Colony as soon as possible now that Stefan knew the truth.

Alex believed her and, after Stefan’s confirmation, so the Council did. The next step was to take Alex and Brad to the Colony’s limits, pretending they were about to leave.

Then it happened.

Elisa made, with Stefan’s help, a huge barrier on the Colony’s frontier that didn’t allowed humans to cross it. It was basically a security method that they never thought it’d be necessary.

But now it was and it wasn’t meant to protect the ones inside the Colony...

Of course, Alex didn’t understand SHIT.

He spent MONTHS returning to the Colony in his shrinking form, trying to find a way to cross the barrier and to get Toby back.

Or to talk to Elisa.

Or to understand.

Or anything.

He just wanted his family.

Eventually, his potions ended and he was left to raise Brad on his own and to never see his wife and oldest son again.

Since then, he hates Elisa. Or at least thinks he does. He’s just deeply mad at her, he doesn’t understand why she left them.

He did everything for her. Denyed his own race, submitted himself to the dangerous effects of a extremely nocive potion which he faces the consequences till this day, did his fucking best to be the best father and husband his family could have-

All this love, all this effort, all this sweat and blood

Wasted.

It took years for him to fully recover. Aside from the health problems the abusive use of the shrinking potions brought, he also became alcohoolic. Because he wasn’t mentally estable enough, neither to take care of himself and of his very very small son, he went to live in his parents house. His family knew about Elisa and the children they had together, his folks actually liked her a lot so it saddened them as well that she simply abandoned Alex and Brad and that they would never see Toby again.

His family didn’t had to worry about Brad’s very little size for too long though, before he was one year old he had already reached his human size.

Anyway, Alex’s family gave him a huge help until he was healthy enough to take care of Brad, the only one left from the family he built.

Back to Elisa, she didn’t told Alex her plan because she KNEW he wouldn’t want to do it. She simply knew Alex would be too stubborn. He’d have wanted to try to escape or to face the Council. Both alternatives would get them all killed.

Toby didn’t understand why his mother did what she did. He was forced to go back home with her, screaming the whole time, saying that they left his father and brother behind while Elisa was crying endelessly.

Stefan came to them eventually and calmed Toby down. His heart broke when he saw Elisa. She was... not okay.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to assist her. He immediatly went to a representent of the Council and took them to Elisa and to the Colony’s frontier to prove that she had done it and did even more than she was suppose to. Of course, not without consequences to her sanity, she had just killed her husband and baby, of course she was in pain.

Nevertheless, the Council confirmed Elisa had done her part and left to leave her alone with the child they let live.

After that, Toby spent weeks returning to that spot of the frontier to look for his dad and brother. No sucess.

As time went by, he eventually forgot about Brad, he was very young when they tore apart and Elisa and Stefan never talked about him nor Alex. All he can remember is that there was a baby in the middle of that mess, but he can’t relate to it.

He kept the memories of his father though, who was closer to him, and till this day he believes he’s alive somewhere and that he can be found. But he has no idea he’s a human and has no idea of his own true nature.

Elisa and Alex miss their respective sons deeply and think about them everyday. They also miss each other very much and the first months after the incident were terribly agonizing for the both of them.

They kept going for the child that had remained for the both of them and raised them apart from each other. Alex never told Brad what happened and so Elisa did to Toby. Like that, none of the brothers knew about the existence of each other.

Until the day Toby was sent, coincidentally, to his “little” brother’s house

And none of them has no idea of this fucking long backstory I just spent four months writing :)

enjoy

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jerzwriter · 2 years

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Delaying the Inevitable - Chapter 34 - When Forever Falls Apart

Book: Open Heart 3 (Post Series)

Pairing: Tobias Carrick x MC, Ethan Ramsey x MC

Rating: Chapter: Mature Warnings: Serious injury/possible death of a major character, accident, mentions of blood/injuries, cursing, and some heartbreak for good measure.

Summary: Extended Series WIP – Love Triangle. In this chapter – Casey’s relief turns to anguish after a tragic accident; fear and confusion grip several characters as they sit vigil; Tobias and Casey are forced to face difficult issues, and someone unexpected appears.

Category: Extended Series (WIP)

A/N: I apologize. You’ll be OK. I’ll be OK. They'll be OK. We'll be OK. There are some special moments in here, but most require tissues. For those who have read 33 (now 34) chapters, I love you. I mean it. Now that I’ve blubbered…. Yes, the Chapter title is When Forever Falls Apart, but the song inspiration’s name is Till Forever Falls Apart by Ashe and Finneas. It’s one of my favorite songs from recent years, but, y’all know what Finneas did to you in Chapter 13.

A/N 2: I’m submitting this to @choicesmonthlychallenge , Day 23, healing. Because, while it may not feel like it in this chapter, I assure you, this is the impetus for a lot of soul searching and healing that will lead us to the conclusion of this series, so, it feels appropriate.

A/N 3: I feel like I have so much more I want to say, but honestly, I’m a little drained. I am going to take a few days off to recharge, I really want to tie this up well, so I’ll have the next chapter to you ASAP, but no date promised. Oh, and regarding the last chapter. Clearly, it's impossible to make every reader happy, but I assure you, I'm staying true to the story, true to the characters and, as from day one, this is CASEY'S story and I will be true to her. It's taken a whole lot to put out this series, and, it's been well worth it all I ask is if you're not happy, at least be kind. Happy (??) Reading.

CHARACTERS BELONG TO PIXELBERRY STUDIOS

“Casey! Wait!”

Maureen had also overheard the nurses and did not want Casey to be alone. But there was no catching up to her. She was propelled by a fuel that could only be produced by two things: love and fear. And right now, both were coursing through her veins.

When asked in the future, she would not recall these moments; the mind has a way of shielding us from the memories that hurt us most. She wouldn’t remember her heart racing so quickly that its sound echoed in her pounding head. Nor the cold sweat that soaked her body as she descended the stairs, each flight taking only seconds but feeling like an eternity. She would have no memory of how she no longer felt her legs beneath her, but mercifully, they managed to get her where she needed to go. Her memory protected her from that, but sadly, not from all that would follow.

“He’s OK. He’s OK. He’s going to be OK. He’s OK.”

The words were a mantra, repeated over and over to ease her mind enough to carry her through.

She flung the door to the emergency room open, and it bounced off the wall with a resounding crash, but no one turned to see. After four years at Edenbrook, she was a veteran of the noise and chaos that greeted her. They were common after major events, and major events were commonplace in Boston, so this was as familiar as an old friend. But today was different. Trying to control her breath, she scanned the sea of empty faces, desperate to find anyone who might have answers, when she spotted Raf at the end of the hall. His head darted up when he heard her screaming his name.

“Raf! RAF!!!” She pushed her way through the crowd.

“Tell me! Tell me? Is it him?”

Realizing that she was teetering on hysteria, he tried to calm her down to no avail.

“TELL ME!” She snapped. “Is it Tobias?” If you want me to calm down, answer me! I need to know!”

“No, Tobias is fine. He happened upon the scene and got out to help, but he’s totally fine.”

A shuddering breath escaped her as a wave of relief enveloped her like a warm blanket. A tentative smile came to her lips and her legs, which served her well, were given permission to relax as she slid back on the wall behind her.

“Oh, thank God,” she breathed as she grabbed Raf’s hand. “Thank God!”

With her mind at ease, the doctor in her reawakened and began to take control. There were people who needed her; she stood up and dusted herself off.

“OK.” She smiled nervously. “I better get myself together and go. My help is certainly….” Then the realization hit her and the blood drained from her face. She turned back to Raf with worry in her eyes. “Wait! They said… they said that you said it was a doctor on my team…. Raf…”

“It’s Ethan.”

“Where is he?”

“Casey, you shouldn’t go to he’s in bad shape….”

“WHERE IS HE!?”

“He ended up in the ambulance behind me. So he should be here any…. Casey! Wait!”

Any attempt to reach her was futile; she was already racing toward the ambulance bay, where she grabbed the first orderly she saw.

“Where is he? Where is Dr. Ram….”

“Where is doctor who?”

Unable to gather her thoughts, she sputtered, “He’s a patient, a doctor, he’s, he’s…ugh… never mind, I’ll find him!”

“Casey!” Raf’s loud voice called after her. “It’s probably best for you to stay away and just let the doctors do….”

“Like hell, Raf!” She yelled as she pulled her arm out of his tender grip. “I don’t care how bad it is! You’re not keeping me away from him!”

She relaxed a little when she saw a new patient arrive. He had dark hair peeking out from under a blanket a nurse had wrapped him in. The yellow tag on his wheelchair almost caused her to breathe a sigh of relief, but then she saw it wasn’t him. The world was moving in slow motion as patient after patient passed by, but Ethan was nowhere to be found. She raced toward the nurse’s station in hopes of finding his name on the roster when a paramedic’s voice bellowed from behind.

“Coming through! Coming through!” He raced down the hall with a gurney in tow as two surgeons flocked to his side. That could only mean one thing the patient was critical. The paramedics had called ahead, and the surgeons waited as there was not a moment to spare. A red tag. She could not get so much as a glimpse of the patient with the scores of people surrounding them. Yet, she immediately knew.

“Ethan…”

_____

A small crowd of people congregated near the security booth outside the emergency room entrance. They all jumped off their feet when Tobias’s car came to a screeching halt next to them. The scowling guard, surrounded by the scent of burnt rubber, barked in his direction.

“Hey, buddy, that’s not a parking spot!”

Tobias flashed his ID and tossed his keys into the booth as he ran by.

“I’m a doctor,” he yelled, “and I’m not your buddy!”

Running inside, he slammed directly into an exiting Raf.

“Raf!! Where’d they bring Ethan!?”

“He’s headed in to surgery. I don’t know what room… Casey is….”

“I’ll find him, thanks!”

Tobias darted away. Brusquely elbowing through the crowd until he arrived at the nurse’s station.

“This place is a madhouse!” he yelled. “How many were injured?”

“From the multicar? At least ten. Then we have a crane accident downtown, and our regular crowd so….”

“So basically, we’re in hell. I’m looking for… my friend… Dr….”

The nurse cut him off with a sympathetic smile.

“Dr. Ramsey, I know. He was just brought in. His OR room has not been assigned. We are just overflowing….”

“I’ll find him….” he said with a huff.

_____

It took less than a second for her to reach Ethan’s side. Her determination to remain calm diminishing as he came into sight. His skin was almost devoid of color. Doctors were already working on gaping would in his abdomen, and Casey was stricken by the amount of blood soaking their hands. They were valiantly fighting to keep him alive as they rushed down the hallway where no operating room awaited. She inserted herself into the team surrounding him and called out his name. A nurse slapped away her hand when she instinctively reached for his.

“Doctor, I know you’re close with him, but you know the protocol! Stand back, let us do our job!”

Casey paid her no mind as she continued to run along with the team. Dazed, her medical skills were rendered useless, as the severity of his condition had yet to sink in. But as bits of his medical team’s conversations began to swirl around her head, it became clear.

We have to stop this bleeding! … Doctor, did you see this? … damn it!… do we know how this injury occurred?... it’s his spleen… I need a goddamn OR!... massive bleeding… we don’t have time… if he’s going to make it…

And that is when all went still. Casey looked at him, truly looked at him for the first time since she had run to his side and a cold chill ran down her spine.

If he’s going to make it.

If?

It shouldn’t have come as a shock. This was her job. She could see his injuries. She treated many just like this. She should have known… but she wasn’t a doctor right now. She was just Casey, shocked and terrified, as she watched the man who changed her life in so many ways struggling to survive before her.

Sometimes the mind protects, and at others, it tortures, and right now, its cruelty prevailed as she heard the words she recently hurled at him repeat in her head.

From this moment on, I am NOTHING to you. Do you understand?

I will be polite when I have to be, but you are not my friend. If it were up to me, I’d never lay eyes on you again.

My eyes are on the future, and I refuse to let them turn back to the past. I thought you knew that, and that’s what enabled us to become friends again. But you took that away… now, we have nothing.

A loud sob heaved from her chest, and her body began to tremble. He had to make it through for a million reasons, not the least of which was, after all, they had been through together, this couldn’t be how their story ended. A nurse's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

“Dr. Tanaka, his pressure is dropping….”

“GODDAMN It! Get me a room NOW!”

Casey looked up in horror. She knew precisely what it meant when a doctor normally as composed as Tanka began to unravel. White-hot fury welled up inside her as it became impossible to push reality away.

This isn’t fair!

Memories instantly flooded her mind as she alternately pleaded with a cursed a god she did not even know if she believed in.

You have to let him live! Please, let him live! He doesn’t deserve this! He was healing, and he should get the chance to live the life he always wanted. He deserves happiness! He deserves to be loved. How could you let this happen!

But as a doctor, she had a front-row seat to how cruel and unfair life could be. That’s when it dawned on her. These very well could be his final moments. She had to push everything else aside. All that mattered now was encouraging him and making sure, even under these dreadful circumstances, if these were going to be his last moments on earth, she had to make them the best they could possibly be.

She reached for his hand and gripped it tightly in her own. Doctors and nurses be damned, she was undeterred, and no one was going to pull her away.

“Ethan! Ethan! Baby, can you hear me?”

Dr. Tanaka let out a sigh. “Someone, please get her away!!”

“Doctor,” a nurse said forcefully, “let her be.”

With her heart ripping in two, she tried desperately to reach him, seeking the words that would encourage him to fight but letting him know that he was cherished if he could not win that battle in the end.

“Ethan, it’s Casey. I know you can hear me, and I need you to listen to me, for once, please? I need you to fight. Fight like you never have before. There will be no dying today, do you understand me? None! Your time here is not done!!” she sobbed. “It’s not! So many people still need you. I still need you. I need you to fight like hell because I can’t lose you again! Do you hear me? Don’t you dare die on me!”

A warm hand came to rest on her shoulder.

“Casey, you need to come with me.”

Without turning to see who it was, she angrily shrugged it away.

“Just a second!” she snapped furiously.

Her eyes widened, and her heart momentarily filled with hope when she looked down to find him struggling to open his eyes. He attempted to speak, but the sounds escaping him did not resemble words.

“No,” she whispered as she rubbed his hand. “Don’t speak. Save your strength.”

“Cas…” he gasped.

As much as she longed to hear his name on her lips one more time, she admonished him to stop.

“NO! Don’t talk!” She cried. “Listen to me! You need to know how much I love you. I love you so very much. I’m so sorry for the things I’ve said… because… I love you too, Ethan. Oh, I never stopped loving you. I always have, and I always will. Just… please, don’t leave me.”

A sorrowful wail escaped her as she pleaded with him to survive. All the pent-up emotions that she was forced to shelve since that cold October night began pouring out of the confines of her heart where she had been certain she had them safely buried. It wouldn’t be the first time he said goodbye, but it could be the last. And she was now acutely aware that while love can begin in an instant, it never dissipates as quickly. In fact, it never leaves at all.

“Don’t leave me,” she whispered. “Not again. Please.”

“Three is ready! Bring him into OR3!!!” someone yelled.

Bryce slid up behind Casey and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Casey, hon, you have to come now. OK, you have to let go.”

At that second, Ethan’s eyes shot open and locked on hers. Unspoken words filled the spaces between them, and he knew. He was completely loved, and Casey could feel that he knew. And with that grace bestowed on them, she found the strength she needed to let go. Remaining in Bryce’s arms as she watched him wheeled away, her eyes refusing to fall until he disappeared behind the operating room doors.

_____

Tobias hadn’t run so quickly since his track days back in college. But it’s amazing what a body can do when someone you love has their life is on the line. He wasn’t sure where he was heading, but he knew he’d be led in the right direction in time. That direction came in the form of Dr. Ines Delarosa.

“T!” She yelled from across the way. “Ramsey’s down the hall! They’re setting up an OR. I don’t know if you’ll make it on time….”

“I’m on my way. Have you seen Casey?”

“I think she’s with him.”

He let out a relieved breath. He was grateful they were together until he could reach them.

“Good! Thanks, Nez,” he yelled as he sprinted away.

He needed to see Ethan for himself. He knew he was in the care of some of the best doctors the country had to offer already, but maybe… just maybe, he could do something. Anything. Then perhaps he wouldn’t feel so goddamned helpless.

He could hear Casey’s voice as he approached the end of the hall. He knew her so well, so before he could make out any of her words, he could hear the tone of her voice, and he knew she was in distress. That couldn’t be good. He doubled down. He needed to be there for Ethan, for Casey, and for himself.

He was about to turn the corner when a patient was rushed by him, temporarily blocking him in place, and his patience was running thin. Two of the people he loved most in the world needed him, and though irrational, he was furious at the patient was impeding him. When the obstacle was finally removed, he turned in their direction, clearly hearing Casey’s voice as he approached.

You need to know how much I love you. I love you so very much. I’m so sorry for the things I’ve said… because… I love you too, Ethan. Oh, I never stopped loving you. I always have, and I always will. Just… please, don’t leave me.

He wasn’t sure he heard right. And if he had, did it matter? Ethan could be dying, and, of course, Casey cared about him. So why couldn’t he breathe?

“Don’t leave me,” she whispered. “Not again. Please.”

“Three is ready! Bring him into OR3!!!”

“Casey, come on now. You have to let go.”

He watched undetected as Casey collapsed into Bryce’s arms and Ethan disappeared from view. Bryce stroked the back of her hair, her face buried in his shoulder.

“I have to go, Casey. Are you going to be all right?”

“He can’t… he can’t die, Bryce. I can’t lose him again.”

“You know we’re going to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.”

“Yes,” she nodded tearfully, “Go. Go!!”

And with a kiss to her cheek, he was gone.

Tobias’s thoughts overwhelmed him. His best friend was fighting for his life. The woman they both loved more than life itself professed her love to Ethan, but he thought she belonged to him. Fear is a funny thing, and while being a doctor had prepared him for so much, it didn’t prepare him for the possibility of losing the two people he loved most in this world on the same day, in very different ways. He was rendered immobile as a battle played out in his mind.

Ethan may be dying… you’re being ridiculous… she comforted him… it doesn’t mean… you know she loves you… but what if?... does she really?... did she ever?... was she going to leave?... is that why she was so angry?... Oh, my God, was I just… nothing…

He used to think it was hyperbole when people said it felt like their world was crashing down around them, but now, he understood. His best friend was fighting for his life with so much left unsaid between them. And in an instant, he was forced to question what he had believed in his heart to be gospel… that the only woman he ever loved returned that love to him, and because of that, he was blessed beyond words. But as the pieces of the life he knew just moments ago came crumbling down, he had to face his biggest fear. What if she didn't? What if she never did? But he knew that she did, but perhaps she still loved Ethan and, in time, would she pick him? Or would she choose the man who always finished just one step ahead of him? That’s if Ethan even made it at all.

Ethan was on his way to surgery, and there was nothing he could do for him. But Casey was just down the hall, alone and scared. Maybe he was unsure of what she felt for him, but he knew what he felt for her. As much as he wanted to flee, he couldn't allow her to be alone. But then…

“Case!” a voice called out from the other direction, and then Jackie was at her side.

Casey fell into her friend's embrace, and the tears she had been bravely trying to conceal gave up their fight.

“He can’t die, Jackie. He can’t leave.”

Aurora ran from the other side, and the three friends dissolved into a huddle.

“Come on,” he heard Aroura say. “Let's get you a seat ….”

His heart ached in a million ways, but as he watched her friends lovingly tend to her, his mind felt more at ease. He watched in silence as he decided what to do next, never so unsure of himself before. Before long, he turned on his heel and began walking away, though he had no idea where he was going.

_____

An hour later, Casey paced in the waiting room, having refused several offers to wait in a private office. Fresh scrubs adorned her body; the bloodstained ones from before packed neatly into a sealed bag in her locker. It was against protocol, but she refused to let anyone take them away, and right now, no one was going to deny her. She couldn’t tell you why she wanted to keep them, but she did, and for now, that was all that mattered.

It was Sienna’s day off; she arrived to relieve Aurora and Jackie, who were needed on the floor. She placed a freshly brewed cup of coffee on the table in front of her friend and took a seat beside her.

“I just got a text from Naveen,” Casey said. “I told him we could have had one of Alan’s friends drive him up from Providence, but Naveen refused to give him the news by phone, so he drove down.”

“That sounds like Naveen,” Sienna smiled sadly as she rubbed comforting circles on her friend’s back. “Still no more word?”

“No, not since Harper told Aurora that we just need to be patient. I know she meant well, but we already knew that.”

“Is Harper operating?”

“On Ethan, no. But she is in surgery; every available surgeon is operating on someone right now. Ethan is with Dr. Tanaka, and Bryce is assisting.”

“So he’s in good hands. And you were fantastic Case, getting Naveen, making sure Alan was cared for… Ethan’s lucky he has you.”

“Yeah, well…” she sighed, “it’s the least I can do.”

“Is there anyone else we should notify?” Sienna asked. The two women’s eyes met, a silent understanding between them.

“No,” Casey answered immediately.

“Elijah called,” Sienna said, wringing her hands. “He said to remind you that New Haven is just two hours away, and if you need him….”

“I know.” Casey smiled, “I’m lucky to have all of you.”

The two friend’s heads turned at the sound of feet rushing into the room. They looked up to find another young woman standing before them, winded and dazed, and Casey jumped up to greet her.

“Sonia!” She said, rushing to her side, “Oh my God. I’m so sorry, I didn’t think to….”

“It’s OK,” Sonia replied as she tried to catch her breath, “you wouldn’t have even known where to reach me.”

“How did you find out?” Casey asked while leading her to take a seat next to her.

“Well, we had a date,” she said before her eyes bulged open, “I mean, not a ‘date date’… just a….”

“Just a date,” Casey smiled warmly as Sonia graciously accepted the water Sienna gave her.

“Well,” she sighed, “whatever it was. He told me he’d be a little late, but it became too late. He wasn’t answering his calls, and then I saw the news, and I called Kenmore and, well, of course, word had traveled and… that’s how I ended up here.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Casey smiled as she took her hand. “I’m sure Ethan will be too.”

“Did you see him?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Casey nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to suppress tears. “I did.”

“And?”

“He was unconscious, and he sustained serious injuries, abdominal trauma, hemorrhaging….”

“Any organ damage?”

“They mentioned his spleen, beyond that….”

“Are they performing a splenectomy? Or is it repairable? Who is in with him?”

Casey smiled, “I forgot you were a surgical intern. From what we have been told, the goal is to repair, but there was a lot of damage, so we won’t don’t know yet. Tanaka is operating, and Lahela is assisting.”

“Good,” Sonia said with relief. How… how are you doing?”

“I’m good,” Casey lied. “I mean, and I’ll be good….” Her brows knitted, “… as long as he is.” Casey’s eyes grew wide as she looked down the hall, “Oh, Naveen and Alan are here….”

“I should go see them,” Casey and Sonia said in unison.

“Oh,” Casey demurred, “I didn’t know that you knew them all that….”

“Well, not that well, but yes, I’ve met both and… I… if you would prefer that I wait….”

“Sonia,” Casey said softly, “it’s OK. Let’s go see them together.”

Jackie slipped into the room just as Casey exited.

“Hey, how’s it going?” She asked Sienna.

“As well as it can be expected. Naveen and Alan just arrived.”

“And that’s the woman Ethan’s seeing?”

“Well, I don’t know what their relationship is. But, yeah, it’s the woman he brought to the party at the beach house, Sonia. She seems very nice.”

“OK. So I guess it is up to me to address the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room, but where is Carrick?”

Sienna frowned, “I don’t know.”

“Has Casey asked for him?”

“She hasn’t, but I’m not about to ask her.”

“Well, I’m texting him. Something’s not right.”

“OK, just keep it away from Casey now. I’m sure she realizes he is missing. Still, she’s not saying anything and, whatever the reason, I’m going to respect that.”

“One-hundred percent on board.”

______

His tumbler dropped to the wooden bar with a thud, but few could hear it over the sound of the Red Sox game on the TV. But the bartender noticed right away. He was in the business long enough to know when someone was not there for recreational drinking.

“What’ll it be, sir?”

“Give me another,” Tobias said, throwing several crumpled bills in front of him.

“That’s gonna make three in a short period of time. After this one, perhaps we switch you over to water for a bit?”

“I’m not driving, I have nowhere to go, and I’m a doctor. Why don’t you let me make that call.”

The bartender held his hands up in surrender as he placed another glass of Jameson in front of him.

“Have you ever felt like you have had the whole world taken away?” he asked.

“Me?” the bartender said, turning around.

“Yeah, well, I’m certainly not going to ask him for his opinion,” Tobias said, pointing toward a man seated at the end of the bar with his face painted in Red Sox colors.

“Yeah, well, no one wants a face painter's opinion,” the bartender laughed. Tossing his bar towel down, he extended his hand. “The name’s Chuck. I own this place. What’s yours? And what brings you here?”

“Tobias,” he said, shaking his hand. “I’m here because I’m avoiding my usual spot. I usually go to Donahue’s, no offense.”

Chuck nodded, “Reggie’s a great guy, none taken. So why are you slumming here today instead?”

“Because it’s not just Donahue’s I’m avoiding.”

“You’re a doctor,” he said, noticing his ID, which had fallen to the counter in his last attempt to get into his wallet. “Edenbrook? I assumed you’d be swamped over there with all the action in this town today?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled dryly. “Well, that’s the thing.”

“So, if you’re here for some barstool therapy, let me have it. You’re a doctor, not a bad-looking guy. You seem to have all limbs and a functioning brain, so what’s so awful that you feel it’s all falling apart?”

“My buddy…” he stammered. “My oldest… one of my best friends. He was in that accident today.”

“Holy shit! I’m sorry. Is he OK?”

“I don’t know,” Tobias shrugged, “he’s still in surgery, as far as I know.”

“Damn, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, me too.” He lifted the tumbler to his lips and took a swig. Letting the pale gold liquid swirl around his tongue.

“But you’re a doctor at the hospital he’s being worked on, so what are you doing here?”

“Ah, well, that’s the twist,” Tobias said, lifting his glass. “Right before he was taken into surgery, his ex-girlfriend, who he is still madly in love with, professed her love to him.”

“Hmm. It’s a shame, you know. People always wait for something tragic to happen to speak about how they truly feel.” Chuck pursed his lips and shook his head. “There is a lesson in that, you know.”

“Yeah,” Tobias answered curtly, “and the lesson I learned is that it really sucks when that woman happens to be my girlfriend.”

He watched as Chuck’s eyebrows shot to the top of his head.

“Oh, Jesus! Sorry buddy,” he lifted the bottle and filled Tobias’s glass again. “This one is on the house. You deserve it.”

“What happened to I should switch to water?”

“Hey, when I’m wrong? I say I’m wrong. Now, this means you were dating your buddy’s ex, though?”

“Yeah,” Tobias shrugged. “What… don’t look at me like that. It was a complicated situation, it wasn’t that… neat, it wasn’t that… simple….”

“Yeah, life never is. You love her?”

“With everything I am.”

“Do you love him?”

“He’s my oldest friend… we….”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes.”

“So then why are you sitting here drinking yourself into oblivion and talking to me. You have two people who need you down that street. Based on what you’re telling me, you’re not sure if one will make it to tomorrow, and the other one, well, she’s probably as confused as hell and as scared as you are right now. I can’t tell you what’s in her heart, but I can tell you that when you’re faced with losing someone you love, no matter how you love them, or even if that love was in the past… It’s not easy to do. If I were you,” he said, pushing a glass of water toward Tobias. “I’d sober my ass up and get back to the hospital, where two people you love need you.”

Tobias let out a heaving sigh before staring up at him.

“You must think I’m an asshole.”

“No,” he smiled. “I think you’re human, just like they are. Now, go… but come back here some other time, for a happier occasion, OK? Reg is great, but he’s not the only game in town.”

“As long as I don’t have to leave a co-pay every time I come in.”

“HAH!” Chuck laughed, “this one is on the house. Now, go. Go where you’re needed.”

_____

“Hey,” Casey smiled softly as she joined Alan on a couch in the waiting area. “How are you holding up?”

“I’ll be holding up better when we get some news,” he said, tapping her knee lovingly. “The truth is, I’m scared.”

“I know. I am too.”

“You know, I’m not a doctor, but seeing the doctors so scared,” he laughed nervously, “it’s not making me feel any better.”

“Well, Alan, we’re not about to lie to you. He’s critical and, well, we are scared, and we always are when it’s someone we love.”

Alan leaned over and kissed Casey on the forehead.

“I’m so glad you’re here. I’m glad you were able to see him before he went in. If it couldn’t have been me, then…” he trailed off in an attempt to stop his tears from flowing again.

“He couldn’t talk,” she looked around the room to make sure their conversation was private, “but Alan, we had this moment, right before where his eyes opened. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was like he was looking into my soul, and I was looking at his. And, all I can say is, I knew he felt loved. Not just by me, but he knew he was loved and that… that just means….”

Alan handed her a tissue and held her close.

“I’m so happy to hear that, Casey,” he whispered. “With Ethan, sometimes you just never knew.”

“Oh,” Casey snorted, “you don’t have to tell me twice.”

“But in case he doesn’t…” he stopped, “well, I’m just glad that he knew. Because he is loved so much.”

“Hey! No talking like that. He is going to make it through this; I refuse to believe otherwise.”

Alan looked up and saw Sonia return to the room. He motioned for her to join them.

“Did the fresh air help?” he smiled.

“Well, not as much as I hoped, but I’ll take the little it offered.”

“I’m glad you’re back,” he replied. “Sienna just ran out to get some food for us, and I want to see you eat too.”

“Ah, ever the Dad, making sure we’re all fed, even during times of crisis,” Sonia teased.

“If it makes me feel useful,” he chuckled.

“HEY!” Sonia shot back. “You’re always useful. Ethan and I had the opportunity to talk after therapy on occasion. When we did, he often spoke of you. You have to know how much he loves you and what you mean to him. Even if he isn’t the best at expressing it, that doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

Alan squeezed her hand tightly, “I like to believe I do. But that validation surely does help right now.”

Casey spotted Sienna returning and rose to help her.

“I’ll pay you back for this,” Casey said as they unpacked the sandwiches and snacks Sienna purchased.

“Shut up. I just wish I could time allowed me to make something myself. I would have had healthier and tastier options.”

“Oh, I’m sure of that.”

Casey let out a weak sigh, the day's fatigue beginning to wear on her. “Why haven’t we heard anything yet?”

“I know it seems like forever,” Sienna assured, “but they’re still well within the timeframe for a surgery of this nature. It’s just a lot harder when we’re the ones in the waiting room.”

“You can say that again. Have you seen Naveen? I thought he was with you?”

“Oh, he stepped out to pull former Chief of Medicine strings to get an update. Mumbling something about never should have retired under his breath.”

Casey chuckled sadly, “That sounds about right.”

“Casey?” Sienna queried, “I haven’t wanted to ask, but… have you heard from Tobias?”

A look of bewilderment came over Casey’s face. She had been functioning on auto-pilot, just taking care of what was in front of her, so she hadn’t stopped to wonder where he was.

“No, come to think of it, I haven’t. I heard he was helping on the scene…” she laughed ironically, “He was headed to Harvest in Cambridge to get us dinner. Fucking unbelievable. A few hours ago, I was happily waiting for my boyfriend to return with squash ravioli for a quasi-romantic work dinner together. You’d think we’d get used to how fast life can change.”

“Nah,” Sienna disagreed, “if we walked around with that fear in our hearts all the time, we wouldn’t be able to do much of anything. The way I’ve viewed it, ever since losing Danny and nearly losing you… life is too short. I don’t focus on what could go wrong, but I appreciate everything that goes right. And I mean the simple like enjoying a cup of coffee or getting a hug from a friend. Does that make sense?”

“It does,” Casey said, giving her friend a side hug, “it makes perfect sense.”

“Hey,” Tobias said from behind, “do you think you could spare one of those moments for me? Because I’d like to give… and get… a hug right now.”

Casey spun around at the sound of his voice. “Of course!” she smiled, jumping into his arms “of course.”

Sienna quietly walked away to give them privacy as they remained in a tight embrace.

“Can I talk to you in the hall?” Tobias whispered.

Casey nodded and followed him, throwing her arms around him once again when they were there.

“Oh my God, I’m so happy to see you. When I had heard it was one of our doctors, I immediately thought it was you and… I was a mess until Raf told me it wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry, Case. I had no idea. Of course, learning it was Ethan wasn’t what you wanted to hear either.”

“Of course not. But, you were all I thought of… when he told me….” her voice began to crack as tears came to her eyes.

“Hey, no crying. Not for me anyway. I’m here.”

“You’re always here, T.”

He filled with guilt which morphed into a frown on his lips.

“No, I’m not. I wasn’t here tonight. You’ve been here coping with things on your own… Ethan's in there fighting for his life… and I wasn’t here.”

“It’s OK. You’re here now,” she said, taking his hand. “Why don’t you come and sit with us while we wait?”

“You know, maybe I’ll go see if I can find more about Ethan’s status. Would you mind?”

“That would be good. But you’ll come back?”

He lifted his hand, placing it gently under her chin as his thumb caressed her cheek, a look of utter love and tenderness on his face. If only she understood just how much she meant to him and how frightened he was.

“Of course, Casey. I’ll always come back to you,” his voice cracked.

Then with a kiss to her forehead, he was off.

Casey touched her cheek where his hand had been and watched as he walked away. Just being with him had filled her heart with joy, but she felt a sense of foreboding sadness as he departed. Shaking it off, she returned to the others to sit vigil.

Naveen and Tobias returned within the next hour, frustrated with their inability to learn anymore. Casey, Sienna, and Sonia gave each other a knowing look, they knew they needed to be patient, and they understood that was the hardest thing to do. Everyone jumped to their feet when Bryce shuffled into the room.

“Hey, everybody,” he said softly.

Naveen spoke first. “Dr. Lahela, how is he?”

“Is he… all right?” Casey asked nervously.

“He made it through surgery,” Bryce said to a collective sigh of relief.

“What about the organ damage?” Sonia asked, “Casey mentioned his spleen.”

“Well, thanks to Dr. Tanaka, we avoided a splenectomy. But, the damage was extensive, so there are no future guarantees. We will have to watch him closely.”

“Still,” Sonia smiled, “that’s good news.”

“It is,” Bryce continued. “Once we were inside, we found lacerations on the left lobe of his liver, but that wasn’t as extensive.”

“So, is he out of the woods?” Alan asked nervously.

“Not exactly. He sustained a large loss of blood, and right now, everything is still touch and go. But he made it through surgery which was the first major hurdle. The next 24 hours are crucial, and we will know more then.”

“But all in all, this is good news,” Tobias reassured Alan.

“It certainly is,” Bryce concurred. “There were moments where I was afraid I wouldn’t have this news to give you.”

“Can I see him?” Alan asked.

“Not just yet, but soon. A nurse will tell you when, but it has to be a very short visit.”

“Understood,” Alan smiled as Bryce shook his hand.

While the war was far from over, a battle had been won, and those present could feel the slight decrease in tension in the room. Their minds began to focus on previously dismissed things, such as exhaustion, hunger, and even other people.

“Oh my gosh!” Casey exclaimed.

“What?” Tobias asked.

“Wasn’t Ethan in the car with Floria? I never even thought to check if she was admitted.”

“Well, your mind was preoccupied,” Sienna comforted.

“That’s irrelevant. Even if she’s not my favorite person and vice versa, she doesn’t have anyone else and….”

“Want me to go check?” Tobias asked.

“Tobias, she hates you.”

He cocked a brow at her.

“I mean, trust me,” Casey continued, “I know she doesn’t love me by any stretch of the imagination, but she really doesn’t like you.”

“You’re right,” he smirked, “but as you pointed out, she doesn’t have anyone, and, I promise, I won’t be an asshole. But you’re welcome to come and supervise if you wish.”

“No, I trust you.” She smiled as his eyes looked away. “I want to stay here a little longer, but let me know what happens. Maybe I’ll join you?”

“Of course,” he said as a nurse entered the room.

“Mr. Ramsey? You can come into the recovery room to see your son. But you’re only allowed five minutes.”

“Alan,” Naveen interrupted, “I’d like to join you, but only if that’s OK with you.”

“Oh, of course,” Alan chuckled, “After all, we’ve co-parented him well for so many years.”

Everyone chuckled at the much-needed moment of levity. Casey sunk into a chair, and Tobias leaned over to kiss her cheek before heading out to check on Floria.

“Casey,” Alan called. “Would you join us too, please?”

Casey looked between Alan, Naveen, and Tobias then nodded. “Yes, sure, I’d be happy to. Tobias, I’ll meet you when I’m done.”

“You got it,” he nodded as Sonia took a seat. She caught Tobias looking her way, and she answered a question that he didn’t ask.

“It’s fine. I’m new to the game.”

“I didn’t say a word,” Tobias “And I know Ethan will be happy to know you’re here. I can’t see why he wouldn’t be.”

_____

A short time later, Casey and Tobias met up in the cafeteria for some coffee.

“So, Floria?” she asked

“She’s doing ok. She suffered a concussion, and they’re keeping her overnight for observation. But she was lucky.”

“It’s hard to believe she and Ethan were in the same car.”

“Yeah, well, his side took the impact. But, while she’s OK physically, emotionally… not so much. I mean, she was happy to see me,” he smiled.

“Yeah, well, she has a concussion,” Casey laughed. “I think I’d like to see her tomorrow if you think that’s OK?”

“You don’t have to, but….”

“Even if it’s in a medical capacity. I’d like to stop by.”

“Then you should. Now, your visit with Ethan?”

“Well, you know the drill. It wasn’t much of a visit. He’s still not conscious.”

“I know, but….”

“But it went better than expected. Naveen and Alan, they’re both very strong.”

“And so are you. What do you say, Case, ready to go home get a little sleep?”

“Oh… I was planning on staying here for the night. You know, in case Ethan wakes up.”

“Oh, I thought that Alan would….”

“Alan’s staying, of course, but I….”

“It’s fine,” Tobias reassured, “We’ll stay here then. I’ve slept on my share of waiting room chairs, what’s one….”

He looked up and saw that Casey had diverted her gaze, anxiously looking away, and it hit him. She had offered a statement, not an invitation. “Oh. You don’t want me to stay.”

“I didn't say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Tobias, I didn’t….”

“Casey,” he stopped her, “whatever makes you happy. You stay here. I’ll check in with you in the morning.”

“Tobias, I didn’t mean….”

“Casey,” he said firmly, “It’s OK.”

He walked over and wrapped her in a hug. Both were longing for the warm familiarity normally found in their embrace, but now, it felt different. A strange distance that had not existed just hours before. Though they needed each other terribly, they went their separate ways. They were too tired and too overwrought to deal with it now. But they both understood that it was a postponement, not a dismissal. The conversation would have to come.

_____

“Hey!” Alan said with surprise as he returned to the waiting room. “I thought you went home! Now I feel bad,” he said, lifting his cup. “I would have brought you a coffee too.”

“Oh, that’s OK.” a sleepy Casey replied. “I just had a cup with Tobias before he went home.”

“Did everyone else leave?”

“Yes, Sonia was already late for her shift at Kenmore. I promised her we would call if there was any change. And Sienna… I insisted she go. There is no need for her to hang around any longer.”

“Hmmm. And what about Tobias?”

“What about him?”

Alan put his coffee on the table and turned to give Casey his full attention.

“Why didn’t you go with him?”

“What?” she asked with confusion, “Because of Ethan… if he wakes up, I want to be here.”

“Casey. From what I understand, you and Tobias are pretty serious, are you not?”

“Well, yes. We’re together, we share a home, and we are planning a future… why are you asking me this?”

“Because if Tobias is the man in your life now, your job here for the night is done. You should be home with him and maybe getting some sleep.”

“With all due respect, Alan, Tobias is fine. Ethan is the one in recovery in the critical 24 hour period.”

“Did you ask him to stay? Tobias? Did you ask him to stay with you?”

“No. He offered but… why we’re discussing this, Alan,” she asked with frustration.

“We’re discussing it because you need to know your place, Casey.” He quickly clarified after seeing the sharp look she threw his way.

“Casey,” he said, placing a loving hand on her shoulder. “I have adored you like a daughter from the moment we met. And I will feel that way about you always, no matter what. But there is a big difference between being someone’s partner and being someone’s friend. Ethan is in a precarious state right now. God willing, he will survive, but he will have a tough road ahead, and… he will need clarity. After all that happened between you, you moved on. But he’s just beginning to take baby steps to get there.”

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating, Alan.”

“Casey, I know you still care for Ethan very much. But are you still in love with him?”

“I… I still love Ethan, but in love, that’s….”

“Casey, are you in love with Tobias?”

“Yes! I love Tobias with all my heart, and….”

“Then why didn’t you leave with him? If it’s out of a sense of duty or obligation to Ethan, that’s fine. But it’s not necessary. He has Naveen and me here, and we will be here to walk him through whatever recovery lies ahead. But if you’re here for anything more than that, then you owe it to Ethan, you owe it to Tobias, and, most of all, you owe it to yourself, to be honest about why. Ethan is at a crossroads. Before this accident, he had one foot in the future and one in the past, and when he wakes up, he’s going to need to be on solid ground. He won’t have the luxury of straddling that fence anymore. I love you, Casey, and whatever role in my son’s life… and in mine… I’m happy to have you there, but… he is going to need clarity… and so will you.”

“Alan, I….”

“Casey. You’re with Tobias. Do you love him?”

“I do.”

“Then go home. If there is a change, we’ll call you. Tobias would want to know too. But if there is no change, Ethan should know his two dear friends will be here for him in the morning. He shouldn’t think anything else. And, if the man you love is at home worrying about why you’re here, you should go put his mind at ease.”

“Fine, I’ll….”

“Casey, please don’t be upset. I’m certainly not upset with you. I don’t envy you. What you and my son shared was something special. I love him, but what he put you through was inexcusable. I credit you for sticking around at all. You remind me a lot of myself. But learn from my mistakes. Be true to you, Casey. Love is not about lying to ourselves and making ourselves into something someone else wants. Figure out what works for YOU and then make it yours.”

_____

Casey gently opened the door to the condo, expecting to find Tobias asleep. Instead, he was wide awake and staring out of his living room window with a mug of coffee in his hand. He turned with genuine surprise when he heard her enter the door.

“Hey, I didn’t expect you home tonight.”

“Yeah, well… there is no point in me being there, so I thought I’d come home.”

“Well,” he smiled, but it didn’t go to his eyes, “I’m glad to have you here.”

They fell onto the couch together, exhaustion overtaking them. She nuzzled against his shoulder as he put his arm around her.

“You want to go to sleep?” He asked, “You must be exhausted.”

“You would think, but I’m wide awake.”

“Yeah, you pushed past that point of exhaustion. We all know that feeling well.”

“One of the pitfalls of being a doctor,” she smiled.

“One of the many.”

“T.,” she asked. “When I didn’t come home with you… were, were you worried about why?’

“Why do you ask that, Casey?”

“Because… you seemed hurt, and I was just wondering.”

“Is that what made you decide to come home?”

“Well, partially.”

He shook his head. “We don’t have to do this now. It’s late, and sleepy or not, we’re both tired….”

“Tobias, no. If today's taught has taught me anything, it’s not to wait. So, if I’ve hurt you in any way, I want to know.”

“Case… Ethan’s in the hospital, it’s been a long day, and I don’t think….”

“Tobias,” she said forcefully. “Please.”

“Fine,” he sighed. “First, I want you to know, I’m not mad. If that’s what you think.. I’m just… I’m just….”

“Just what?”

“Uncertain,” he blurted.

“Uncertain?” she questioned with a furrowed brow. “About what?”

He let out a jagged breath then turned to face her. In a barely audible voice, he replied.

“About us.”

Casey swallowed as she felt her heart drop down to her feet.

“Us? What? Why?”

“Because I heard you, Casey,” he exasperated. “I heard you tell Ethan that you loved him and never stopped, and I….” he bit his lip as tears sprung to his eyes.

Casey’s breath went shallow as she rushed to his side.

“Tobias, no… no… it’s not what you think.”

“Then what is it?”

“Tobias, he was going into surgery, and I thought he could be dying! He still might be dying!”

“When people are dying, it often gives those around them clarity that they did not have before. We see it all the time in our jobs.”

“Yes, and we also see that it makes them irrational and work from a place of emotion that could just be reactionary.”

“Is that what happened to you, Casey?”

“What? Well, I... I did…I don’t,” she stammered.

“I didn’t think so. Casey,” he said, walking back to the window. “I started to have concerns when you reacted so strongly to him saying he still loved you. But I chose to believe you and told myself not to overthink it. So I pushed it aside. But, can you blame me for not being able to push it aside anymore now?”

“Yes. I can. Because I’m telling you! I’m telling you that I love you! I’m with you! And I don’t… you don’t believe me? You really don’t believe me.”

“No,” he said, approaching her and gently stroking her hair. “I do believe you. I really do. I just think… I don’t think I’m the only one that you love.”

Heat rose to her face, and thick tears welled in her eyes. Hurt, frightened, confused, she yelled out.

“Tobias! I’m with you! I’m where I want to be. Why aren’t you listening to me?”

“Are you?”

“Yes!” she yelled, tears streaming down her face. “My God, T! You know I love you! You’ve always been so good to me. Ethan broke me, you fixed me, and I love YOU!”

With a newfound resilience, he turned and asked in a voice so calm it forced Casey to face the truth.

“And is that the only reason why? Because if it is, as much as I love you, I deserve better than that.”

The floor no longer felt steady beneath her feet, and she wondered if that was why queasiness gripped her. Her head felt light as she shook it methodically; her body trembled.

“What are you saying? Of course, that’s not the only reason. Goddamn it, Tobias, I love you, and you’re not some sloppy seconds because Ethan tossed me away! You never were, and you never will be!”

“But you love him too?”

“Yes, I love him, but not like… it’s not that… I … I LOVE YOU!”

Tobias's face contorted as that resilience began to melt away. He did his best to hold back the tears he knew would inevitably fall, but he was still making an effort. He motioned to the couch, and Casey followed him there with desperation. She took his face in her hands and pleaded with him.

“Tobias, please! Please!! You have to believe me,” her voice becoming more pained with every word. “You have to believe me. I LOVE YOU.”

“I know, and I love you, so desperately, but….”

“But what!!!???” She demanded.

“But I think we need some time…” his voice cracked. “I think you need some time… to figure out what you want.”

“What?” She gasped in horror; her body reflexively jerked back, her chest heaving. “Are you… are you breaking up with me? You’re… you’re leaving me? Oh my God, you’re leaving me… you’re leaving me too?” she sobbed.

“No, no, baby, no!”

“Yes, you are!” She screamed frantically.

“NO!” He said, pulling her close. They silently swayed in each other's arms, his tears soaking her hair as she wept against his shirt. Both held on with all their might, afraid to let go, but they knew it had to end. “I’m not leaving you,” he whispered into her ear, “I’m just giving you the space to figure out what you want and need….”

“You’re leaving me!” she wailed as she slammed her hand against his chest. “Call it whatever you want, but you’re leaving me!”

“No, I’m not!” He yelled, breaking from their embrace. He took her by the shoulders as their tear-stained faces met. “I’m just facing reality. Casey, I adore you, and I would wait forever for you. You have no idea how much this is killing me. But I deserve to know that the woman who holds my heart. The woman I want to spend the rest of my life with really wants to do the same with me. I don’t want to live with that doubt over my head, and I don’t want you to have it over yours. In the end, if your choice is to be with me, and I hope to God it is, then we’ll be together, and we will know it’s real, and won’t have to worry about you having any regrets. But if you decide it’s not me, then I’ll let you go with love. It’ll hurt like nothing I’ve felt before, but it’s what I’d have to do. But, Casey,” he caressed her cheek, “I’ll never leave you.”

“I… I don’t want this…” she cried.

“Neither do I,” he said, wiping her tears, “Neither do I, but we need this.”

“You were supposed to be back at work in an hour,” she said with flailing hands. “We were supposed to have freaking ravioli together. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“But it did. That’s how life works, and… it sucks. But we will survive. One way or another, we’ll survive.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she wept.

“Maybe it’s not forever if it’s meant… maybe it’s not forever.”

“Do you… do you want me to leave? Tonight I mean. I can go….”

“No, you don’t have to leave at all if you don’t want. You can stay in….”

“No,” she said softly, “I can’t move back across the hall from you, Tobias. I do love you. And after sleeping with you, in your bed, in your arms… I can’t go back to being your good friend in the guest room across the hall.”

“Then, where will you go?”

“I’ll figure it out,” she said with a hoarse voice.

“I’ll help you in any way you need.”

“I appreciate that. I really do. But, I think I need to figure that out on my own.”

“OK,” he whispered.

“But, Tobias?”

“Yes?”

“Are you… are you still my friend?” she asked as her body shuddered.

“Of course! Of course, I am, baby. What was the first thing we promised when we took that next step? That our friendship would always come first. I’m here for you if you need me, but you have to decide how that will be.”

“I don’t want to be just your friend, though.”

“Well, if you still feel that way after taking some time. Then I’ll be here.”

“Well, then I guess I should go…” she said weakly.

“I know I have no right to ask, but….”

Her head flung eagerly to him. “But what….”

“Can you.. can you just stay the night? Could we, maybe, just sleep in each other's arms tonight. It may be the last time, for now… or it may be the last forever, but… I just don’t want to think it may never happen again.”

Casey nodded vigorously as her tears bounced to the floor.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “Yeah. I’d… I’d like that too. But with one condition.”

“What is it.”

“In the morning, you leave for work before I wake. I’ll get some stuff together, and I’ll go. I can do it by myself, but I can’t bear the thought of having to walk out after saying goodbye to you. Could you do that for me?”

“Sure,” he sighed, “I can do anything for you.”

Falling into each other's arms, they made their way down the hall, maybe for the last time. They collapsed into bed, and exhaustion overtook them mercifully. They fell asleep quickly. But throughout the night, they never once extracted themselves from each other's arms.

Tobias felt sick when the alarm went off, but he knew he had to do what he had to do. His heart ached as he watched her, sound asleep under his covers. He wanted to wake her and say he had changed his mind. He wanted her there forever. But he couldn’t because he truly wanted her there forever. But it had to be right. They both had to know in their hearts it was real, and, right now, he didn’t believe that to be true. He stood in the doorway and stared at her for a long while, then with all the strength he had, he turned and walked away. As he made his way to the door, he prayed to God that it wasn’t for the last time.

Casey woke an hour later. She shot up and anxiously looked around the room. That uneasy feeling you get when your world is falling apart overtook her. Was it a bad dream? Did it really happen? Was there a magic wand that would make it all go away? But she knew the answers. Ethan was in the hospital, his fate still uncertain. Tobias was… gone. And there was no magic wand. She’d have to put in the work and carve out her way, whatever that was to be. It was the last day this would be her home. She was alone, heartbroken, and afraid, but out of nowhere, a feeling overtook her. Tobias was right. They’d be OK… she’d be OK, one way or another.

She was happy for the distraction when her phone rang… it was Sienna who was back on shift. Casey answered eagerly, thinking there could be news.

“Si, what’s up? Are you at the hospital?”

“Yeah, I am,” she said nervously.

“What is it?” Casey asked anxiously, throwing her legs off of the side of the bed. “Is it Ethan, has something gone….”

“No, no. There’s no change… We finally convinced Alan to leave for a shower and a couple of hours sleep and….”

“Si, spit it out.”

“You may want to get down here.”

“Why?”

“Because Louise just showed up. And she’s refusing to leave without seeing him.”

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#delaying the inevitable #ethan ramsey #tobias carrick #open heart fanfic #playchoices fanfic #choices fanfic #tobias carrick x mc #ethan ramsey x mc

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jiilys · 3 years

Note

would u help me out for a second. im in the mood to write for the first time, and i think your style is beautiful. sitting down n actually trying though, im stuck as fuck! i’m realizing that in your dialogue/scenes you’ve got a lot of Little Things. little tiny elements that are subtle & just enough. how are you deciding that lily is building a house of cards at the moment or sirius is sitting in a tree or whatever during a given scene? how do you come up with those ideas for dialogue that are so silly & real & sneakily tender? do you know where it’s going when you begin? any advice for just… starting something?

ps: i appreciate you. you make it look easy & that’s very very cool

This is a lovely question!! Sorry it took me so long to get to it, I didn’t want to get it wrong. Also I’ve included some examples to try and explain what I mean in practise, but it also comes off rather like plugging. tragically this is unavoidable. Anyway, all that being said I have no idea how to advise you about dialogue and coming up with it, I think just listening to people talk helps. Don’t forget contractions, and when in doubt always trust the reader to keep up, real people don’t say perfect or even grammatically correct sentences a lot of the time. We also cut each other off all the time, especially when we’re trying to be funny. Like, here’s an example from warm front:

“He’s not even two. He probably would have thought it was, like, having a lie down or something.”

Harry was laughing now, “A lie down?”

“Yeah, a spontaneous, truck-induced–“

“–Permanent–“ “

–Permanent, lie-down. I’m almost jealous now actually.”

Another thing, but people say um and like or can't speak or cut themselves off, especially when they’re nervous. James when Lily says she loves him for the first time: ‘“Wow,” He breathed, “I’m– wow.” He put both hands on her cheeks and kissed her crazy, abruptly, dumbly. Her head spun.’ He can’t even speak! Dumb boy.

I think natural dialogue sometimes just requires you to read it aloud, which is very embarrassing but ultimately quite useful in trying to figure out whether something sounds normal or not. Use casual words, and try not to go dictionary hunting: if you cant think of the word chances are your character can’t either

In terms of concepts I have no idea, but I do have a few tips. I write all my short one-shots in one document (its called ‘just bad’ lmao) so its easy to start something, write a few lines, and then if it doesnt work just start a new concept, but still have all the old stuff handy. if you feel like you’ve written yourself into a corner its probably because you took a wrong turn earlier, so its just a matter of going back up and figuring out where you turned onto the dead end, or where a line could be funnier and/or sadder and/or more meaningful. Sometimes the bare bones of a decent line is there but you have to work it a little.

In this harry/ginny thing where harry is apologising for all the attention and ginny brushes him off she says:

“It’s nothing,” her voice, all force, “Anyway, it’s more funny than annoying.”

The response went through a few drafts, all variations on the same thing:

(1) “You’re funnier.” [too short, doesn’t make sense, and not really that funny. unholy trinity]

(2) “You make it funny.” Harry said, looking at her for real, “It’s not– you make it like that.” [this could work! I have no idea why I cut this, I think I forgot abt it lmao]

(3) “You’re the funniest person I know, Harry said, sincerely, and Ginny felt her heartbeat all through her, “You make it funny.” [jumping from ‘its more funny than annoying’ to getting this sincere out of nowhere is a little much, even for harry who is famously whipped]

I ended up going with this:

“It’s nothing,” her voice, all force, “Anyway, it’s more funny than annoying.”

“You’re funny.” Harry said, looking at her for real, flustered, “I mean– you make it funny. That’s all you.”

It follows the flow of the conversation and I think the way he says it, ‘you’re funny’ like its obvious, and then being like oh fuck and over-explaining it stumbling a little “I mean– you make it funny. That’s all you.”. You know when you like someone and you say something that gives you away before you can stop yourself? I wanted it to sound like that. Just gotta keep in mind how people behave, we are so stupid a lot of the time, we give ourselves away.

The thing about short stuff i find is implying a lot of history without actually describing a lot of it. I normally do this by having memories come up as almost shards, one second of feeling. You know when you’re in a conversation with someone and they mention someone or a past event, and it rises to the top of your brain, but only for a second? i find sometimes when you’re reading stuff people will try and replay entire memories or events mid-conversation, which is not something you do when you think. You don’t need to replay it beat by beat, you were there! This sounds vague as hell so I’ll try and show you what I mean:

From good crimes: “Petunia is engaged.” Lily’s voice, raw and wrong, “To Vernon. Eliza Hunt told me at the supermarket.” Sudden flashes of Petunia, the only time he’d ever met her, sat in the back of Lily’s twenty-first, pinched and whispering. “Whose Eliza Hunt?” This seems as good a thing to say as any.

pretty on the nose (the phrase ‘sudden flashes’ is pretty so i'll allow it from past me). But see how you don’t need to know how Petunia didnt talk to anyone, how she left early, how she was the odd one out: you don’t need to read all that, you already know because she was sat in the back and because pinched is such a mean verb, spiteful and sharp, you can already imagine how the evening went without me saying so

From my proposal take, after Sirius finds out they’re engaged: Sirius’ grip on his shoulder tightened for one second, still grinning, and James knew what he meant. “I know.” He said, because only Sirius had been there for all of it, when they were fifteen, drunk on Firewhiskey for the first time and James had said I think I’ve fucked it, I think I’ve fucked it but I like her for real.

you don’t need a description of the whole night, what party they were at, who they were with, what they were talking about: the important bit is that Sirius was the first person he told, and that they’re both remembering that at the same moment because they’re soulmates lmao. You know when something big happens for a friend and you feel so full of pride & love that you feel like you’ll burst into confetti?? this needed to feel like that, and you only need a flash for it

I feel like I’ve sort of strayed off from what you asked me, which is really advice on how to start something. I normally start with a line, usually of dialogue, and then try and build from there because dialogue is my thing. You might have a different thing! Some people write from concepts or locations, or an image. i might start with one or a few lines of dialogue, write them down, and then try to build from there. For example for the proposal thing I started from james just saying “Marry me”, which I find more romantic than ‘will you marry me’, purely because it sounds like he simply couldn’t stop himself from saying it, like it rushed out. Another example, this thing started from just “don’t be mad at me” “okay” James agreed instantly, because he is such a sucker for her.

When I write I don’t normally know where I’m going! I normally set out to write something I think is vaguely funny and evokes An Emotion, and then I just play around with stuff until I get there. when I write certain stuff and I have scenes in mind, stuff I want to happen, but I find that if I try to plot it to tightly its not exciting to work on, because sometimes you write a good line by accident, that you hadn’t thought of when you sat down, and you surprise yourself. That is a really nice feeling! i want to maximise that feeling.

'What I mostly try to remember is that writing something down, anything down, is useful. Sometimes you write for a whole night and dont get anything useable, but its like clearing pipes. Sometimes you have to flush through shit to get to the good bits. All the rough stuff, the things you don’t like or didn’t work, you wrote to get you to the stuff that did work. All of the bad shit got you here! It wasn’t a waste, you were working to find the good thing

If I had any tips its just the usual stuff, read! It is annoying how much that helps. Also, and I know this may make you shudder, but reading poetry is useful just because in no other literary or media form is language so important. In comics you have pictures, in novels you have plot and character, in film you all that and cinematography, but in poetry you live and die by how good the words are. If you want recs here’s my poem roundup tag, that I do sometimes, or if you want something just now read this by Anne Carson, which uses words like ‘smashing’, ‘boatwash’, and ‘green’ in the best way possible. Also it has these lines: “Recently having learned to recognize the type of tree called sycamore, / I see them in any forest— / the ones that look harrowed, / in shreds, but / go also / straight up into life,”

I mean, think of a sharper image than that?? It’s not possible. Just try remember to stay true to your characters and that in real life, the little stuff is the big stuff. Little things the people around you do normally show they care more than big speeches, and if you want to show love that’s how to make it feel lived in. You want to build a world! the little stuff is usually the world. Take some from your own or dream the ones you wish you had.

This truly was a very kind message and I’m so grateful you like my stuff, I hope any of this was even half-useful, although now reading it back it is borderline nonsensical. I’m going to bed now, good luck with the writing, and don’t forget to send it to me!!

caro xoxo

#writing bitching #said it already but loved this message it was so thoughtful. seemed pretty articulate to me i think ur writing is gunna be just fine!!!#rooting for you & anyone trying to write something rn. words suck and are difficult! they are also better than drugs & sex. regretable #kindnesses

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sk1fanfiction · 3 years

Note

Hello! I saw that you reblogged the "I wish you would write a fic where..." post, and I have two ideas for the Running From My Destiny verse that might make neat scenes. The first I can't really make a summary for since it's such a general idea, but I'd really like to see a Quirrellmort POV. For the second one:

Malfada Prewett meets the Weasleys. This... does not go as well as her parents thought it would, even if they didn't have particularly high hopes.

Malfada absolutely does not get along with her cousins; she loves them anyways, though.

I hope the prompt(s) is(are?) fun! It's cool that you're doing this; it seems like it'd be an interesting experience. Have a nice night! :)

Thanks so much for the prompts! They were both very cool ideas! Hope you have a nice morning/afternoon/night as well!

ᑫᑌIᖇᖇEᒪᒪᗰOᖇT/TᑌᖇᑎIᑎG TO ᗩᔕᕼEᔕ

(spark)

Quirinus Quirrell surveyed his classroom, then glanced down at his attendance sheet, running a shaking finger down his list of names.

“P-Parkinson, P-Pansy?”

“Here, Professor.”

“P-Patil, P-P-Parvati?”

He’d always been ashamed of his stutter. There wasn’t a time he remembered not feeling afraid of his own voice. He expected peers, now students, to laugh at him and make him feel smaller and smaller, until he was annhilated.

“Here, sir.”

He pushed his reading glasses up his nose and focused on the next name.

His heartbeat stuttered in his ears. Something seemed to click. To focus. And when he spoke, his voice was as composed and steady as he’d always dreamed.

“Potter, Harry.”

“Present, sir.”

He could not help but look up at the speaker. But it wasn’t as if he was one looking. Rather, someone or something else had nudged their way to the front of his brain, gazing at the small first-year in the second row, scrawny, bespectacled and overall unremarkable, except for the round-rimmed glasses and bright green eyes that seemed to stir some distant memory, as if he had seen them both on another person.

Dead. And yet he felt more alive than ever.

He shuddered, and moved on, taking note of the remaining few Gryffindor and Slytherin students.

(ember)

It had been mere days since Quirinus had returned to the school; mere weeks since Voldemort’s disembodied spirit promised him everything he’d ever dreamed of.

No longer would he be the bullied, cowed Professor of Muggle Studies.

No longer would he be an afterthought.

There is no good and evil, only power, he reminded himself. Whether he vanquished Voldemort or brought him back to life, he would be great. And that was all that mattered.

And so, he had found himself standing in front of the Mirror of Erised, performing spells that he did not understand (but the other, strange new part of him did) and renewing the runes drawn around an ancient bloodstain.

But now, he was sitting in his office. And that green-eyed, unremarkable boy was sitting across from him (though the part of him that was Voldemort whispered, Quirinus, he is the one).

“Do you think I should be worried at all about the shadows?"

Harry Potter’s voice seemed to be coming through several miles of water. For his part, Quirinus felt frozen, and yet, more clever and powerful and strong than he ever had. His limbs had new life, every square centimetre of his being thrummed with magic, and he felt a strange, vast understanding of everything around him; even the boy’s mind.

"You were right to come to me, Harry Potter.” And there came the new, clear voice again, but it faded quickly. “If you are at all interested in learning to... control... to develop... your power, I may just be able to point you in the right d-d-direction."

(flame)

Halfway through the Quidditch match, something strange had come over Quirinus. That same terrible focus and perhaps not-so-mysterious power.

And every nerve in his body sang with the same fierce joy: Kill him, kill him, kill him! They’ll never trace it to you! Dumbledore is not here to see! KILL HIM!

Quirinus had not taken even a single year of Ancient Runes while he was at Hogwarts, and his affinity for the Dark Arts had always been weak. But now, he sat quite calmly in the professors’ box, muttering an Ogham chant and tainting the air with foul magic.

He saw what the others could not; Harry Potter was being consumed by his own shadows. The boy reached for his broom, hanging on with the last of his material form. His eyes were glassy and empty, and everything in Quirinus sung with the triumphant knowledge that his strange enemy was close to death. The Reaper was coming.

The two Weasley boys circled around him, trying to save him (foolish children, none can save him from Lord Death himself!).

It was the girl that snapped him out of his focus; she threw herself into the box like a wildcat let loose and despite the protests of the professors around him.

But it mattered not. Her precious brother was fast losing his grip, and soon the great Boy-Who-Lived would be nothing but a stain on the grass below; a tragic accident—

“INCENDIO!I”

The box crackled with flame, and the thing inside Quirinus howled in anger; yes, she should not know that, but fire would save the boy, sap the shadows.

Even as Snape shouted at her, it was her victory, not his, because Harry Potter had pulled himself back on the broom to safety.

How hard is it to kill an eleven-year-old child already cursed by a parasitic monster? You are just as much of a failure as they say you are!

And yet, thought Quirinus, he did not know if it was the thing, or himself howling in fury at his inability to kill the boy.

(ashes)

He did not like her. He did not like either of the Potter children at all.

Perhaps he liked Harry Potter sometimes, when he delved into his mind and forced the Obscurus to manifest, savoured his terror and the fear-filled memories of his Muggle relatives. When he entertained the idea of using him as a weapon against Dumbledore, now that he had shielded the boy from Legilimency from anyone but him and instilled within him a fear of his Headmaster.

Perhaps he liked Harry Potter when the Dark magic had burned out, and he lay helpless on the floor of Quirrell’s office.

Quirinus found that he liked to toy with the child; make him feel as helpless and utterly annihilated as he once had felt.

After all, he would one day kill Harry Potter. He would make the life bleed out of those green eyes and watch them go still and glassy (like his mother’s, he remembered now), someday soon.

Even as he Obliviated the second child who dared to intercept his search for the Stone, Quirinus knew the end was dawning.

With shaking hands, he lifted the cigarette to his mouth and inhaled death. The weak, prim Quirinus who would have balked at the very idea of polluting his body with such a thing was no longer important to him. After all, what was nicotine and tar and his disgust at the idea of a smoking habit when the spirit of the Dark Lord lived within him?

No. He had been chosen for greater things.

Tonight was the night the end begun.

Quirinus signed the bottom of his letter of resignation, put out the cigarette, and placed in it his brand-new ashtray.

And yet, he cried.

“I have given you my all, My Lord,” he said, and his voice, his own voice was steady. “And now I am nothing.”

𝙼𝚊𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚍𝚊 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚝𝚝/𝚃𝚘 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙳𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝙼𝚎 𝚄𝚙 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚕

August, 1986

“Just give it a chance, will you?” asked her dad, taking her luggage out the boot. “You won’t know you hate it until you try it.”

Everyone seemed to be giving her the same stupid advice today. When they stopped to get petrol during the drive from London, some weirdo in the petrol station had told her “Cheer up love, it might not happen!” She had responded by sticking her tongue out at them.

Mafalda frowned, crossed her arms, and leaned against the car.

“I don’t see why I can’t go to Roedean.”

“Well, you’re a witch, Mafalda.” He wiped his forehead and frowned. “Bloody hot, isn’t it?”

Witch. She hated the word already. Yeah, some of the girls at school were into Ouija boards and palm-reading and whatnot, but Mafalda didn’t go in for all of that nonsense.

The kind of nonsense that got Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon killed.

“And what do they call you and Mum again?”

Her dad sighed. “Squibs.”

“Yes, Dad! It’s not very nice, is it?”

She glared at the house as if it had personally offended her. It was tall, maybe four or five stories and so crooked that there was no way it hadn’t fallen down by now. A couple of brown chickens hobbled around the yard.

And in here lived the people who had sent her father off to Muggle boarding school, as far away from them as they could possibly manage, as soon as they could.

As her dad strode towards the door, Mafalda followed, kicking a rusty cauldron as she went by.

Before Mafalda could make her great escape, her dad knocked on the door and a plump, short, red-headed someone opened it almost immediately.

“Alfred?” she asked in a squeaky, shocked voice. Then, she glanced furtively behind her as if to check that no one was listening. “Alfred, what are you doing here?”

Her dad frowned, fanned himself with the collar of his shirt, and beckoned her closer so that the rude woman could look her up and down.

“Come on, Mals,” he whispered. “In for a penny, in for a pound, eh?”

Yeah, her hair probably looked a mess and the dress Mum had forced her to wear was all creased, but Mafalda didn’t think she would look particularly nice if she’d just spent three and a half hours in a stinky, sweaty car.

“Well,” said her dad, “this is your niece, Molly, and she’s a witch just like you. Got her Hogwarts letter last week and everything; Professor McGonagall said we should come over and see you. Of course, her mum and I know next to nothing about the wizarding world and Mals just barely remembers your brothers—“

Mafalda couldn’t help herself.

“You’re my aunt? Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon’s sister? Why’d you never come to see me?”

The woman — Aunt Molly — went red in the face.

“Come in, Mafalda,” she said tiredly. And at her father’s hard look, she added: “Come on then. Both of you. In.”

Once they were inside the cramped, cluttered kitchen, she was introduced to her cousins. Mafalda kind of tuned out for most of it because most of them were younger than her, bloody annoyingly loud, and she wasn’t the World’s Biggest Fan of small children, but she did pay attention to Charlie (thirteen and Gryffindor Seeker) and Bill (fifteen and a Prefect of Gryffindor House). The youngest boy was crying his eyes out because someone turned his teddy bear into a giant spider, but Aunt Molly didn’t seem to care. A ugly-looking sweater was knitting itself on the sofa.

While she obviously knew what a Prefect was, Mafalda had no idea what a Seeker was or why everyone was making such a big deal over Gryffindor or more to the point what Gryffindor even was!

“Who’s that, Mummy?” asked the youngest, a little girl with hair the same violent red as Mafalda’s.

“Your cousin, dear,” said Aunt Molly tiredly. “She’s just come to meet us, her father’s a Squib you see—“

The little girl screwed her face up.

“I don’t wanna Squib cousin!” she yelled.

Despite herself, Mafalda flinched, and her dad did, too.

“Don’t worry, dear. She’s a witch, just like you.”

As if that made it any better.

“I don’t wanna,” the girl repeated, glowering at Mafalda.

“Look,” said Mafalda harshly. “We’ll just leave, get our Squib selves out of your way and on the three-and-a-half-hour drive back to London. Thanks for nothing.”

“You didn’t call, Alfred,” said Aunt Molly.

Her dad pinched the bridge of his nose, looking frustrated.

“There’s no way to contact you, Molly. No phone, and you don’t get our kind of mail. Where am I going to get my hands on a trained owl?”

“She can sleep with Ginny,” said Aunt Molly, nodding towards the little girl.

Mafalda gave Bill, who seemed like the most sensible one of the bunch, a look that clearly said, I am not going to bloody sleep with that demon and that’s final.

“I can sleep with Charlie, Mum, and Mafalda can have my bed.”

Aunt Molly beamed. “What an angel,” she said. And to Mafalda. “Come, dear, let me take your trunk. We’ll all go shopping in Diagon Alley tomorrow, doesn’t that sound nice? Alfred, you wouldn’t mind—”

“—Not letting the world know you have a secret Squib cousin, you have nothing to fear, I’m well practiced, Molly.”

Charlie stood up. “Can I show her around the house, Mum?”

The youngest boy looked up, too.

“And can I have a piggy-back ride from her?”

“You’re too old, Ron!” said the snootiest-looking boy, who was sitting in the middle and had the least amount of dirt in his face.

“I’m not too old!” shrieked Ginny, waving her freckled arms. “I’m only five years old, Mum! I want a piggyback-ride!”

“When your dad gets home from work,” said Aunt Molly.

“You’ll get used to us,” Bill whispered.

I don’t have to like you, thought Mafalda.

“So are you coming?” asked Charlie. “We’ve got to de-gnome the garden. You should come too, Uncle Alfred.”

Dad said he’d come with them, but would rather watch. De-gnoming apparently seemed to involve spinning the tiny, screaming, spiteful little (animals? creatures?) until they shrieked with giddiness, then tossing them as far as you possibly could, which Mafalda was very good at, and Bill and Charlie were all too happy to cheer her on, even convincing her dad to join in, too.

"Don't mind Ginny," said Bill as he flung a particularly angry gnome over the hedge. "She doesn't know anything about anything. And it was wrong of Mum to push you away, but I hope we can be friends still, and that you'll come to Hogwarts with us."

Mafalda, despite herself, thought that was an entirely reasonable proposal.

Maybe she wasn’t going to hate the wizarding world.

It turned out that unfortunately for the sake of her sanity, Charlie loved to talk while he was working.

“Have you heard about Quidditch, Mafalda — oh, good one, Uncle Alfred! That must have gone like twenty yards! Did you know the Antipodean Opaleye has no pupils? What House are you going to be in?”

And yet, she found herself (ew) getting a bit fond of them already.

#quirrellmort #quirinus quirrell #mafalda prewett #mafalda weasley #harry potter fanfiction #hp fanfic #bill weasley #charlie weasley #harry potter

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eydi-andrius · 4 years

Text

The Beginning after the Finale

Pairing: Yoonbum x Foreigner Detective Female Reader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: Idk I used my notes for this. :/

Warnings: May or may not continue this one.

- Also, this is my first published fic cuz' I'm a coward so there will be many grammatical errors but I did try to proofread it. I SWEAR!

- Lastly, I'm a new user of tumblr.

- Oh yeah! ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELT and I did wrote some curse words...

Summary: A childhood acquaintance of Yoonbum came back to find out that her first case in South Korea will include Yoonbum as a victim.

(I'm always looking for fics about after KS but found a little so I created one for myself.)

The story starts after the chapter ending of Killing Stalking.

You just came back to your hometown after studying and working a bit in US. You never really want to stay there in the first place but your parents doesn't like you staying alone in South Korea. You can't really argue with that. A 16 year old highschool student alone and living on a "not so safe neighborhood where a renter uncle beat the shit out of his nephew while his grandmother watch the whole ordeal afraid of his son putting his anger on her."

You can't help but sigh after remembering what happened to your childhood friend whose name you can't remember.

Him, his uncle and grandmother rents a house your parents owned. The rent was cheap because your parents doesn't really care about the money. At that time they just want a good neighbor to live next to the house where their daughter lived alone.

The uncle appeared to be friendly, caring and kind when he applied for the house. Having his mother lived with him was a plus to your parents because at least someone old will took care of you for sure. However, after his nephew's parents died on a tragic accident, the uncle became aggressive and unreasonably hit his nephew and blame him for what happened.

Of course when your parent's found out your mother's hystericlly ordered you to go lived with them abroad. At that time, you flat out refused them but after hearing their second angry suggestion of kicking out the renter, you just decided to go and obey them afraid of making it worse for the nephew.

"The nephew hmnnm..." you murmur as you try to recall that nephew's name and face. It's been too long and you only remember bits of information about him. Like how feminine his stature was. The way he look shyly when you greeted and passed by him on the streets while walking to school. How his face powdered with red whenever you saw him and smiled widely at him. However despite all those memories, his face and identity remained a mystery. His face was blurry, same with his name.

You huffed angrily as you drum your fingers on the steering wheel. You're annoyed to yourself for forgetting the most important information. Nostalgia seeped through you whenever you think about him. Maybe because you thought he was unique and had an honest air around him. You liked that and you'd like to see him again. And deeply you hoped that he was doing fine.

"DEATH PENALTY FOR THAT BASTARD PSYCHOPATH!" You got spooked after hearing a loud booming voice from a megaphone. It was a quiet day and a shout like that can be heard throughout this town. Luckily the traffic light blared red and so you've got a chance to observe what is happening outside.

Lots of people are yelling with placards on hand in front of Jonggan Hospital. Young and old were gathered outside. Looking and shouting angrily to put a certain someone named "Sangwoo" to jail until he die or punished him with death penalty. You frowned. Death penalty isn't a thing in South Korea anymore right? This person probably did something horrendous to get a suggestion like that from old and young folks.

"Good heavens! What happened to this small town?" You questioned as you shake your head then look at the countdown for a greenlight ready to go forward. Two seconds more. You said on your head.

One last look on the crowd and you decided to drove off when a scrawny boy decided to run when the greenlight was on. You stopped before you run over him but your car still bumped his body. Making him fall over the pedestrian lane.

"Fuck!" You yelled shocked and angrily from the unexpected accident. Hurriedly, you got out your car to see if the man was okay.

You heard the loud beeping noise of horns behind your car when you got out furious at you for stopping so suddenly. However, you are more concerned to the man you almost run over with your car.

"Are you okay!? Do you know how dangerous running on a pedestrian lane with greenlight on!?" You yelled worriedly as you crouched down to check if he was okay.

The guys seemed shocked about what happened and continued to look down on the cement. And so you decided to touch both of his cheeks with your hands and forced his face to look at you. Your eyes went wide as you recognize the face infront of you.

"I'm sorr-"

"Yoonbum!" You interrupted the guy's apology as he spoke when you recognized that small and scrawny face of your childhood neighbor. The nephew you're thinking about just earlier.

Yoonbum blinked when you yelled out his name in surprise.

"Do I k-know you?" Yoonbum stuttered as he frowned questioningly at you.

"Oh my gosh! It's really you! This is me, [Y/N]. You look thinner than you do when we were younger." You beamed as slowly all of your memories of him came flooding back. That scrawny, shy and honest boy you knew is right in front of you.

"[Y/N]? I-" The angry noises of car horns stopped Yoonbum from talking and you realized where the two of you at the moment.

"I'm glad that I got to see you again but the road is not a place for our little reunion. C'mon!" You smiled as you offer your hand and help him to get into your car.

You repeatedly look at the rearview mirror to confirm if the guy you just saw and almost run over was really Yoonbum. Feeling your eyes at him, he looked at the rearview mirror too and your eyes meet. He immediately look away while an obvious blush painted his cheeks.

"I really can't believe this. I was just thinking about you earlier you know. And pondering over what's your name and how do you look but then I run over you. I mean, almost." You chuckled as you slightly looked at him while driving.

You wet your lips and continue talking. "I'm so happy to finally meet you again, Yoonbum." Smiling slightly while looking at the rearview mirror. This time, your eyes meet again but he didn't look away.

"Uhmmm.." You heard Yoonbum uttered softly so you glance his way. You saw him twiddling his thumbs.

"Go on." You nod while looking at the road to encourage him to say whatever he had in mind.

"Do I know you?" Surprised, you stopped and your car screeched loudly. You heard a loud thud beside you.

"Awwww...."

You gasped in horror when you saw Yoonbum's bloody forehead. You immediately grab some tissues on the back sit and dabbed softly on his open wound. That's when you realized that all this time he was not wearing his seatbelt. You cursed under your breathe and muttered a silent sorry to Yoonbum for driving carelessly. You just didn't expect him not to know you when he voluntarily rode your car and listen to your ramblings about him.

Luckily you're on your way to the hospital parking lot. You were really worried about Yoonbum earlier that you decided to bring him to the hospital to be checked by the doctors if he had any injuries from the almost accident.

You got out of the car immediately and guide him to the emergency entrance. On your way there, you saw a police in uniform narrowed his eyes on your direction and jogged angrily where the two of you are. You felt Yoonbum's grip tighten on your hand.

When the police was just two steps away from you and Yoonbum. You hid him fast and pushed the officer away.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What do you think you are doing? You are scaring my friend, officer." You said sarcastically as you shoved the glaring guy in front of you.

The police officer eyebrows knitted into one. "Ma'am, I mean no harm to you and your friend. But I need to talk to him." He emphasized the word friend as he tried to look behind you. You felt Yoonbum cowers in fear. You hold tightens on his hands. Clearly, there was really something wrong here. However, even though you want to fight the man in uniform, Yoonbum needs his wound treated.

"I'd like to let you, good sir but my friend's head is bleeding and he needs immediate care."

You didn't wait for his reply and you brought Yoonbum to the nearest nurse to help him with his wound.

From your peripheral vision, you saw the officer followed the two of you. When the nurse finally assisted your friend, you immediately stop the officer from interrogating Yoonbum further.

"You know, I don't have any clue about what you need from Yoonbum but can you stop? He almost got into an accident today and by the way his body responds to you, you were making things harder for him. So can you please stop." You glared daggers at the officer who just replied on your statement with a frown.

"Ma'am-"

"[L/N], [Y/N] [L/N]" You interrupted him which made his frown into a scowl.

"Okay, Ms. [L/N]. By the way you look, you're probably just got here and don't know what happened. Your friend there, Mr. Yoon was a victim of a serial killer. Him being out is not good for he was still suspected to be an accomplice even though the court already ordered his innocence." He nonchantly explained as he pointed his hand to Yoonbum who's being tended by a nurse.

He left your mouth agape with his revelation and walked pass you to sit beside the now patched Yoonbum. You followed and immediately hugged Yoonbum protectively from the officer who didn't even tell his name yet.

Then you remembered that Yoonbum doesn't remember you still and so you dropped your arms and just crouched in front of him to look into his eyes. You hold his hands and help him remember you.

"Yoonbum. This is me [Y/N]. The ow-"

"Owner of the house my uncle rented for us." You smiled when Yoonbum continued your sentence. He smiled back with that boyish innocent smile you remembered before but with eyes full with uncertainty and sadness.

"Sorry for interrupting your little reunion but didn't I told you Mr. Yoon to not go out alone to Jonngang Hospital?" The officer glared at Yoonbum who was trying to look and move away.

You bit your lips and stand up to fight the officer for being rude to the obvious scared Yoonbum.

"You nasty off-"

"Seungbae. Officer Seungbae for you Ms. [Y/N]" He interrupted looking at you. As if telling you to fight him.

"Okay, Officer Seungbae. I do understand that you're just trying to protect Yoonbum but can you please stop being nasty and rude to him. He was obviously shooked from what happened to him earlier-"

"And if you don't know Ms. [Y/N], the foreigner. In Jonggang Hospital lies the culprit who broke your friend's legs and forced him to do nasty things for months. And if the people caught him there, the people might become more hostile and believed further that he was an accomplice. Just letting you know in case you don't know" Your jaw clenched at the sneering statement of the officer. You're not annoyed by the fact that you know nothing on Yoonbum's case but the fact that this officer was basically putting all of his anger at you and making you look like a fool.

Instead of continuing the banter with him, you looked at Yoonbum's eyes again who continued to look away.

You have these cases in the US when you're still working there as a detective. Some serial killer let a victim alive to break them and make them believe that they were just like them. Cases abroad are nastier than in here but after hearing that your friend had suffered directly from a psycopath made your heart wrenched in sadness for him. It will take some time to heal them but knowing the person who suffered made you want to help them more wholeheartedly.

"Yoonbum please look at me" You placed both of your hands upon his cheek guiding his face to look at you.

"I don't know what happened and do not know the real reason why you still want to see him despite what he did to you. Maybe to see him suffer or whatever but I believe that you're innocent. Maybe he ordered you to do nasty things to make you crazy or make you believe that you're just like him but I still do believe in your innocence because you are a victim of him too. Whatever you have in mind, I'll listen to you and guide you through the process. Trust me." You looked at him with your heart out to let him know your sincerity to help him despite the years you hadn't been with him.

Yoonbum looked at you for sometime and then nod squeezing your wrists near his cheeks.

You smiled at him.

You admire how strong he was despite all the struggles he suffered through his lifetime. You promised to yourself that you will help him this time and will not runaway because its dangerous or whatsoever.

You squeezed his hands tight and nod at him happily.

P.S. Notes are highly appreciated. Thank you so much!

#yoonbumxreader #killing stalking #fanfic #afterks #yang seungbae #yoonbum #seungbae x reader #idk how to tag lmao #idk how to tag anymore #idk how to tag stuff #idk how to use tumblr #idk how to tag lol

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luminous-shifting-vibes · 3 years

Text

*sequel* to actual fucking quotes from the shiftblr coffeehouse discord server

once again, it's out of context because x1000 funnier

also x1000 longer than previous post

"ur satan is gnc af"

"Bestie I’m already having gender envy over a fucking demon please"

"O_O ODEPIJHFbavevisdpvfhzdcnjawedsidjksjdkoeirjfmkdsoeirujdksodifjndmksoidfjdksidfj ITS" NOT IN MY FRAFTS IS SPEDNT 1 hour PN THAT SHIT"

"AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"ohoho sexy"

"I am very proud of myself"

"himbo x edgy fuck"

"YOU COULD SQUISH HES CHEECKS"

"he has teefs"

"SQUASH"

"good for biting 📷"

"he's a himbo basically"

"B͂̒̄iͫ̍̈tͧ̓ͯè̄̇"

"bifth"

"i havent watched blue exorcist in years but mr okumura my beloved </3"

"MY LIFE QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED"

"is it important information to mention that the person i put up for my turn is the son of satan" "I know like 1 thing about everyone who isnt ranboo lmfao"

"crimes"

"tumblr sexyman"

"idk why but my first thought was cowboy onceler"

"I vibe with him but he is very long and twisty"

"steampunk e-girl"

"steampunk tumblr sexyman"

"Canonically bi crimelord I agree!!"

"OOO FRIEND SHAPED"

"ARTIST SIGHTED"

"they look like someone i would want to be friends with but is way cooler than me so i'd never actually talk to them"

"babby..... would die for him"

"honestly i probably kin him"

"i'm sure he's lovely but he looks way too much like my ex i'm sorry-"

"i'd be down for another rotation! i have another twink to show y'all"

"Also :00 blonde friend"

"Let us all infodhmo"

"Hsjagdvbs shhh im on phone"

"Nix woukd you like to joon?

"skitters away"

"I have two braincells and they both drink dumb bitch juice"

"oof wait whats the order again i have 0 memory"

"i want to bond with him over cosplay-"

"Awkwardly watches in band kid"

"One day I'm gonna a broadway star"

"which isnt to say they were bad. they were just fortnite dancing during rehersals"

"I threw it so hard my glasses flew off and slid under the stage right divider"

"anyway heres my boi"

"emo"

"haha emo"

"virgil sanders kinnie"

"he looks like he listens to my chemical panic at the fallout boy"

"Bro I bet he'd kick my ass with his deck"

"bird man my beloved"

"fuck i had so much to say and then i forgot it all"

"Birds!!"

"guiguhuh"

"crabrave"

"She sounds like someone I would end up stealing her personality"

"yess name collector gang"

"alias glass aiden haven absinthe fish brick rice"

"But I have Cypress, Remure, Genesis, Lemres, and Comet"

"And she's named after a mars candy bar bc alien"

"Hey, if plato went by plato, you can be king thief"

"im not dissing my gramma like that shfojd"

"My dad has seven legal names" "bitches be like *looks at fictional character* *steals their name* it's us we're bithces"

"coraline lowkey traumatized me but i adore it regardless"

"mmmmmm magic man :]"

"°0° green man"

"criminal (affectionate)"

"he would shoplift a candy bar from walmart and then brag to all of his friends about the sick stealing he did"

"despite the fact he's canonically been capable of overpowering a minor deity"

"i would commit so many crimes for him"

"Very babey"

"Yes please tell green man he is very pog"

"he also keeps a lot of dumb secrets"

"but I will sorely miss the chaos and energy of this here chat until I wake again" (by request XD)

"i just say words and if they're funny then they're funny"

"* or extremly chaotic either works"

"at this point we are just taking turns rambling"

"oH--"

"bc my brain has a schedule"

"Hopefully they have gyoza there or I will lose my mind"

"hehe yes spooky man"

"my ghost glucose guardian"

"the head of the undead group that lives there, and we end up dating. (yes I date a ghost, no I will not be taking constructive criticism /lh)"

"ghosts r just inherently sexy"

"i mean im becoming a squid thing so"

"Raven quirk raven quirk!!"

"ł â m p"

"łæmp"

"mothman: ooh lamp you look very nice today! do you come here often? mothman: wait shit no"

"I'd date a ghost"

"mine is still accurate, i am still sobbing (/j)"

"p e e p e e"

""@nick wilde is a tumblr sexyman" is the best thing i have ever seen"

"im sorry im cackling like a dying hyena"

"you're all 12 year olds"

"PEENIE"

"He once caused global warming on accident so he could get a tan"

"god, what a himbo. i love him"

"that reminds me of my friends kin assigned me jesus"

"Man outside of battle be like: princely crying but then in battle hes like: "CATACLYSM! DISASTER! DEVASTATION!" Chill out man"

"Every time I talk about satan it never fails to shock people it's my favorite thing to do"

"im kin assigning him roman sanders" ""Oh yeah he caused global warming because he wanted to get girls" "he what""

"oh damn i forgot satan was straight"

"twink appreciation club"

"give us the twinks"

"my first thought was bottom-"

"so many people to try and get his dad to love him"

"daddy issued"

"OH MY GOD ITS WILBUR"

"Big boy but"

"anyways janus is swagggg"

"........................."

"gib twink"

"give twink then i will share"

"holds him gentle like hamburger"

"This dumb bitch opened a book that said "do not open" and got possessed by a little bastard"

"he is. fragile creachur"

"klug is beauty klug is grace i would let him step on my face"

"If I'm playing swap and I have to hear one more "Pwanet Powew" Im gonna lose it"

"Who is to blame? Pandora or the box?"

"Bakugo isnt my type but I respect the drip"

"i say like my type isnt long-haired pretty boys and girls that look so gnc that people have a history of confusing them for men"

"hes a gremlin and i can appreciate a pretty gremlin"

"that is to say i am attracted to VFlower vocaloid. This is a confession."

"note i am a lesbian"

"You may like Schezo wegey"

"why does he have one single expression"

"soul soul eater passes the vibe check"

"magic wand"

"I Want To Hold His Hand"

"i would commit a war crime for him any war crime idc which one"

"my favorite one is when he sounded rlly gay because he said "Muscular bodies keep me satisfied""

"p e a n u t"

"Klug is a homophobic homosexual its just facts"

"grug from the croods is peak male performance"

"jaw drops to floor, eyes pop out of sockets accompanied by trumpets, heart beats out of chest, awooga awooga sound effect, pulls chain on train whistle that has appeared next to head as steam blows out, slams fists on table, rattling any plates, bowls or silverware, whistles loudly, fireworks shoot from top of head, pants loudly as tongue hangs out of mouth, wipes comically large bead of sweat from forehead, clears throat, straightens tie, combs hair Ahem, you look very lovely."

"tag yourself im the fireworks shooting from the top of the head"

"i like essays"

"central time gang"

"11:11 pog-" (wait... is that a suprise angel number?? yes it is lovelies just for you <3)

"Then again im also a dumbass bitch who wonders what the souls in soul eater taste like. SERIOUSLY THOUGH. THEY LOOK TASTY AS HELL!!!! LIKE GODDAMN BRO YOU'RE MAKING ME FUCKING HUNGRY. Like. that shit- it's Bone Apple motherfucking Teeth. hell yea my guy. Im hongy now.... shlorp I'm seriously considering this. Like. They seem kinda like a liquid? But a solid? Are they like jello? The fuck they taste like my guy???? I keep imagining they're like sour, like sour candy maybe? Or do they taste salty? Sweet? Maybe some combo of two? Do they even have a taste or is it about the texture? The sensation? God my mouth is watering what the hell. I am starving. I think I need to go get a cookie. I'm gonna go get a cookie. Brb. I'm better. I'm still craving souls though. Which is a weird-ass cringey thing to say but I'm being dead-ass rn. They just.... look tasty???? And I wanna eat one. Thus. I am shifting to Soul Eater for the express purpose of satisfying my fucking cravings. enjoy"

"points were made"

"jello? more like helloooo schloooAHFJDSDAIDWNALDHSJKDAIDANDM"

"WAIT I THINK I HAVE AN ANIME GIRL BITING VIDEO TOO"

"anime girl voice: mmm! mm... ahhhhmp!! mmm, mmm... aaahmp!"

"i think it sounds great i'm going to start eating like that"

"several people are typing"

"do these look edible to you"

"forbidden gummies"

"when I was on lsd I couldn't eat my fruit gummies because I thought they were alive because they had little faces on them"

"oh shit yeah don't do drugs"

"anyways general consensus is puyos are edible, ty for your input everyone"

"everypony is a word so powerful it can bring nations to its knees"

"pls the self control it's taking me not to say "hewwo everypony" in gen chat when someone new joins-"

"hewwo evewrypony uwu deaw cewestia i hopwe it doewsnt wain owo"

"ive cooked up a sowution wiwth the knowwege ive acwued. they say a kitcwen time saves niwne, but im just savwing two. Ive gathewwed the inwedients to make a time sowbet. Thewe's hawdly woom fow seconds when the seconds mewt away."

"I had a ten year old sister... you know what happened to her??? very sad, very tragic... she turned eleven....."

"NIIICE"

"Guts dont say the secks word :( /j"

"watch your fucking language in front of the president"

"im so sorry lumi"

"i think you're like ehhhh 8/10 funny"

"now me???? 10/10. Hilarious"

"sometimes i have to take a step back and remember that this is the same guts i follow on tumblr /lh"

""ok every here's some good shifting advice!!! uwu have a good day" "yeah i did lsd and ate fruit gummies""

"i have one setting and it's whatever this is"

"my bitch ass cat just pushed the door open with his fuzzy face and now my sleeping dad is being lulled into dreams by Cosmo Sheldrake's 'Pliocine'."

"me on discord: nick wilde"

"me on tumblr: shifting water! haha funne! me on here: my hermit crabs are cannibals also i want to eat souls."

"im sorry yOUR VIBESA RE JUST SO DIFFERNT"

"u give off older cousin ive never spoken to but always admire at the family gatherings vibes"

"what the fuck"

"BC I HAVE LIBERTU"

"If you adopt me then yes"

"am I qualified for dad jokes???"

"we're all a lot smarter on tumblr"

"I'm like "awww... sweet... sweet little shiftlings... posting such sweet shiftling content... so pure, so wholesome... does not even know abcs....""

"can't think before you speak if you never think B)"

"I'm not responsible enough to be a mom"

"cat pet"

"show us pictures of the cat or i will do Crime"

"maybe thats me being a coward tho"

"MOTH!!!! MOTH MY BELOVED"

if y'all want I can make this a series bc shiftblr keeps giving me more content

#tw drugs #tw swearing #tw cannibalism #tw crime #tw food #tw homophobia #shitpost #out of context #out of context quotes #lumi's quotes

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thethreemages · 3 years

Text

*rises from the grave to finally deliver on a certain new story arc chapter*

...Heeeey everybody lol I know this may not be something anyone expected in like, ages compared to my other recent TTM-content... but well, ever since my last chapter upload from maaany months ago... I've just continuously kept getting blocked from wanting to get back more into the main story, especially with the influx of developing lore and side casts I've been having fun with a bit more in comparison.

But well, after some more heavy thinking and reworking a bit of how I wanted to frame the next few bits of the story to go (while still keeping relatively faithful to my original concepts)... here's the official next part to keep the main story flowing with some rather "juicy" drama ahead~

((Here's the DA Link for the fic itself in case it gets too cut-off here-))

===========

The eerie stillness of the forest was something all too familiar to those raised around this trek of the woods… but this night in particular was getting all the more “curious” for what semblance of peace was broken left and right....

On one side, a noble prince and a gentle strength mage were connecting all the closer together as they were quietly walking through the woods.

On another, a fiery prince and a gruff healer mage were stumbling into the middle of an ominous find… enough to have stirred up some lingering “threats” following after them.

And finally, as of now… a cunning dark mage was finding herself apprehended by a group she once looked up to, respected, and trusted…

“-I will not say this again! Unhand Me. This. Instant!” Prym Fletcher hissed towards the pair of guards who were roughly escorting her back to the camp, feeling tempted to have blasted them back already with her magic… had it not been for a fierce pair of eyes ordering her to keep still.

“Save it, kid. You’ve snooped upon very classified information against official orders, you’re not leaving our sight.” Taiyin Zhou replied back with a firm tone, “You’re about lucky we haven’t already arrested you as is…”

“Ughhh, I’m telling you I did NOT snoop! I had simply stumbled across your camp by accident!” the young dark mage insisted, her voice already growing exasperated with frustration, “Why won’t you believe me?? I’m Lady Meradyth and Sir Luka’s daughter, for Saint’s sake-!”

Halting in her tracks upon hearing that, Taiyin only turned her head to give a… rather puzzled look, “Sir… Luka? Um, sorry but... no one’s ever been registered in our ranks with that name…”

Rightfully confused as ever by that response, Prym had taken the moment to shove off the guards restraining her as she offendedly exclaimed, “Wait… w-what?? Oh, now this has to be a damn joke… Luka was once one of your top members back in the day! Closest friend to Ivor and my mother Meradyth, what do you mean by ‘never been registered’??”

“-Look, I’ve been here in the Elite for a good number of years, kid... and I think I would know if I was aware of anyone named Luka,” Taiyin furrowed her gaze to Prym in a frustratedly tired way, almost reminding her of one of the strict & overworked teachers back at St. Ravilda’s, “I don’t know what else to tell ya on that front, but we’ll be the ones handling the questions here, thank you very much...”

The younger mage could feel her fists clenching in a rising anger towards this woman’s insensitivity… yet didn’t have time to make another retort as a pair of familiar faces joined to greet them from behind Taiyin.

There stood the imposing General himself, alongside the stoic Alastair who gave a quiet look of disapproval towards his comrade’s harshness to Prym. In the meantime, Ivor’s face seemed to twist with many mixed feelings upon seeing his daughter’s friend. Shock, disappointment, confusion… and perhaps even a bit of fear?

“Prym… what in the Saints’ good names are you doing out here??” Ivor shakily demanded to know, the stern fatherly side of his kicking into high gear as if she were his own child caught in the act, “I told you specifically to stay back at home where it’s safe! Don’t you know what kind of danger you’re putting yourself in, especially at this hour of night within these woods??”

“I… w-well,” Prym struggled at first to find the words, not wanting to risk giving away that Tula and the others were very much out there in the woods too… so, after taking a second to think and compose herself, she retorted back to him with an unamused tone of her own, “Hmpf… I suppose I should be more asking you the same question, Ivor. Don’t think I didn’t hear His Majesty giving you orders to collect this insidious-sounding ‘white plague’ for him… whatever the hell that means for his standards…”

“-Hey, what did I say about watching your tone, kid-!” Taiyin attempted to scold her… only for Alastair to hold up his hand to let the young girl speak her mind. Not exactly expecting Prym to have spun the question onto him now, Ivor gave a conflicted moment of silence… but eventually, an approving look from Alastair encouraged the hulking General the resolve to just admit what’s up, not seeing much else to lose now that she’s already here...

“The… white plague we were speaking of earlier, Prym… is a code name for this strand of white fungal root that had suddenly taken bloom within Graystone. These plants… they’re about the most devastating plant species our country’s faced in these past few decades… once was the stuff of legends within our oldest history books, but then… somehow some twisted, sick individuals decided to recreate these plants and spread them loose to cause countless amounts of destruction among the lands…”

Hearing of these plants made Prym’s eyes widen a bit in recognition… taking a moment to think on it, “Hold on, I… think I might’ve heard of such plants back in this one story Professor Blanchard once told us; an old crone who was jealous of the younger beauties in her town made up a mash of brew from these weird, white twigs so she could poison the girls, and absorb their own beauty to become a ‘goddess’. The plan backfired when it simply made the other men exposed to her inner flaws despite all her good looks, so she was cast off in a ritual fire to pay for her sins. Could… those perhaps be the white plague plants you were mentioning?”

One by one, Ivor and the others had given a nod of yes as Alastair floated up a steel box to open in display… revealing within a sealed-jar the shriveled up remains of a ghastly, half-rotted root… curled into a position like that of a crooked hand. Nauseating as the contents were to look at, the fact that this root was seemingly swimming in a sickeningly thick black liquid near the bottom didn’t help either…

“Indeed, Prym… this is the white plague we’ve been tasked by King Grayle to retrieve,” Ivor continued on to explain, “In our years of tracking them down, they’ve been linked to many terrible cases of people becoming infected when they didn’t expect it. Whether it’d be from injesting the root itself or the snow-like spores spread out into the air… its almost impossible to fully recover from it before its too late...”

“Yes… these roots were the ultimate cause of many terrible tragedies our country will never forget…” Alastair finally spoke up as cleared his throat, his tone serious yet solemn as ever, “Queen Elianne’s death, the double-crossed Wraith Night survivors, the village residents of Yulong…”

‘...Aevri’s hometown…’, Prym thought as she felt the tears prick to her eyes, remembering when her friend was given the grave news of her parents passing away of illness a few years back in school... so sudden and out of nowhere during a seemingly peaceful period of time. Long as it was since the last she saw Mr. and Mrs. Ren, Prym could still plainly recall them both being such kind, healthy-bodied people who wouldn’t hurt a fly… so hearing of them being the unsuspecting victims of such a ghastly plant this whole time was beyond tragic… “...even among our own ranks we’re all too familiar with white plague being inflicted right under us… ” Ivor admitted with a saddened tone, his gaze to Prym signifying she’d know who he’d talk about next, “The night Lady Meradyth had fled, the arrow blades recovered from the crime scene were found to be traced with this blackened poison linked back to the plague root… which, in connection to those other past incidents could only mean one thing..”

Not having to say another word, Alastair let his magic do the talking for him as he enchanted his glowing aura to shapeshift a group of silhouetted figures gathered together, each holding the white plague roots within their hands in an ominous, unified fashion. With that, signifying that whoever was perpetrating these white plague attacks… were all working together in a single, spread-out group.

Hearing all this was already pretty heavy for Prym to bear… breaking her more into confusion as she noticed Taiyin and Alastair turning to leave along with some other guards, “w-wait, where are you going?”

“Continuing the rest of the mission, kid.” Taiyin informed her, thankfully not as harshly as before but still firm enough to try and hold the young dark mage back.

“Yes, if our sensors are correct then its only a matter of time before these plague roots bloom upon the first morning hour. We must give haste at once.” Alastair joined with Taiyin as he packed some quick essentials nearby, looking over to his superior, “General, please inform us if anything stirs around this area while we’re gone, and we shall do the same in return.”

“Noted.” Ivor simply nodded as he gave some silent orders for the two to continue heading out. As much as a part of Prym wanted to say more in perhaps suggesting to go with them or however… her mind was still much too focused on the growing anger she had towards all these suspicions and secrets being kept from her. Not even letting Ivor reach to touch her shoulder in comfort, she had resigned to simply stomp towards the tent to cool off… the shining light of the moon following behind her.

——-

On another section of the sprawled forest, making their way through the thickets was Prince Elas and Tula… seeming to make good headway on the path they were on. Further back they had found some tracks being quite imposing enough to belong to no one else but Tula’s father,

“Okay, looks like it won’t be long to find Papa!” Tula had deducted, feeling some more confidence at finding another cluster of footprints up ahead, “my guess is that he might’ve set up camp just a few trees away, by this rate.”

“Indeed, I can’t say I can find much to disagree with that notion.” Elas gave an approving nod, analyzing some of the tracks for himself, “Seems to me he might’ve had some party members of his own crossing though here, so whatever he may be up to then he’s bound to not be alone…”

Looking on ahead in the direction they were headed to, something inside Tula was feeling… odd, and kind of confused as to how everything was going so smoothly at the moment. Perhaps… a bit too smoothly, as the forest seemed eerily still at this point in time.

“...Elas, does something seem ‘off’ to you?” the young Strength mage pondered, her gaze glancing around for any signs of possible life within the trees or bushes. At first, the prince didn’t seem to detect anything out of place as he stepped ahead… until his foot caught sight of something that made him jump back in shock.

“Oh good Saints, w-what in the world was...?” gathering himself to calm down, Elas took a closer look to find that his shoe had stepped into what looked like a puddle of thick, ghastly-white goo… the contents sizzling a bit under the glow of the moonlight above. Tula had curiously peaked over his shoulder to see what was up… only for them both to jolt back again once the puddle started to bubble and release a hissing, acidic green stench.

“-What is that stuff?? I-I’ve never seen anything like that in these woods!” Tula exclaimed with a clear worry in her tone, “Do you think any of the girls or Kain found-”

Halted in her thoughts was the ear-piercing shriek of something very much inhumane ringing throughout the trees, rattling both her and Elas from standing upright. Careful to at least not fall back in the goop behind them, the two helped pick the other up as within these shrieks, they heard the loud crashing and glowing of magic clashing near the distance ahead.

“-Kain!” Elas deducted, upon recognizing the reddish-orange glow from where he was standing, “He and Aevri must’ve found something dangerous up there, come on!” he encouraged to Tula while instinctively firing up some blue fire in his hands.

Answering back only with a firm nod, Tula didn’t take long to summon up her Strength gauntlets as the two of them hurried on to try and help the other mages. If only they had looked back behind them, they would’ve noticed how that white goo from earlier was beginning to fade away as a figure summoned it back into the darkness…

—-

The normally firm General was in quite an awkward spot having Prym stumbling upon such top secret info as she did… having hoped that tonight could’ve been just a simple detour mission without having to drag any of the kids along. And he knew that hearing the truth about the dangers of white plague had truly shaken her up… so, he knew that he couldn’t have any room to blame her for not being willing to talk to him at the moment while they were alone at the campsite.

A few more minutes would pass before he’d finally make the move to head inside the tent as well… looking to find Prym with her back turned from him, clearly lost in thought and conflicted.

“...Prym, I know what you may be thinking,” Ivor steadily began, trying to keep his tone as delicate as possible, “-But you must understand that this situation was... much too dire and dark for me to just confess it freely among you and the others back home. I simply wished to protect you all-“

“-Protect us from what, Ivor?” Prym finally spoke up, not so much defensively as much as she sounded… tired, “If you haven’t already noticed, me and the girls are not little kids anymore… if you truly meant to be on an important mission regarding these plague plants, then we could’ve understood if you simply told us. Otherwise I thought… well, with the King’s orders and that one lady’s coldness to me, I…”

“...I know. And for that as well, I deeply apologize...” the General lowered his head as he sighed, “Taiyin is quite a strong soldier, noble-hearted as well… but we’ve been meaning to correct her more about not letting her loyalty to the Elite get the better of her towards outsiders. I’ll be sure to have a talk with her when she gets back, I promise.”

Assuring as that thought was, as well as relieved at his genuine apologies… something in Prym’s mind was nagging at her to not let it go. Something regarding one, particular detail that wouldn’t leave her thoughts…

“...Ivor, earlier Lady Taiyin had given me this… really strange response to me mentioning my father Luka. Basically saying he… apparently never existed within the ranks.” Prym had turned to further face the general, looking up with a look of questioning, “You didn’t even directly say that he died within those other plague casualties, simply that there was poison found at that scene where Mother ran away. Is… there something you’re not telling me, Ivor...?”

“...Prym, n-now is not the time to-“ he looked quite shaken by her sudden accusation, but Prym continued to stand her ground further with a firm anger in her tone.

“-No. Now is more than the perfect time to explain- Why is it that all my life, I’ve been told my father was this grand, loving hero of the King’s Elite alongside my mother, giving his life to protect countless innocents… and yet now I learn that’s all apparently been one big lie?? Ivor, please what is the real truth here?? W-Was my father a true soldier, or not?? Was he working for some other party, dealing with some unsavory types?? Please, j-just tell me already, Ivor!”

Steadily her voice began to shake more to a near-sobbing tone, lip quivering as her mind was drifting to all sorts of possibilities… and one more question stuck out the most as she pitifully looked up to the older general,

“Ivor… is my father even alive…?”

Silence quickly fell upon the tent… as Ivor looked conflicted as to how exactly he should answer such a question, let alone in a situation like this. As the seconds were passing into a minute between them, Prym was afraid that… perhaps he wouldn’t give her an answer, that maybe it was a mistake to ask at all after she had already stepped out of line as is… until at last, the still air broke when Ivor delivered a simple, one word answer that changed everything…

“...yes…”

——-

On their end of the forests away from everyone else, things had… really picked up much more chaotically for Kain and Aevri, the two of them now lost in a battle between an eerie group of monsters clamoring around them. Resembling that of tall, ragdoll-like humanoids made of white tree bark… their gaping mouths and hollow eyes dripping with white goo could’ve easily shackled their two foes in complete fear, if they both weren’t so stuck in fighter mode right now.

“-Eat this, bitch!” Kain had exclaimed with some kicks and punches of his crystal magic blasts, encasing the tree-like creatures in red shards that pinned them all to the ground. Aevri in the meantime did her best to defend them both, having summoned her shields to ward off and slice away closing-in enemies.

“Ughhh, will you freaks get the damn hint already?? Piss off!” the Healer mage grunted, swiftly throwing her summoned-shield to knock back some of the foes before it flew back into her arms. Try as they might through their defenses, however… Aevri and Kain could only watch as the monsters had simply risen up more from the ground up, not even seeming phased by their earlier attacks.

“Oh for fuck’s sake… what the hell is keeping these things alive??” Kain cursed while powering up another set of crystal attacks, “Even a wyvern would’ve fallen down by now, shit!”

Before Aevri could’ve answered back with a possibly-snarky retort, their thoughts were halted as they saw a flurry of blue flames burning back the horde of monsters that tried to make a grab at the two… the sender revealing none other than Elas and Tula who had hurried on to join the battle.

“...Greeaaat, perfect timing, bro.” the younger Graystone prince flatly remarked with a roll of his eyes, his brother simply scoffing in response with a flick of his hair, “-Save the backtalk til after we’re safe, Kain.” Letting his companion Tula take the next step in pummeling down some of the creatures with her firsts, she at least gave a more grateful and relieved look to her healer friend at seeing her standing strong in the fight, “-Aevri! Thank the Saints you’re alright! I-I hope these things didn’t hurt you too much…”

“Pff, hey... what would it be a fight without a few scrapes?” Aevri joked a bit to lighten the mood, bringing a small smile to Tula’s face before the both of them turned to ward off the next wave of monsters. It almost seemed concerning just how much these things were reanimating up again despite the waves of attacks… only seeming to keep going and going within the next few minutes to pass.

All… until each of the tree dolls suddenly halted in their place like statues, the melting white goop re-materializing into their eye sockets properly as each of them stood up straight. Confusing the hell out of the mages that were fighting them, the four watched as these dolls started to assemble into some upright positions… almost like an army awaiting their leader approaching. And with a rustle of movement coming from the bushes from behind, that… actually seemed quite closer to the truth as a pair of footsteps came walking out from the dark.

“-Hey! Who’s there??” Aevri turned in the direction of the steps as did the rest of her party, all rearing for another big battle… but then pausing as they finally saw who it was. Turning out to be a pair of hooded, ominous figures greeting them in plain view… their features hidden from where they were standing a lil far back. All until they stepped further into the moonlight was it shown that they were both women, one of them covering their face with a featureless white doll mask… and the other simply smiling back in a rather calm, calculating way.

“Aww… whats wrong, little ones~?” the hooded figure with a mask tilted its head, giggling in a tone that sounded much too saccharine sweet, “Sister and I simply wanted to have a lil playtime with my babies here… don’t be so mean~”

Naturally, this quite frankly creeped out the young mages who were now all the more confused seeing the masked lady stepping over to gently caress one of the tree dolls, as if it were her most prized possession. Compared to everyone else ain was at least trying to mask his unnervedness by standing back more boldly,

“H-Hey, these things of yours attacked us first, lady… what the actual fuck are you on about-??”

“...Hmmmm, temper temper...” came the much more dignified voice of the other woman, shaking her head in Kain’s direction though that smile of hers still remained clear as day, “Is that any way to speak to your family… Kain?”

The once-fierce gaze in Kain’s eyes had… very much evaporated into a look of disbelief upon hearing that voice… the crystal auras in his hands disappearing as they dropped to his sides in shock, “...w-what…?”

Alarmed by his brother’s sudden distress, Elas had turned to try and step up in Kain’s defense as he demanded, “-What in the Saints’ good name are you on about?? Kain is my brother, and I do not recall either of you being anywhere near ‘family’!”

“-Shhhh, manners… young man~” whispered the masked-figure, holding a finger to her lips as all stilled around her… summoning an eerie aura that surrounded the other mages into freezing in place, much like the tree dolls. Unable to do anything but move their heads and faces, Tula, Elas and Aevri all looked on as only Kain was allowed to move on his own… yet all he could do was just shakily stand in place as the unmasked figure slowly approached him… again still smiling that damn smile of hers…

“-No, n-no no you can’t… you can’t be her…!” muttered the now-shaky voice of the usually-haughty prince… trembling as the figure was now up face-to-face with him. Even without being freeze-spelled like the others were, Kain could do nothing but stare as the figure reached up a hand to his face… gently caressing his cheek as her free hand moved to pull back her hood.

Now… there was really no doubt who exactly she was. The striking red hair, the ruby red lips, the amber eyes all too similar to Kain’s… save for the subtle signs of aging, he could never forget a face like that....

“Yes… it is me, my son~”

———

Millions of thoughts were running through Prym’s mind as she recalled what Ivor just confessed to her. Her father… her own father Luka… was alive all this time?? As much as she wanted to celebrate such news, another dark side of her was just reeling at the implications…

Where was her father, all this time she and her mother were in hiding? Why didn’t he come back for them? Was someone keeping him hostage, forcing him in place? What if… what if he willingly chose to abandon her? Not even sparing her a second thought, wherever he’s at now…?

Sensing the growing conflict growing within Prym, Ivor did his best to try and diffuse the situation as he reached to comfort her, “Prym, I… p-please try to understand-“

“-What IS there to understand, Ivor?? Nothing is making sense anymore!” the dark mage exclaimed as she threw up her hands, feeling her tears growing hot as she began to pace back and forth, “You say my father’s apparently alive all this time, but where in Terra IS he?? Obviously he’s not within the Elite ranks now, Mother hasn’t heard from him in ages, and none of the current Elite seem to know who he is! All I want now is the truth, and I want it now!”

“...” Ivor had grown quiet for the moment, heavily sighing as he gestured for Prym to follow him near one of the seats, “I… know this is very much against protocol, but… i-it’s about time you knew, Prym…”

As much as she would’ve liked to argue and stay pouting… the ever-curious side of Prym decided to relent in at least hearing his side of the story out, wiping away her tears with a still-determined look in her eyes. All she could do was watch on as Ivor went and grabbed an old wooden chest to carry over to her, opening the contents to pull out a sealed document folder hidden under some other papers and trinkets inside.

“Prym… your father was a man that had many burdens over him at his age,” the General began to explain, handing Prym the folder as he sat down next to her, “As much as he tried his best to fulfill his duties as a leader… others still feared and hated him for feeling like he took away what wasnt ‘rightfully’ his, on top of the already-detested dark magic he carried. And well… being his oldest friend, I knew that it wouldn’t be healthy for him to linger on all this bad press… so, it was my suggestion that he would involve himself more with our growing Elite forces, to help him lighten up from the stress of it all...”

Within her grasp, Prym flipped open the folder to see the first page contained a picture of Luka’s face on it, with the royal insignia of the Elite stamped below it. With a silent nod from Ivor, she flipped under it to see that inside held some various papers and photos from the old days of Luka’s younger years… from sparring with his troops, to happily posing with some grateful-looking civilians, to joining together with his team to stand vicariously together all at once.

“Overtime, your father grew to fit in well within the Elite for letting him express himself for who he was… beyond all the titles and dark magical stigmas, but as a loyal comrade who’d do anything for the good of Graystone. And since the local civilians didn’t seem to recognize him as a simple soldier like the rest of us, he had even felt comfortable enough to try and help out these communities through his own acts of vigilantism…” Ivor chuckled, unable to resist a small blissful smile at the memory, “Not too surprising that he and your mother grew to get along a lot well in that department, denying as they were at first...”

Pausing for a moment from browsing through the folder, Prym looked over to Ivor with a look of puzzlement, “...So, if you say my Father did all these great things for the people… why would they turn on him because he performed some darker magic spells than normal? I know Mother had mentioned that he enraged some uptight army for his necromancy, but…”

“...W-Well, truth be told, that... wasn't exactly the ‘full’ reason for his eventual attack, Prym...” Ivor admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “Luka, well-meaning as he was… at the same time was always rather stubborn and reckless when it came to what he thought was the right thing to do, regardless of the possible consequences ahead. There was no better example for when he had stepped out of protocol in one of our missions against a local crime-lord of the downtown New Grayle district… Boss Byzantine.”

“Byzantine…?” Prym blinked, steadily recognizing that surname after a bit of thought, “-One of Kaz’s bully friends shared that name back in school… Cable Byzantine.”

“Ahh, yes… the Boss would’ve been Cable’s father, from what I recall of that man.” Ivor gave a nod of acknowledgement, “Often kept to himself apart from the few public appearances with his family… most wouldn’t even know much else of him aside from that automobile company of his. But well… we as the Elite were having our growing suspicions after examining more of how poorly the downtown area was, and interviewing the locals terrorized from his gang’s past attacks. And thanks to one of our undercover operatives, Sgt. Kodiak, we had not only started to put any and all accomplices in jail, but had planned in the near future to soon put Byzantine to justice too. Luka, however… well, turns out he had decided to take fate into his own hands by cornering the Boss one day in his office with his dark magic… giving into temptation with his soul-ripping spells to really show the crooked man who he was messing with…”

The air seemed to grow heavier as Ivor quickly grew quiet again, his gaze going back to the chest’s contents as he pulled out something else from under all the papers… a locket with a purple moon gem symbol on the front, “...In the end, thanks to some nearby guards catching wind of his actions, Luka wasn’t fully able to be rid of Byzantine as he hoped… but that would soon seal his fate as the Boss had subtly planned a “vengeance” of his own. And so, a few years later Luka and Meradyth had made plans to head into the Downtown area for a quick errand, picking up this upcoming birthday present for you...” explaining as he gently placed the pendant within the girl’s hands, eyes closing as he painfully recalled further...

“...and, just as they were heading back home… they were ambushed. A mix of Byzantine’s own men and a few hired hands from the army Luka has disgraced, together overwhelmed the couple in more ways than one. Within all the smoke, blades, and spells being thrown around it was practically impossible for either of them to evade it all on their own…”

“So, how exactly did my father manage to survive from it all...?” Prym turned her gaze to ask, a hand gently resting onto Ivor’s as he felt himself getting shaken by the recollecting… only pressing on further for Prym’s sake, “-Through having to spend a good chunk of his aura energy on teleporting Meradyth away from safety, and the last of it to unleash one, devastating blast to ward off the remaining foes, they were defeated and got taken into custody… but at a grave cost to Luka, himself. Our troops, try as we did to bring him back to heal him up, just weren’t able to stop the plague-induced infections from slipping him into a deep sleep. Hours had turned to days, and days turned to weeks… and throughout it we were beginning to lose hope. Finally, at last he was able to wake up and face us again, b-but…”

It was here that Ivor had turned to look back at Prym, placing a hand to her shoulder as he delivered the news that had shattered the shred of hope she had earlier...

“Prym… h-he didn’t recognize us anymore, and… neither could he remember either you or your mother when we tried to tell him after waking up…”

“...W… What? No… n-no that can’t be right..!” the dark mage bitterly broke into a sobbing mess, shaking her head in near-denial, “-What kind of father would just up and forget his own loved ones, his own family?? P-Please tell me this isn’t true, Ivor! Please…!”

“...I-I’m sorry, Prym...” a guilt-ridden Ivor muttered, instinctively pulling Prym in for a tight hug despite her protesting sobs, “We tried all we could, believe me we did… but this plague proved to be the most resilient curse on our fellow comrade, even with the best medicinal help. Showing him pictures, records, and home videos did little to jog his memory… after awhile, he started refusing our help all together despite our protests…”

Soon, even as toughened as he usually was… even Ivor has begun to shed some tears as he held Prym close,

“He’s changed so much as time further passed, Prym.. not even going by his name anymore whether he’s off duty or not these days. To the point where eventually we just decided to never bring up the subject of Luka anymore, with the very few remaining soldiers from our old ranks swearing to silence never to speak of him either. As much as we wanted to reunite him with you both in the coming years, we just… w-we didn’t want to task the risk if anything were to… well, go wrong…”

To say that this did anything to soothe Prym’s heartbroken state would be a lie… as in the minutes that passed her furious sobs had silenced into mere whimpers, whilst Ivor continued to do his best to hold and comfort her as if she were his own child. In some ways, this news had devastated her even more than her initial thoughts of her father being deceased. To even imagine having to go through as much as he did, miraculously surviving but erased of his own memories like that… it was beyond crushing of a thought...

...Yet, the more she had paused to think on this info, the more she began to realize the implications of what exactly Ivor meant by Luka not going by his name anymore. Thinking back to the folder left next to her, she couldn’t help herself in pulling away from Ivor… desperately flipping through until her eyes caught sight of the last page. Her father’s medical file.

And this time, even Ivor didn’t move to stop her as he defeatedly looked away, accepting that she had to know this sooner than later...

...our current patient has been confirmed to have been inflicted with trauma-induced memory loss, and by royal order we have been requested to withhold further treatment by his end. Our staff has grown worried with his own past history of ongoing PTSD and Chronic Depression, but well… as our fellow staff had put it, an order’s an order.

With a heavy heart, this concludes our progress into looking after our patient of the past year and a half... Luka Grayle.

#the three mages #main storyline #my art #my fics #(at long last I finally returned to this oml-)#(again *mega* apologies in advance for the delay on this for anyone who's originally followed it more closely)#(as much fun as I had with developing lore and side casts I knew it was about time to get more back on the main story)#(soooo enjoy~)#(and stay tuned for the some upcoming chapters ahead cause BOI this was fun to get back into dljfkjk x33)

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Best Serial Killer Movies of the ’90s Ranked

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Someone must have left the freezer door in the morgue open, because grisly reminders of the past are thawing before our eyes. You can see it this weekend with the release of John Lee Hancock’s The Little Things, a throwback to the days when movie stars hung out at crime scenes instead of in spandex, and it’ll be more apparent next month with the launch of Clarice, a television spinoff of 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. All the evidence points to only one conclusion: the serial killer thrillers of the ‘90s are back!

Not that we’re complaining. For a macabre minute or two, every Hollywood name appeared eager to play either the detective or the killer—the hunter or the obsessed, which often proved interchangeable for both characters. Granted that means there can be something formulaic about many of these movies. Yet they can also be bleak, hard-edged, and ambiguous. From our modern gaze, where the dominant studio conventions prefer reassuring morality tales and sunny lighting, these movies’ preference for shadows and discomfort in the mainstream is kind of startling.

So grab your magnifying glass and fortify your stomach, because we’re about to revisit some of the best (and worst) of ‘90s serial killer thrillers. (Also this list is strictly for the decade when the genre was at its height and it excludes slasher movies like Scream, which may feature serial killers but were not exactly adult-oriented thrillers.)

12. Eye of the Beholder (1999)

Eye of the Beholder is a tonal oddity that only passingly flirts with the conventions of ‘90s serial killer thrillers, all while it tries to pay homage to (read: rip-off) Alfred Hitchcock. But any credit it deserves for deviation—including making Ashley Judd’s central femme fatale the killer—it loses in execution. As a muddied, impenetrable tale about an intelligence officer (Ewan McGregor) who spies on and falls in love with a serial killer, Eye of the Beholder is a scattershot of bad ideas that run the gamut from ludicrous to misogynistic.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but this movie will close the lids over your pupils inside of 30 minutes.

11. Nightwatch (1997)

It feels a little mean to rag on Ewan McGregor back-to-back, but maybe serial killer movies just aren’t his genre? That could be at least one takeaway from an ill-advised double feature of Eye of the Beholder and Nightwatch, the latter of which is a remake of a 1994 Danish film that I’ve not seen… and probably won’t since both the original film and American remake are directed by the same man.

McGregor plays medical student Martin here, a kid who gets an after school job by becoming the night watch security at the local morgue. But as a series of grisly prostitute murders pile up, Martin realizes he needs to figure out who the killer is—that or continue to be framed by the necrophiliac fiend who keeps coming by the morgue for one last liaison. It’s exactly as skeevy as it sounds. Do yourself a favor and go your whole life without hearing Nick Nolte sing “This Old Man” while climbing onto a corpse.

10. Natural Born Killers (1994)

The movie that Quentin Tarantino disowned, Natural Born Killers is a seedy mess based on a Tarantino script that was heavily rewritten by Oliver Stone, David Veloz, and Richard Rutowski. The concept itself is a seemingly inevitable escalation of the “bad romance outlaws” archetype that’s been floating around Hollywood since at least 1950’s Gun Crazy, and which was then made iconic by Bonnie & Clyde (1967).

But whereas those films relied on bank robbers living fast, Natural Born Killers descends into a seeming final form with Mickey and Mallory (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis) as giddy serial killers who are eventually out for maximum carnage. Technically the pair are supposed to be presented as victims of traumatic child abuse—and who are then wrongfully glorified by the media. But Stone’s sloppy and tanked vision lacks the discipline to achieve anything beyond its maliciousness. Early sequences imagining Mallory’s abusive childhood like it’s a television sitcom, and later psychedelic visions of Robert Downey Jr.’s opportunistic news reporter as the Devil, do little to divorce the film from its shallow self-satisfaction in close-ups of heads being shot.

The movie came under controversy in the years after its release for inspiring alleged copycat killers as well as school shooters. It feels irresponsible to blame media for actual violence, but it’s still quite an indictment that Stone’s attempt to criticize media glorification became a favorite for many a disturbed individual with a gun.

9. Kiss the Girls (1997)

When studying competent, middle of the road Hollywood thrillers, Kiss the Girls is a solid place to start. As a decently made bit of studio convention, the movie is anchored by strong elements like Morgan Freeman as James Paterson’s literary hero, Alex Cross, and Ashley Judd as Kate, the victim who survives a masked killer’s attempt to abduct her into his harem.

Moments like Kate’s escape sequence through the North Carolina wilderness are effectively filled with adrenaline, and Judd particularly gives the salacious piece conviction. However, it is salacious to a fault. Even if the movie toned down the source novel’s even more lurid misogyny, the film studies Kate and the other victims with a lascivious male gaze, blurring sex with violence, real world horror with leering entertainment. Right down to its title, the film can be rightly criticized as Hollywood glamourizing another story about violence against women. Whether that damns the whole movie depends on the viewer, but it certainly keeps it low on our list.

8. The Bone Collector (1999)

Marketed with a hell of a tagline about there being thousands of taxi cabs in New York City that’ll get you home—and one that won’t—The Bone Collector is almost comically slavish to the clichés of ‘90s moviemaking. The wrinkle here is that after a faux cab driver begins abducting his victims off the street, the crime psychologist who must stop him is entirely stuck by his bedside. Due to a tragic accident, Denzel Washington’s Lincoln Rhyme is paralyzed from the neck down. Yet he is still able to catch serial killers by communicating in the earpiece of police officer Amelia Donaghy (an entirely unconvincing Angelina Jolie).

Movies

Lost Girls Review: Netflix Takes on the Long Island Serial Killer

By Rosie Fletcher

Books

The Last Book on the Left Takes on the Grim History of Serial Killers

By Alec Bojalad

Together the pair stay one step behind the mystery killer’s tracks as he executes a series of increasingly gruesome and ridiculous murders. It’s preposterous, and in some ways a forerunner for Saw with the satisfaction it takes in absurd death traps, but Washington is effortlessly compelling, even when he never leaves his apartment. As a bit of absurd Hollywood fluff, right down to the ultimately lackluster unmasking of the killer, it can be entertaining, even if you’ll deny it afterward.

7. Copycat (1995)

More potent than I remembered, Copycat is a genuinely well-crafted Hollywood thriller that may not reinvent the wheel but takes it out for a damn good spin. In the driver’s seat is Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Helen Hudson, a criminal psychologist who is an expert on serial killers until one follows her into the bathroom after a guest lecture. He nearly hangs her from the ceiling. Following that white-knuckled opening, the film jumps years ahead and Helen has become agoraphobic and afraid to leave her home.

Yet when a local series of murders reveal the pattern of a predator imitating the methods of his favorite “celebrities”—one crime scene is like the Boston Strangler and another emulates the horrors of Jeffrey Dahmer—Helen is pulled out of retirement by a no-nonsense detective (Holly Hunter). The winning chemistry between Weaver and Hunter—who are refreshingly free from the studio-mandated romantic subplots in some of the other movies on this list—and the blunt force power of their performances aid this sincerely disquieting flick. A needlessly convoluted third act aside, the movie still works as a warning about the danger of fanboys a generation early.

6. Fallen (1998)

Denzel Washington appears again thanks to this clever supernatural spin on the serial killer genre. At the beginning of Fallen, Washington’s John Hobbes appears on top of the world. The serial killer he chased for years (Elias Koteas) is about to breathe deeply in the gas chamber. Yet after the lever is pulled, and with Koteas singing the Rolling Stones’ “Time is On My Side” until his last breath, a funny thing happens: the murders continue.

In fact, more than just the killings, strangers in the street sing “Time is On My Side” in Hobbes’ ear, and he soon realizes that he faces a devil of a killer whose been operating since the beginning—quite literally since the villain is a demon who was once an angel that fell with Lucifer. It’s a bizarre premise given strutting confidence thanks to Washington’s performance, as well as good supporting work by John Goodman and Donald Sutherland. Twenty years later and its ending still sticks with me.

5. The Exorcist III (1990)

If you haven’t seen The Exorcist III, we know what you’re thinking: “Really?!” Yes. In fact, this isn’t even an exorcist movie; it should’ve been titled Legion like the 1983 novel it’s based on. Alas writer-director William Peter Blatty was forced to use the title and do reshoots that added an exorcism in the climax. Still, this supernatural thriller which involves a serial killer back from the dead is far better than it has any right to be.

Following the character of Lt. Kinderman from the 1973 masterpiece, the middle-aged gumshoe is now played by George C. Scott instead of the late Lee J. Cobb, and he possesses Scott’s usual love for contrasts between the restrained whisper and a bombastic howl. He also makes a sympathetic, secular detective forced to face the horrors of Hell when a series of murders committed against Catholic priests appear to be the work of the Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif), a serial killer whom Kinderman sent to the chair more than 10 years ago.

Movies

The Exorcist III is a Classic and Better Than You Remember

By Jim Knipfel

Movies

The Exorcist Is Still the Scariest Movie Ever Made

By David Crow

Somehow the fiend—plus Kinderman’s long dead pal Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller)—appear to now be living in the same body of a John Doe kept in a mental asylum. With an unrelenting atmosphere of dread, palpable tension, and more of Blatty’s intellectual struggle with concepts of faith and evil, the film is more high-minded than its hacky title suggests. It also features one of the best jump scares in movie history.

4. Summer of Sam (1999)

The only movie on this list directly based on an actual serial killer’s crimes, Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam is a serious-minded joint. However, it’s only partially about the murders perpetrated by David Berkowitz, aka the “.44 Caliber Killer,” aka the Son of Sam. Rather the film focuses on the effects a serial killer has on the culture of New York City during the sweltering summer of 1977, and how it affects young lives trying to make it in the big city.

Influenced by Lee and his co-writers Michael Imperioli and Victor Colicchio’s memories of growing up in 1970s New York, the pic is a love letter to a grim moment in history when the city was about to explode with murders, blackouts, crime, and disco. All of this is digested from the vantages of Vinny (John Leguizamo), a philandering hairdresser guilt-ridden for cheating on his wife (Mira Sorvino), and his childhood pal Ritchie (Adrien Brody), who’s left the old neighborhood behind to join the fledgling punk rock scene.

With a greater interest in how a serial killer affects the culture and institutions of a city on edge than being a traditional crime drama, Summer of Sam is a bit of a forerunner to David Fincher’s far more polished Zodiac from a few years later. With heavy-handed dialogue and a plot too big for Lee to fully get his arms around, even at 142 minutes, Summer of Sam can be uneven and messy. But it has the sweaty incorrigibility of a long night out, and of revelries half remembered like from a fever dream.

3. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

The rare serial killer movie told entirely from the perspective of the killer, Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley is disarmingly creepy. Despite its glossy awards bait sheen, there is a cold-blooded streak that runs deep to the heart of the piece, likely due to Patricia Highsmith’s source 1955 novel. Starring Matt Damon fresh off his Good Will Hunting golden boy sheen, the film uses its casting to disorient and ultimately disturb.

Like Highsmith’s book, the film is not structured like a traditional thriller. It instead favors a detached ambivalence about its seemingly nebbish hero as he agrees to become an errand boy for the rich by traveling to 1950s Italy in order to retrieve a silver spoon cad (Jude Law) for his father. But the more time Tom Ripley (Damon) spends with Law’s Dickie Greenleaf, the more he grows envious of Dickie’s lifestyle, his wealth and confidence, and maybe even his affection for socialite Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow). There is a subtle—too subtle due to ‘90s Hollywood conventions—homoerotic undercurrent throughout the film as Ripley slowly works up the courage to take his first life. It won’t be his last.

Movies

Knives Out: When Murder Makes You a Better Person

By Natalie Zutter

Movies

Seven: The Brilliance of David Fincher’s Chase Scene

By Ryan Lambie

Highsmith wound up publishing four subsequent sequels to The Talented Mr. Ripley, but unfortunately no more were made with Damon. Perhaps because this was too unsettling for an ongoing franchise.

2. Seven (1995)

While watching David Fincher’s masterful Seven, the thing that immediately stands out is the oppressive nihilism that permeates throughout. There were decades of neo noir before this detective yarn about the hunt for a serial killer, but none demonstrated such an overbearing sense of despair before the opening credits were even concluded. And perhaps what makes it unshakable is how welcoming the film is toward bleakness; it succumbs long before the gut-punch finale.

Telling the story of an old cop days from retirement (Morgan Freeman) and a hotheaded rookie detective (Brad Pitt), Andrew Kevin Walker’s script has an economy of pace that still impresses despite its cynicism. Very quickly one murder becomes two, then three, and soon four. Yet none of the atrocities are reveled in by Fincher’s blocking; they’re off-screen mutilations which leave psychic damage on his two leads and, eventually, us. The deaths also quickly establish a pattern that their serial killer is targeting seven souls, each intended to embody one of the seven deadly sins.

The movie is a classic now for its climax where the killer “John Doe” (a reptilian Kevin Spacey) turns himself in and leads the cops into the darkest pit, but it’s the entire package that makes this one linger more than 25 years later. At the end of the film, Somerset quotes Hemingway by saying, “‘The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.’ I agree with the second part.” I’m not convinced his film does.

1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

As the film that kick-started the idea that serial killers could create their own film genre, The Silence of the Lambs still remains the best of its kind. Blessedly unaware that it was creating conventions for countless copycats, the film tells its psychological drama with simplicity and clarity. Whereas other films on this list bask in their bleakness, there is a dogged optimism and even perverse warmth to this Jonathan Demme adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Silence of the Lambs novel. And that’s of course largely attributable to the casting of Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

As Dr. Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins is of course monumental. It’s a performance that turned a quinquagenarian into an overnight movie star, and became Hopkins’ calling card as he returned to the not-so-good doctor’s well one too many times. Still, he’s undeniably enthralling as Hannibal, a cannibal psychologist with superhuman powers of observation and mental menace. Even so, Foster is often overlooked by critics for her own contributions as the FBI trainee who’s proverbially fed to the incarcerated Lecter—a pretty face to get the serial killer to consult pro bono on the crimes of another mass murderer. It’s just one more example of casual sexism faced by Clarice that gives Foster as much to play as Hopkins.

Culture

David Fincher’s Zodiac: The Movie That Never Ended

By Don Kaye

Movies

The Little Things Ending Explained

By David Crow

Surrounded by the slights and prejudices of men—be they in law enforcement or straight jackets—Clarice is constantly underestimated. She finds an intellectual rapport with Hannibal, but she pulls herself out of the darkest night, and the screaming of the lambs, without assistance. Her perseverance matched by Hannibal’s darkly seductive qualities is the juxtaposition that makes Silence of the Lambs one of the finest films of its decade.

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writing-frenzy · 3 years

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Airplane Crossing Over Plots~

Like it says on the tin, these were ideas I had for crossovers involving our fav writer~ (EDIT: Thank you @guiltycorp for inspiring this a bit XD)

Now, I’ve mentioned before, with Airplane choosing the go home option, he ends up still with a golden core in all this mess but he needs to cultivate his body really carefully because of it. (come on, he put in all the time and effort to be an immortal master, he should be able to still have his bad ass skills; not to mention with it being a soul thing, because a golden core is just as spiritual as it is physical, so he will definitely still have it.)

So, sealing his core and having his Nascent Soul outside his body to relieve some of the pressure on it, (having it look like a little chibi SQH that usually hangs out in hoodie pockets or hiding in Airplane’s hair with an aura of disguise around it), Airplane has to go and actually work out, which isn’t too much of a hardship for him at least, seeing as he’s had years to get into a routine and survival instincts kicking in to help him out there.

And, he may have actually started taking school seriously again, actually applying himself, maybe even getting an online accounting job to help supply his income. When he’s steady with that, he finishes PIDW the way he had been leading up to, the ending that makes the most sense and satisfices the writer the most (and if it gives him some closure, he isn’t saying anything about that.) Now that he is finally free from PIDW, and has college and work to worry about, he writes whenever he damn well pleases, and whatever he wants to fuck what anyone says.

(He might or might not write some absolutely filthy porn whenever the mood hits him, and cackles how his fans both greedily read it and cry because his newer works are so tragic, even if they have happy endings at times. Yes, Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky is a porn writer, but first and foremost is he an angst writer more~ His fan’s tears and cries just make him stronger kind of writer~)

(I just honestly want Airplane to write what he wants to now, that is one of the biggest motives behind all this honestly)

So, we have the set up :D let’s get to what we can cross over here~

First Up: ~Cutivation Group Chat~

Come on, how can one resist this? Plopping good old Airplane into this wild ride is one of the few things that makes me so happy in life. The thought of it makes me grin, especially since it can go two ways in my opinion~

First way: Airplane replaces Song Shuhang; like, just seeing Airplane, who was an Immortal Master and Teacher in those situations would be so funny, yet intriguing as well to see how he handles it, because you know he’ll be able to, just in ways no one ever expects. (Besides, that werid luck of Shuhang’s would be perfect for him, tho he won’t seek death like the other would~ :D Airplane still has a lovely sense of self-preservation~)

Second way: Airplane is one of Song Shuhang’s roommates. (for this, I’m going to say their Dorm was big enough for five peeps, because I want Airplane to have more friends damn-it.) Just... the imagery of the two neutral disasters getting into so much mayhem and hijinxs together, giving Song Shuhang not only a friend/brother in arms he can always depend and rely on, but also a steady source for learning and cultivation as well :D

(Also, Airplane and Gou Moumou being writer friends, the two of them able to bounce ideas on to each other (oh god, now you have inspired me, how dare you make me write this./hahahaha, you know you want too/ bitch turnabout is fair play/ ah fuck.) also: just the image of Airplane meeting Senior White and being completely unaffected because not only is his survival instincts going in overdrive, but also:

Airplane: ? He’s not my type.

Everyone: *jaws dropped*

:D Anyways~

Second Idea: Card Room (Rebirth)

Now First, for those who don’t know Card Room (Rebirth), this is an action/survival/mystery thriller BL Unlimited Flow type of novel; it follows one Xiao Lou, a medical professor who specializes with examining the dead, and his journeys through multiple rooms after having died in reality, the difficulty of each of these rooms measured with Playing Cards from 2 to K and with different types of rooms being sorted by their suits of Hearts (Mystery), Diamonds (Puzzle), Spade (Survival), Club (Luck/Money). The Goal of the story is to beat all the rooms and return back to the world of the living once more. To aid in this, people can get special cards to help them fight/ take care of their health/ or even just daily life essentials to be able to actually get through places.

So... this means after getting all used to living once more and getting into his grove in the modern world... Airplane unfortunately kicks the bucket, yet again! Thing is, this time it happened after he played a card game with some of his roommates, I’m going to say poker, and they were betting who would do what chores. Aiplane managed to make out pretty well, and was pleased with it, so was very much bummed when he ended up dying yet again. He goes through the room, some by the skin of his teeth, but with his cultivation abilities still usable (can’t stop something on a soul level here) he gets by okay. Though, all his cards either deal with writing, supplies, and the rare cultivation one at times.

He gets by at least.

Now, because this series gives me some emotions, here is one thing I will say: Airplane and Liu Ying end up partnering up and break through together, because damn it, Liu Qiao and her sis deserve some damn happiness ;-; Maybe Airplane and Liu Ying meet by chance, Airplane impressed by the young woman’s intelligence and Liu Ying can in turn be grateful for Airplane’s resourcefulness. Maybe even include the original girl that Liu Ying teamed up with, So we have three people already in your team to survive! (because surviving the rooms 2-4 is already damn amazing considering how hellish they get :D )

This is a fun crossover for me to imagine honestly, because it would be perfect to showcase Airplane’s skills in logic, reasoning, and pure survival our boy is known for; let that resourceful and logistic riddled mind out to play as he fights to get the fuck out of this world, even if The City of the Moon is beautiful and all.

:D So, those were the ideas I would like to really see, but here is some more for anyone curious:

Honorable Mentions: These are ones I would love to see Airplane accidently going into, and just going yikes, or nope! or even ‘Really?’

Lord of End of World:

... This story, it concerns me greatly; I like the worldbuilding, even has a few really cool girls in it, and I find the protagonist rather curious (to an extent, blackened Gary Stu that he is...) but does it make me cringe at times with the underage theme to it; it’s part of their cultivation and all, but god damn does the way this story push some of it really sqink me out, I had to drop it because it made me so uncomfortable, so just a heads up there. this is one of those stories that makes me want to write spite fiction, but also make me cringe at the thought of remembering it at times.

Anyways, so, how it boils down to it is that this poor guy, known as the Young Master of the Unground Palace, was abused in all the ways one can practically be abused, just so their Master can get stronger themselves by forming the perfect cauldron to absorb, but who manages to kill their master only to die as well. He ends up transmigrating into Gong Lixin, a 16 year old wealthy young master about a year (I believe) before the apocalypse happens... (Like I said, I have so many damn issues with this damn story, I cry.)

Just, on one hand, imagining Airplane in this world also makes me laugh (and maybe hope), because maybe here Gong Lixin could actually learn a cultivation style thats not only suited to him, but also doesn’t need him to dual cultivate all the time and rely on cauldrons (maybe get some needed therapy as well, Airplane knows some peeps; I can dream~), he can have a stable, reliable teacher here who will have no lust or attraction to him, Airplane helping the kid out at first because they look like they’re recovered from a really bad Qi-Devitation and the teacher in him can’t leave that alone. Airplane can also relate with the youth about transmigrating, maybe even telling him about his own time with that. (And Airplane can use his own cultivation to smack around any bitch looking sideways at his student, because fuck that shit, he is only seventeen and traumatized.) Just, turning this story into a cute mentor and discipleship and emotional healing would make me so happy.

Monster Inn Rectification Report

So, this is another Transmigration story~ MC transmigrates as a poor canon fodder son, who would have ended up in a vegetable state after being neglected in favor of the super amazing awesome adopted son. He then goes on to accidently inheriting a supernatural end for Monsters~

Like, this idea makes me grin evilly; though things will change up a bit, since both of Airplane’s parents have already split up and have their own families? Just, the Former An Ding Peak Lord running an Inn? :D Building it from ground up from bascially nothing? :D Oh, man, this man has run worse things, and even a Demon Kingdom, he got you~

Supernatural Movie Actor App

Its a BL about a guy with a split personality who does realistic (as in for real) horror movies through an app, to get his wish to come true.

This actually goes really good with my idea of Airplane wanting to be an actor and all, only to have his dreams crushed :D He doesn’t at first realize what he is getting into when he gets the app, thinking it might be a chance for him to still be able to do his dream, only, surprise, surprise, he ends up entering a real life Horror movie environment~ I’m really curious about what he would dream about~

I Have Medicine

:D Airplane and Gu Zuo interactions make me smile~ these two would be so fun, seeing them bounce off each other would be a treat.

So What if You’re Reborn

.... hahahahahaha, oh, the chaos that could be unleashed in this timeline would be glorious~

Running Away From the Hero

#SVSSS #Scum Villain Self Saving System #Scum Villain Self-Saving System #Airplane Shooting Toward the Sky #Shang Qinghua #Cultivation Group Chat #Card Room (Rebirth)

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dust-broken-berry · 3 years

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Part 5 is here and there will be another post for the rest, I'm to tired to right anything else right now so here-

Part 5: New Boss, Old Problems

Ink and everyone else were back at their base. Ink was repainting his arm, Dream was freaking out, and Cross was trying to calm Dream down and call Error at the same time.

“Ok, you’ll be here? Ok good, bye.”

Cross said, as he hung up the phone and turned towards Dream, who was still screaming and freaking out.

“WHAT WAS THAT!? WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?”

Cross still a bit nervous himself, hugged Dream to try and calm him down.

“It’s fine, see Ink’s fixing his arm and Error will be here in a minute, so just relax.”

“I KNOW! BUT WHY WOULD...H-How would!..”

“Dream think about it, and you’ll know how and why this happened.”

“I...know...I just...Blue…”

After Dream said that Error walked out of the antivoid with PJ(16 years old) followed behind. PJ saw Ink and screamed-

“GAH!? Mom what happened!?”

“Oh...nothing it’s fine”

“Ink you’re not fine”

Error exclaimed, sitting down next to Ink.

“Error I’m fixing it”

“Then let me help you”

“You d-don’t have to-”

“I want to”

And before Ink could say something else, Error started helping Ink with his arm. PJ walked over near Cross and Dream, and asked-

“Cross what happened?”

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you.”

“I’m not a kid Cross”

PJ grumbled, making Ink sigh and say-

“PJ...I’ll tell you what happened…”

Hearing how nervous Ink was saying that made PJ regret sounding so annoyed about not being told.

Ink took a deep breath and explained what happened earlier that day. PJ was surprising to say that least, saying-

“Geez mom, you killed Dust…”

“You said you weren’t a kid anymore.”

“PJ they were fighting, it’s just what happens. He didn’t do it on purpose”

Error added trying to make it make more sense to PJ, but all just nodded saying-

“I know, I know, but it’s still surprising.”

“Why?”

Ink asked, already knowing the answer. But still PJ answered-

“You’ve always fought with them but none of you have died.”

“Ya...I know, and you’re righ-”

“Your arm is fixed”

Error said, surprising Ink on how fast it took. He looked away from his arm and back at PJ.”

“Oh ok, Jammy we’ll talk about this later. Right now I need to talk with everyone ok?”

“...Ok”

Ink smiled standing up and gave PJ a little pat on the back before him and everyone one else went and sat down on the other side of the room to go and talk. They started to debate over why It picked Blue. PJ was listening and was confused at first, but when they started bringing up the same topics again, and again, he started to understand what they were talking about.

The others couldn seem to put the pieces together so after a while, PJ decided to start thinking about it.

“Ya...why Blue… From the sound of it, It is some kind of monster that can give magic...somehow. I doubt that Blue was his first, if he did it so easily without anyone noticing. It had to have done it before.

Weird…”

He kept listening until he heard them bring up what happened to Dust, and how he had encountered It before Blue.

“Maybe...Dust was his test. Or maybe there was some difference...or maybe it’s both. Well wait, if Dust was the test and then after for some reason Blue was chosen to get the actual power then something had to have been different, right? I mean from what little mom told me earlier, I think Dust died near Blue…

I think…”

PJ took out one of his notepads and began writing down the many different things he thought could have happened during the time that Dust was still alive, up til the point of his death.

There was a lot but eventually, he got to what Blue might’ve been feeling during that time. He thought it was a long shot but he was running out of ideas, fast.

Sadness...

Despair...

Uh….Anger? Maybe not at the moment, but I’ll keep it on there

Depression

Hurt...

“But which one could it be…”

PJ thought about it

“What if…”

“PJ is everything ok?”

Ink asked looking over at PaperJam, he responded-

“Oh ya mom”

“Ok”

Ink said, turning back around, PJ kept thinking.

“Hm...what if it’s none of these things, what if it’s something that means all of these… But what? What describes all the others.”

PJ kept thinking and he realised something.

“They’re all forms of...pain. That’s why It went after Blue...but there has to be another reason, right?..”

Again PJ thought and then he realised something else.

“If It somehow gave Dust magic, couldn’t he just transfer that magic to someone else?.. Since Dust already had It’s extra magic he could’ve just given it to Blue… It wouldn’t be the most ubsered thing to happen.... But in the end-

The main reason is pain…”

“PJ what are you mumbling about?”

Ink asked again-

“Um mom that thing you’re talking about.”

“Ya?”

“I think I have an idea about why that thing picked Blue…”

“Really?”

“Well I mean ya...maybe”

“We don’t have any leads...so if you want you can try and explain it”

Error said, PJ was a bit surprised but nodded and walked over saying-

“Um ya ok, sure”

So with that she tried to explain his reasoning as well as a 16 year old could (Luckily they understood it enough.). But then there was a voice-

“PJ was it?..”

Everyone turned around and saw It. Everyone got out their weapons, well everyone except PJ.

“Oh please I’m not gonna do anything now when you’re all just here, that would be stupid. I’m just here to congratulate the smart little monster that figured out what was going on before anyone else here…

It looked at PJ, and realised that he didn’t have any weapons out. He asked-

“Hm tell me eh...PJ why don’t you have your weapon or blaster or whatever it is you do.”

“DON’T TALK TO MY SON!”

Ink growled, Error turned and looked at PJ and said-

“PJ don’t answer that”

PJ just stood there scared with a normal number two pencil pointed at It. Both Ink and Error noticed how scared he was and wanted to attack It, he chuckled and said-

“Ha kill me now and another one will come and take my place, and I’m sure you don’t want that, now let the boy answer my question.”

“Why should I!”

Error screamed, again making It laugh again and said-

“Trust me when I say Error I’m everywhere at every time and slipping up this early can be bad for you. Besides what is the worst thing I can do in front of all of you?”

Error shook at the thought of It watching him...and Ink...and the rest of his family. He slowly, and hesitantly lowered his guard. It smiled saying-

“Good now then, tell me boy why no magic, no weapons?”

PJ, still scared doesn’t say anything.

“Come on boy, spit the words before I do for you.”

“O-Ok fine…”

PJ nervously said, It grinned then sayed.

“Good, now then the rest of you leave except for you two, and before you say no let me tell you it won’t end well for you if you do.”

With Error and Ink nodding in assurance the rest of the group hesitantly left. Ink asked-

“Why did you want them gone?..”

“I want the full story and I had a feeling that with them here, pointing weapons in my face. That I wouldn’t get it, and besides…”

It slowly walked in front of PJ and said-

“This may affect my future decisions in a good or bad way.”

“...PJ you sure you’re ok with this-”

“It’s fine dad I don’t want to put anyone in danger for a dumb reason like this.”

PJ said, trying to reassure Error. It smiled saying-

“Another smart move. Anyways you can go ahead and start, I’m as you monsters say I’m “all ears.””

“What, do you want a story?”

PJ snarkily said, It responded-

“If need be, but you’re telling me again “all ears”.”

“...Fine”

-Flash back 16 years-

“I’m just gonna tell you now what’s wrong with me, I...I don’t have magic…

Everyone thought I was normal, healthy, and all of that… But as I got older I didn’t start using magic, on accident or on purpose. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t do anything. For a while we thought that I had a weapon, but we tried every weapon but nothing worked, I just couldn’t do anything.

I was teased relentlessly by other kids and I still am… But that’s not the point

Anyways later we figured out that it was some magic skip...it only shows up a few times every generation…

...Hehe I guess I just got unlucky.

-Flash forward to now-

It smiled and said with malice in his voice-

“Well then I’m sorry for you, that is such a tragic story.”

“So? Is that what you wanted to hear? Some sad story? What was there to gain from this?”

PJ snarled, making It just smiled maliciously and cackled-

“Ah yes what gain from this? Trust me this information may come in handy later. Trust me when I say, I’ve gained a lot.”

“Is that it then?”

Ink said angrily, It shook his head and said-

“Almost I just have one more thing to say.”

“Ya, and what is that?”

Error growled similarly to Ink, and again It responded-

“There is one more reason I picked Blue, and you two are the only ones that know that reason. But then again, Blue can’t seem to remember. Of Course you two also know why that is too.”

Both Ink’s and Error’s faces went blank, they were shocked and in a way scared. Error asked nervously-

“How the fuck do you know about that?”

“Error, don’t be so foul mouthed in front of the boy.”

It said, as PJ just stood there confused. Not knowing what they were talking about. Ink angrily said-

“Don’t change the subject”

“Fine, oh fine, you want to know how hm? Let’s just say I’ve been around for a very, very, long time, and you guys didn’t. even. know. it. “

It said, making Error and Ink more uneasy. Error asked-

“Ok...what does that have to do with you figuring out what happened?”

“Remember when I said I have eyes everywhere. Back then I did too, and I saw you walking out a very...different Blue from a very special place.”

“How did you-”

“I also know what you did Ink, you were gone for two years with Blue, or at least that’s what you made him believe. Little did he know that you just messed with his mind.”

It said, cutting off Ink. Ink’s expression saddened, Error sighed and said-

“It was my fault he had to do that.”

“You both have equal blame for what happened to him.”

There was only silence after that, then It spoke again-

“Well that is all I am able to share with you for now, but I can guarantee you that we will meet again.”

And just as Ink and Error were about to attack, It was gone.

“Mom, dad…”

They both looked over at PJ nervously-

“What the hell did you do?..”

PJ said, with a look of horror on his face.

Meanwhile a few days later everything happened, Blue and ghost Dust were waiting at one of many meeting spots, this one being in a woodsy and secluded area of snowdin.

(Blue still had on Dust’s jacket and had a gray shirt on under it. He also had on black shorts, they were the same length as his old ones just different colors. His boots were like his shorts, same thing just different. They were dark brown, like more normal boots.)

Blue was nervous, even though Nightmare had been working with him on how to deal with everyone, he hadn’t actually had to yet. He nervously said-

“What if this goes horribly wrong? And I can’t lead a group, let alone one like this.”

“It will be fine, trust me.”

Dust said reassuringly, and even brought up-

“We all already made plan, so just stick mostly to that and it'll be fine.”

“Ya I know, for now we’re just going to try and find It…”

Dust sensing that Blue was still nervous said-

“Look Berry, there is no one right way to command a group, and there never will be. In the end you’re gonna just need to do it your way, ok?”

“Ya I do...thanks Dust”

Dust grinned, and scooted near Blue saying-

“Can Dust get a kiss cause he did good.~”

“Myehehehe why the fuck did you say it like that?”

Blue covered his mouth and Dust looked surprised. Blue slowly moved his hands away from his mouth.

“I didn’t mean to say that”

“Hahaha”

“Why are you laughing!?”

“I just thought that I would ever live to see the day that you of all monsters would say fuck.”

Dust said as he kept laughing, Blue just sat there grumply.

“Well you just lost your kiss.”

“Aw why”

“You know why”

“Oh come on Berry…”

“Hmpf! I already told you, you lost your privileges.”

“If you don’t give me one I’m just gonna take it~”

Dust said, as he pined Blue down to the bench they were sitting on. Blue yelped-

“Gah!?”

“Hehe see you’re so cute now~”

“D-Dust! Everyone will be here soon w-we can’t right now!”

“We’ll be lucky if they’re an hour late.”

“T-Then what about Nightmare!? I doubt-”

“He’s just like the others, and besides if he wanted to be on time he would’ve been here by now.”

Blue looked around, and confirmed that no one was near by.

“See no, one anywhere.”

“Hm...I’m still mad at you...but fine…”

Dust grinned and kissed Blue

(Sorry not writing this part, if you want it so bad ask.)

After that, an hour later.

“*Huff* Ok then you happy?”

Blue said, as he finished pulling up his pants. Dust chuckled-

“Well are you?”

Blue’s whole face went a light shade of blue.

“Erp!?”

“Hahahaha”

Blue again grumbled as they waited for everyone to show up and soon enough they did. Nightmare was the first one of the new arrivals to say something-

“Blue we’re gonna need to explain what’s going on to the others.”

“...Ok then good idea”

Blue said nervously as Blue, Dust, and Nightmare slowly explained the situation.

“So something made Blue some kinda...uh…”

Outer said a bit confused on how to word it, Blue just sighed and said-

“Outer...you don’t gotta try and be nice about it...It even told me that I was a supercharged freak of a monster.”

“No, no Blue it’s not that, I would never say that even if you gave me permission.”

“Anyways Nightmare, do you really expect us to just obey short stack over there?”

Horror said, snarkily followed by annoyed Dust saying-

“Yes he do-”

“Dust you don’t need to fight my battles but thanks.”

Blue said reassuringly, followed by Horror saying-

“Never know maybe he does, you odvissely can’t deal with any shit yourself.

“You want to really test that Horror?”

“Haha, do you?”

Horror said as he healed up his axe. Nightmare looked down at Outer and asked-

“Hm, Ima let this play out, Outer this time I would like to ask you to do the same.”

“Why?”

“I want to see how Blue handles this.”

“Ok…”

Outer said nervously as he watched the interesting display in front of him.

Blue then tripped Horror as he threw his axe, making Horror miss. Blue then spawned five sharp bones with a blue magic tint to them. Blue grinned a bit and said-

“See Horror? I can take care of myself, and I am smart enough to do so.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Horror said as his axe caim swinging back towards Blue, with six sharp bones with a blood red tint around it.

“...”

Blue reached his arm behind him and caught the axe. It and the bones were engulfed with blue magic as Horror started to look a bit nervous. Blue then growled-

“I am very sure about that Horror. Now then I hope you can get this attitude of yours in check, for you I hope you can.”

And with that Blue threw everything at a nearby tree, nearly breaking it into splinters. Horror was sweating nervously.

“Erk-!?”

Blue let go off Horror’s shirt dropping him on the ground. He then went over to the others with Dust congratulating him-

“Well, you handled that well Berry.”

“Thank you Dust”

“Dust is right, you handled that well. But I need to tell you something…”

Nightmare said making Blue a bit nervous, saying-

“Uh oh that’s normally not good…”

“Ya normally it’s not and it’s not good now either unfortunately.”

“Ok…”

Dust said, sharing Blue's nervousness. Nightmare continued-

“Well...it’s Ink...he wants to meet with you.”

Blue’s eyes then went empty and his expression blank. Dust sighed saying-

“Ya I thought that would happen, Berry look it’s fine y-”

“It’s not”

Blue snarled, again Dust tried to talk-

#dustberry #fanfic #undertale #errorink

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salt-warrior · 3 years

Text

WHEN EARTH TURNS TO ASHES

Masterlist

Chapter Eight: Incidents and Accidents

Rain poured outside of the school building, despite the fact that it was snowing back in Colorado. Olympia's weather was much more constant— remaining at a cool, rainy temperature year-round. Kai couldn't imagine living in a place where seeing the sun was an uncommon treasure. He needed sunshine almost as much as he needed air, but maybe that was just because he's grown up in constant sunshine.

The door to the principal's office swung open, and out stepped a large, smiling man resembling the Wolf on his door placard. Kai turned wary; he didn't much fancy going into a principal's office after all the time's he'd spent in his own.

It was always Thorne, coming up with a stupid plan and getting them sent to the principal. Kai tried fruitlessly to convince him to stop, but in the end they would always be back up in front of Principal Konn.

"Kaito Crown?" The man's voice came out as something close to a growl. "I'm Alpha Strom." Kai bit back laughter as the principal extended his hand politely— the things that some hippies did. Kai shook the man's hand, and found that he had a pleasantly business-like firm handshake. It reminded Kai of his father.

"You can just call me Kai," Kai said. "Only my dad ever calls me that; and my old school principal."

A bark of laughter split the air, and the two grinned. "I take it you don't have fond feelings for your late principal, then?"

"No, I got along with him fine. He and my father were childhood friends, and he was like another parent to me." Kai thought back on Torin. He was a kind, wise man. He had been there for Kai every moment after his mother had died. "My friend was a major troublemaker, though, so I always had to go and talk with Principal Konn."

"Ah, I see how it is then." Principal Strom winked, gesturing for Kai to enter his office. "Come in and take a seat. I imagine that for whatever reason you're here, it's important."

"You have no idea," Kai muttered. He had planned what he was going to ask the Principal on his five hour flight to Olympia. He had brainstormed about it as he had tried to sleep in his hotel. He had thought about Selene, and how much she was counting on him— or maybe Kai was just counting on himself for Selene.

Strom walked around his large, beat-up desk to sit in a high-backed chair. The seating arrangement looked uncomfortable on his large frame, even though it would have drowned Kai. The room was plain, barren. The only decoration was a flag with the wolf mascot stamped across and the bold letters of OHS. "What would you like to discuss with me today then, Mr. Crown."

"Selene Linh." Kai sat straight up in his chair, mirroring the man across from him. His father had taught him that presenting your best self was one's greatest asset in getting a business deal; Kai hoped that the same applied to gleaning information from an old High School principal.

"She went here about two years back, before–"

"Before she ran away." Principal Strom rubbed two fingers against the bridge of his nose. "I remember Selene. A brilliant girl with a tragic story."

Kai shivered at Strom's words. He didn't appear to hate the girl judging by his demeanor, but he may have just been good with facial masks. "Yes, you see, Selene recently got into a bad car accident. She lost part of her left leg and has severe nerve damage. I just– I'm trying to find someone who cares for her."

The principal stared at Kai, his dark eyes piercing. He was a kind man, but not one to be messed with either. "You may have a hard time with that," Strom said. "Before she ran away, she was constantly bullied, though she never admitted it— too proud to admit. All sorts of rumors were spread about her, and no one ever knew whether or not they were true."

"Were they about how she killed her sister?" Kai asked, his burning curiosity getting the better of him. There was something mysterious about the young girl's death. Something covered up and suspicious.

Principal Strom's face revealed nothing, but his hitched breath showed that the question was shocking. "Yes, they were about Peony Linh."

Kai sat forward in his seat. "How exactly did Peony Linh die? Do you know?"

"No one knows. No one except for the family— they were under strict orders to keep things related to Selene under the wraps until the final adoption papers were completed." Principal Strom looked grave. "Selene and Peony went somewhere; Selene came back alone. No one talked about Peony after that, except for the rumors that spread about Selene having killed her; most of them spread by Pearl Linh."

"Do you think that Selene killed Peony Linh?" Kai asked urgently.

"Personally?" Strom shook his head. "Selene was a fierce girl. I knew her well. But I do believe that she would never have harmed Peony— at least not intentionally."

"Did Selene have a violent past?" Kai cringed as the words slipped out of his mouth. He felt guilty for digging into Selene's past, but he needed to know what was going on. He needed to know her.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to tell you anything about Selene," Principal Strom looked uncomfortable. "But I am willing to tell you what I do know, as long as it's just between the two of us."

Kai nodded fervently.

"Okay, so I don't know much, except for the basics. Her Social Service worker, Liam Kinney, worked his butt off to help her, but trouble always followed Selene. The family before the Linh's, they had wanted to adopt Selene as well, but then there was an incident. I don't know what happened," Strom put his palms flat against the table, cutting Kai off before he could ask. "Kinney kept things tied up very tightly. I would give you his contact information, but I lost track of him about a year ago."

"Like I said, Selene was a kind girl, but dark things always seemed to follow her. Not many people would be willing to tell you much about her; especially not the Linh's. I can, however give you one person who might give you your best shot." Strom pulled out a piece of paper and began to write something down.

"Who would that be?" Kai asked, feeling despondent. He had hoped for more than 'she has a dark past' and 'I can't give you much information.' He wanted answers.

Strom paused from his writing. "Selene's friend. Well, someone who was once her friend." Strom glanced at his computer, clicking a few tabs and keys before he finished his note.

"Here," Strom said, handing Kai the paper. It had an address, a phone number, and a name written in barely legible writing. "She stayed here local since graduating. She was a star pupil, but and outsider; like Selene."

"Thank you for all of your help," Kai stood, and extended a hand to Strom. They shook, and Strom had a melancholy glint to his dark eyes.

"I do hope you can do something for Selene. I always– I wish that I could have done more for her." Strom patted Kai on the back. "I knew that she was being bullied, and I did nothing. I knew that she was drowning, and never did I throw her a life raft. I hope that perhaps you'll be able to accomplish what I could not."

A burning sensation filled Kai's chest. He simply nodded his head, and walked away before he had to look at more of this guilt in the old man's face.

Selene may have caused a great amount of anger and heartbreak, but she caused just as much guilt and sorrow. She was a burning pathway of destruction and loss. She was a magnet for bad luck, but also for people. She was a forest fire: calamitous and deadly, but impossible to ignore. She was a fallen angel, causing the Heavens to weep at her downfall and Hell scorn the beauteous creature in fear of her being the greatest of them all.

Kai read the note again, launching the coordinates into his phone. He would figure out what happened. He would track down Liam Kinney if he had to. But for now, he would talk to Cress Darnel.

***

"Why?" Selene's words were harsh and bitter. "I thought you were my friend. I trusted you." Betrayal twisted her words into a comfortless whisper.

Cress's big blue eyes widened, and Selene would have felt guilty under different circumstances. "You know that I didn't do it— I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't think–" Selene choked on her words. "We– I– she was my sister. I loved her. You know that."

Selene had cornered Crescent after class, needing to speak to her one last time. She had to know if the betrayal was an act of free will or forced. She wanted nothing more than to believe that Cress didn't mean it. The look in her best friend's eyes, however, was answer enough.

"I thought I did." Cress squeaked. Her eyes were brighter than usual. "But Pearl, she told me the truth. She told me, and now the whole thing makes sense. This wasn't even the first time you've killed someone." Cress looked sick as she said the words. "Ran Kesley–"

"Don't," Selene spat the words like fire. "Don't you dare. That was–"

"An accident?" Cress cut through, her voice rising with nerves and mockery. "You and I both know that an accident like that doesn't just reoccur. You planned it all. You're a freak; a sociopath. Do you even know what love is?"

Selene flinched as if Cress had caused her physical pain. It wasn't the first time she had heard the words, but hearing them come from her best friend made then sting more than they had coming from Adri or Pearl or even Mr. Kesley.

Cress's face softened, but less out of sympathy than horror and sadness. "You tore apart families, Selene. You may not have intended it to happen, but you still caused it. You– you–" Cress covered her eyes with her small, delicate fingers.

"I don't even know why you stay here." Cress murmured, her posture hardening. "No one wants you." Cress hissed. Selene had never heard such unkind words come from the girl. Cress had always been so sweet; now she was ice and a cruel knife in the back.

Bile filmed in Selene's mouth. There were so many things that she wanted to say. Thousands of comebacks, dozens of betrayals; but nothing came.

"Me neither."

#when earth turns to ashes #wetta #a burning world #marissa meyer #tlc #kaider fanfiction #tlc fanfiction #kaider #linh cinder #selene blackburn #prince kai #emperor kai #the lunar chronicles #lunar chronicles #carswell thorne #cress darnel #konn torin #salt warrior stories

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aikatxt · 4 years

Text

Letters Recovered From The Stydalous House Ruins

My dear Almira,

I miss you terribly now that you’re left Sobourn, but I am happy to know that your new home is just what Jackie and Luis needed to start feeling better. Though I must express my concerns: will you not be lonely out there? It is ever so far from the rest of us. A whole day’s trip away, in fact! But it is a trip I will make gladly and constantly if only you wish for it.

Tell me about the house. I’ve heard the stories, you know. Was it in such a state of disrepair that the slightest touch might send the whole thing tumbling down? Or was it exaggerated, as Henry’s mother tends to do? Such a grand house sold for so little, will you three really be alright fixing it up yourself? If only I could be there with you, in that house, that I might do the weary work that would toughen your hands so that you may rest and look after your siblings.

Things are largely the same around here. The street is still buzzing with the news, of course, no matter the time that passes. What your parents had done… Such horrible things done by such kind looking people. I am glad you trusted me with the truth, so that I may help you escape them. It is not without its consequences: no one will speak to me in anything louder than a whisper, and no friend stays by my side as the dreadful attention sweeps over me.

Promise me that you’ll write to me everyday. I know I made you promise before you left, but promise me one more time. You have always been my reason for carrying on despite the pain of things, and I need you more than ever. Your words, if I cannot have you in my arms. Take care and hope that we meet again soon.

Ever yours,

Elizabeth

Darling Almira,

Oh, the things I heard of Stydalous House! Surely there is no place on Earth more dreadful, I had thought, but your words have swayed my opinion. The lovely gardens, with flowers as far as the eye can see, the high walls and arches of the largest rooms, the chandeliers draped in silver; what I would give to see it all with you. I do hope you’re not catching a cold, however. It is still humid outside, and the cold winds won’t be upon us for another few months. I’ve sent over a shawl to keep you warm, do let me know when you get it. And make sure to drink plenty of tea, you and Jackie and Luis, it will do none of you good to be pale and weak after you’ve just moved into a new house. Let me know if there is anything I can do. You know you can ask me for anything.

In regards to your concerns: I will be fine. You know me, Almira. Small as I am, there is much I can hold on my shoulders. Don’t worry over me when you’re still settling in to the house. All I have to do is wait out the storm, and though I may be alone in it, I keep your letters close to my heart.

I’ll look into the old Stydalous couple as well. Surely some of the older women around here remember what happened to them. I doubt it will be anything bad, though, so don’t fret. They were old, and their son was a gambler; worse things have happened around here.

Send Jackie and Luis my love. Know that you hold most of it.

Love, always,

Elizabeth

Almira, my sweetest,

I apologize for the brief absence of my letters. I have done as you asked, searched for answers to your questions, and the story I’ve pieced together is a strange one. Most people who remember what happened have conflicting recollections. Newspaper archives repeat the same thing over and over again. And no one will speak to me for a few days after I ask them about the Stydalous family.

Here is what I know: 15 or so years ago, there was a large fire that destroyed the gardens farthest away from the house. Donny, their son, had been accused of stealing winnings and cheating people out of their money. Two men whom he gambled with often confronted him at the edge of their estate, and a mistaken toss of a match set the place up in flames. Donny had tried to put out the fire to save his mother’s gladiolus flowers, but it was an exceptionally dry summer, and so the fire spread and burned him badly.

Mrs. Stydalous had to break up a fight between Mr. Stydalous and Donny. Mr. Stydalous had knocked her back and she had hit her head on the corner of a table. She passed away in the hospital two days later. Donny had blamed his father for the death, publicly accusing him of murder many times as his father drank himself into a stupor. This is where things get confusing: many people speculate that they fought again in the house, tearing it apart. Some people say Donny killed his father in a fit of rage and then hung himself in parlour. Others say Mr. Stydalous killed Donny with a broken bottle of liquor, then drowned himself in grief. Yet others say that one had survived the fight and disposed of the body before disappearing.

The papers cover this story for a few months. First, with the death of Mrs. Stydalous, which was described as a “tragic accident”. Then, with the trouble the drunk Mr. Stydalous would get into, as well as the fights Donny found himself in when the people he gambled with came after him for money. The last few papers covering the Stydalous family say nothing of what happened to the two. Just that the house had been cleared out following the suspected deaths or disappearances of Mr. Stydalous and Donny. And thus the story ends.

It’s a rather disastrous family, and the tragedy was in everyone’s mind back then. No one has lived in the Stydalous house since, fearing any ghosts they might find there. There are no ghosts, of course. I know you worry about the strangest things, but do not worry about ghosts. The dead have nothing more to do to the living, and so they move on. There are no ghosts for afterlife is much too alluring for the dead to resist.

Try not to mention any of this to Jackie and Luis. I saw how terrible Jackie’s nightmares got at the height of it all. I do hope she’s sleeping better now that neither of your parents can get to you. I’ve sent some tea that Grandmother Ylvia made for you; it’s meant to be calming and soothe any pains in the body. Let me know if you need anything, and I’ll send it over right away. And if you need me there with you, just tell me and I’ll go.

In regards to you last letter: the house is old. It hasn’t been in a good condition for nearly two decades. I’m not surprised to hear that there have been strange noises and drafty rooms; I doubt anyone did a good job fixing up enough of the rooms to make it habitable for you. Keep Luis close, he’s always been a curious one, wandering away just to get a closer look at something we wo[...]

[The end of this letter has been too damaged to read. There was likely a page or two left of Elizabeth’s reply.]

Beloved Almira,

I must admit, your last letter caused me a great deal of concern. If it is affecting your sleep so much, I am more than willing to go to you so that you do not have to sleep alone. You and the kids could even come to stay with me, I have more than enough room here. How desperately I wish to hold you in my arms and soothe your fears; though we are apart, never forget that you carry a piece of me with you.

Jackie is young enough to be easily frightened, and old enough to understand what happened to her. Now that she is in a place where she can be safe, it’s likely that she is finally allowing herself to feel everything she shut away while with your parents. Her cryptic remarks are strange, but children have vivid imaginations we can’t keep up with. Jackie is still your little sister. She loves you dearly and looks up to you. She would never hurt you.

Luis is an explorer, you know that. I’m not surprised to hear that he’s been getting himself stuck in places he has no business being. How did he end up with his arm stuck in a vent? Never a boring day with that one, I see.

From what you’ve told me, you’ve been working too hard to take care of them, and are not taking care of yourself. Take a few days to rest. Walk the gardens and tell me about it. Curl up by the fire and read the books you treasure so dearly. You’ve only just found your footing after your parents ran away, let yourself heal from that first. I’m sure the dreams will stop once you let go of some of that stress.

Take care darling,

Elizabeth

Almira,

Love, please write to me. I’ve been so worried since your last letter (from two months ago). Stydalous House is not a good place for any of you. For anyone. Please, love, come back to me. I will keep you safe in my home. I will look after your siblings with you. I will protect you all from the pity of the others.

Had I heard this from any other, I would not have believed them. But it is from you, and so I trust in your words. Whatever is there with you three wants to cause you harm. It is already causing you harm. No child says that “the weeping wi[...]

[...] she has never been anything but bright, but whatever resides in Stydalous house with you has sunken into her. I can only pray that it doesn’t get you as well. Living shadows that walk the walls a[...]

[...]that is not the kind of things a child says. And if you cannot find Luis soon, I fear that we may never find him at all. Almira, keep with the light, the fire, and don’t listen to what the house tells you.

Please, my dear, write to me. Let me know you are still here. Please.

Elizabeth.

[Sections of this letter have been damaged, most likely by water, though some of the coloring around the edges suggest that it was blood, instead. Any letters that may have existed between this one and the one before it are lost.]

Alimra,

I will be with you soon. I love you.

Elizabeth.

[This is the shortest letter of the bunch. The rest of the paper has been torn away and some of the ink has been smudged, as though touched by tears. These are the only letters found in the ruins, from one Elizabeth addressing the last owner of Stydalous house, Almira.]

#horror #lgbt fiction #Sapphic #short story #epistolary #prose #cw: death #cw: murder #cw: alcohol #im gonna write a companion piece in the form of almira's diary entries be ready :)

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marjansmarwani · 4 years

Text

Who You Gonna Call?

A Ghost Hunting AU - 4.9k

[Read on Ao3]

A charity event brings together the two most notorious internet ghost hunting teams: Marjan and TK of the borderline irreverent Spirit Squad and Paul and Carlos of the historically accurate Paranormal Investigators. Their task: investigate Austin’s notoriously haunted Littlefield House. The twist: they have to swap partners for the night to do so. It should be entertaining, if nothing else.

Or, The Ghost Hunting AU literally no one asked for.

I didn’t write anything for Halloween because I’ve been busy with work and have a few other projects going on, but I did write this ghost hunting AU back in May. I figured I would share it here again because it definitely has the spooky vibes, plus some excellent TK & Marjan and Paul & Carlos friendships (plus flirting Tarlos!). Some of you may have seen this the first time around, but it was a while ago so who knows! Either way, I hope you enjoy! 👻

Oh, and Happy Halloween! 👻🎃

--------

A chorus of swearing greeted Grace as she unlocked her front door. She entered the kitchen to find her husband messing around with the Keurig, which was apparently the subject of his ire. She shook her head fondly and crossed the kitchen to wrap her arms around his waist, “Struggling there, my love?”

Judd relaxed ever so slightly at her touch, but didn’t back down, “The goddamn thing never works for me! I don’t understand why we can’t just have a regular coffee maker instead of this infernal thing.”

Grace scoffed, “We have that because it was a Christmas present from my parents, and because you broke the coffee maker, remember?”

Judd deflated a bit at this, but continued his grumbling, “I still think it’s too complicated. I just want some coffee and it’s messing with me I swear!”

Grace leaned around him and reached around the back to flip the power switch. The machine beeped and began to brew the pod Judd had put in the chamber. Judd turned to face her, face sheepish, “Have I told you lately how wonderful and talented you are?” he asked.

Grace laughed and leaned into him, “You may have yesterday, but it’s always good to hear. Now, what’s up with you that’s got you so flustered you can’t figure out a simple machine?”

Judd’s scowl returned, “I have that job tonight, and I’m not looking forward to it.”

Grace frowned, “The charity one? Why are you upset about that?”

“Because it’s a bunch of kids playing ghost hunters. They’re ‘youtube people,’ I’m sure they're going to think they’re too good for this and be whiny and just annoying kids in general.”

Grace burst out laughing and Judd looked at her, bewildered, “What’s so funny?” he demanded.

“I’m sorry Judd, I just didn’t realize I had married a Scooby-Doo villain. You do hear yourself, right? You’re about one rubber mask away from “you meddling kids” and frankly, I think it’s adorable.”

Judd tried to scowl, but he couldn’t hide pleasure that his wife’s laughter brought him. “Just you wait,” he told her, “they are going to be ridiculous and needy and probably get themselves into all sorts of trouble, and it’s going to be up to me to save their asses.”

Grace nodded with mock sympathy, “Well, I guess you’d better go before you’re late,” she said handing him the travel mug now filled with coffee, “you wouldn’t want to keep those meddling kids waiting.”

Judd shook his head as he leaned down to give his wife a kiss, “You’re a menace.”

“But you love me anyway.”

“That I do.”

---------

“We’re here at the hauntingly historical Littlefield House on UT’s campus. The house was--”

“Cut!” Marjan called, looking up from her camera. She raised an eyebrow at her partner, “Hauntingly historical? Really TK?”

“It’s alliteration, Marj. It’s good storytelling technique!”

“It’s cheesy is what it is. Why don’t you try it again without the cheese factor, or I can do the intro.”

“You did the intro last episode, we rotate these things Marjan.”

“But this is a special episode outside of our regular season, so our usual rules don’t apply.”

“You’re only saying that because you like the spotlight.”

“No, I’m saying that because you should give the people what they want!”

“That hurts, Marj.”

Marjan’s retort was interrupted by the appearance of two men weighed down by bags of equipment approaching the house. “Hello,” the taller of the two shouted as they grew closer, “you must be the Spirit Squad, TK and Marjan, right?”

The pair nodded and walked forward, intercepting the pair halfway down the front walk. “And you must be Carlos and Paul; the Paranormal Investigators. It’s good to meet you both,” TK said, reaching out to shake both their hands.

“The P.I.s for short,” Paul reminded him, returning his greeting.

There was a flurry of handshakes and polite greetings before they all turned to look at the building in front of them.

“Looks pretty imposing,” Paul noted, “are we sure there’s only one ghost in that whole place?”

Marjan shrugged, “Only one agoraphobic mental patient at least. Who’s to say what else?”

They all studied the house, a stately victorian, for a few more silent moments.

“Well,” said Carlos, breaking the silence, “shall we?”

TK gave an exaggerated arm flourish and a beaming smile, “After you.”

Paul and Carlos continued their journey up the walk and TK turned to join them, but paused when he saw Marjan shaking her head at him exasperatedly, “Two minutes and you’ve already started with the flirting,” she said mournfully, “Tonight is going to last forever, isn’t?”

“Lay off Marj, have you seen him? How could I not?”

Marjan took a deep sigh and looked up to the sky in exasperation, “What did I do wrong in a past life to get stuck with you?”

TK rolled his eyes, “Don’t even start, you know you love me.”

“Don’t get too cocky Casanova. There are plenty of windows in this place, a tragic accident might just happen.”

“You’d miss me.”

“But think about the peace and quiet I could have.”

---------

Judd sipped his coffee as he watched the 4 kids enter the property. He was so not looking forward to this. He understood why the university was hosting this; he just didn’t know why he had to be the one in charge of them. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he told Grace how much he was dreading tonight. He just knew this was going to be a long, pointless night. As they cleared the entrance and began looking around he heaved a weary sigh and set his mug down on top of the piano he had been leaning on and walked over to them.

“Welcome to the Littlefield House,” he said with what he hoped was a passable imitation of enthusiasm - or at least tolerance. “My name is Judd Ryder, head engineer for UT’s campus. I’ll be your contact tonight. If you have any questions I’ll try to do my best to answer them and I’m going to go over some ground rules before you get started. Any questions so far?”

The small group all shook their heads and Judd carried on, “Good. Rule number 1 - don’t touch anything you don’t need to. Everything in this home is old, valuable, and much of it was donated by some of the University’s very generous benefactors. You break it, you buy it. Rule 2: don't do anything stupid. I'm not looking to spend tonight pulling anyone out of a hole or anything of the kind. Follow those two rules and we'll get along just fine. Any questions?"

Carlos nodded, “Mr. Ryder,” he asked, “Would you mind giving us a little background on the house and it’s supposed haunting?”

Judd looked at him incredulously, “On camera?”

Carlos nodded patiently, “That is how we tell our stories sir. I think our viewers would appreciate having it come from an expert - it makes it all seem more reliable. I’m sure as a highly respected employee of the University you must have some first-hand knowledge of the history, and may have seen some of the instances first hand. Your input would be invaluable.

Judd straightened, “Well,” he began, “I suppose that I would be uniquely qualified.”

Carlos smiled warmly, “Excellent. Let’s get it set up.”

Judd was busy flattening out the wrinkles in his shirt; he didn’t notice the fist bump that Carlos and Paul subtly exchanged or the look that passed between TK and Marjan.

-----------

“The Littlefield house was built in 1893 for Civil War veteran George Littlefield,” Judd began, “at the time of its construction it cost $50,000 dollars to build. As I’m sure you can imagine, it would cost a pretty penny more to build today.”

“Three guesses which side he was on,” Paul muttered and Carlos swatted at him, motioning at Judd to continue.

“Major Littlefield even went as far as to have a Himilayan Cedar imported and planted on the property. It is still standing today and is one of the most distinctive trees on campus. You can see it through that window right there,” he said gesturing towards the window to their left, “When his wife Alice Littlefield died in 1935, she donated the house and its property to the University, or which she and her husband had always been big supporters. These days the ground floor has been maintained in its former glory for hosting events and tours, while the second floor houses offices.”

“What about the third floor?” TK asked from off-camera. It looks like there are turrets from the outside, are those accessible.

Judd looked thoughtful, “I think they might be used for storage. To tell you the truth, no one really goes up that far much. It gets real hot up there on those upper floors.”

“Can you tell us more about the spirit that supposedly resides here and the activity that people have witnessed?” Marjan prompted.

Judd nodded, “The ghost is said to be that of Alice Littlefield, the widow of Major Littlefield. People say that she still haunts this house as she never really left it even in life. Some say that she was agoraphobic, others say that her husband kept her locked in the attic. No one knows for sure, but everyone agrees that she didn’t get out much and that’s probably why she is still here.”

“What kind of experiences have people reported?”

Judd scoffed lightly, “people say that they have seen a ghostly figure walking past the windows at night or wandering the grounds. A few even claim they’ve heard the piano playing when there was no one there to play it.”

“To clarify, you mean this piano, right?” Carlos asked, panning towards the grand piano next to them.”

“That’s the one,” Judd confirmed with a nod.

“What about you Mr. Ryder, have you ever had any experiences with this spirit?”

Judd shook his head, “No, can’t say that I have,” he said evenly.

“Wonderful,” Carlos exclaimed, shutting off his camera, “That was great, thanks so much for your time Mr. Ryder.”

Judd nodded as they began sorting through equipment, “Not a problem. Listen, the university has me on call tonight for y’all, so if you need anything let me know. I’ll be around. And please,” he added as an afterthought, “don’t break anything. I hate filling out that paperwork.”

The group gave him solemn nods as he exited, sighing heavily and muttering something about kids under his breath.

The group watched him leave and then looked at each other, each trying their best to hide their grins.

“So,” TK asked, “shall we get started?”

---------

The deal was this: a charity had asked the two most popular ghost hunting teams on the internet to get together for a special fundraising episode, with a twist (to be decided by a vote from their viewers). A week of polling provided them with the result - the two teams were going to be partner swapping tonight.

According to charity’s PR rep, fans had commented that they wanted to see this partner swap because the two teams were so different. The P.I.s were very fact-driven; their show erred on the side of documentary. The Spirit Squad, on the other hand, was much more sensational. Sure they did the facts, but their show revolved a lot more around their antics than the history. Fans were eager to see what kind of dynamic a mashup would bring.

Which brings us back to this moment as the two teams divvy up their equipment and head to meet their new partners for the evening. TK hands a microphone pack to Marjan, humming to himself all the while. She levels a glare at him, “Would you stop that?”

“Stop what?”

“Stop being so pleased about this!”

“Marj,” TK began emphatically, “Of course I’m happy. I get to spend an evening with Mr. Paranormal Heartthrob over there. I’m fucking thrilled.”

Marjan rolled her eyes, “Great. While you are off doing salacious things on company time, I am going to be stuck with Mr. Encyclopedia.”

“Come on, he doesn’t seem that bad.”

“TK, you’ve seen their show. The dude somehow knows literally everything and can spend multiple minutes talking about the significance of various wood types in regional architecture. I might not be pushing you out a window tonight, but I might end up jumping through one.”

Now it was TK’s turn to roll his eyes, “Give the guy a chance Marj. You know how it can be when you’re filming. He might be a completely different person off-camera. You might be surprised and actually end up liking him.”

Her expression softened incrementally, but her voice was still firm, “We’ll see.”

Across the room, a similar conversation was happening.

“You can’t seriously expect me to spend a night working with her do you, Carlos?”

Carlos raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong with her?” he asked skeptically.

Paul seemed to falter a bit, “I mean, it doesn’t seem like she takes much seriously. She’ll probably be off-task all night. Besides, she’s the one who’s catchphrase is ‘come at me demon!’ Actually, I feel like the fact that she even has a catchphrase is telling enough.”

“I think you’re being unfair.”

“Unfair? I would never!”

Carlos narrowed his eyes at him, “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not right now and it is honestly concerning to me. You need to give her a chance.”

“No, I don’t think I do.”

Carlos sighed, “What did we say about not being a dick around people who don’t know you’re always kind of a dick?”

Paul looked at least slightly chastised, “Fine, I’ll play nice.”

“That’s all I ask. Now,” he said cheerfully, snapping the last of his gear on, “it’s time to go meet our new partners!”

“You know, sometimes I kind of hate you.”

“I’m okay with that.”

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

Marjan swung her flashlight around the grounds as she walked. She and Paul had taken the grounds and first floor while TK and Carlos would be tackling the upper floors. So far all she had seen was a lot of grass and awkward silence.

“So,” she began, turning to face her companion, “any thoughts on what we’ll find?”

Paul shrugged, “Not too sure. All the lore says that if we see anything, it should be Alice so I’m hoping we’ll find some evidence of her. The reports make it seem like she’s pretty active, I’d love to catch some of that.”

Marjan hummed in agreement, “That would be cool. I’m a slut for some good audio evidence.”

Paul raised an eyebrow at her. “What?” she asked defensively,

He shook his head, “Nothing. I just figured you were more about the video evidence. You know, where you could be seen doing something crazy.”

She scoffed, “Yeah, that stuff’s fun, but when it comes to actual evidence, I find audio to be more reliable. There are just too many factors when dealing with video evidence. Besides,” she added as she crossed to the other side of the yard, “It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing all that stuff, but it’s all for ratings. I know how to make a brand.”

“You know Marwani, I might have been wrong about you.”

“You can’t believe everything you see on the internet Strickland.”

Paul laughed, “No, I suppose you’re right.”

They continued in silence for the next few minutes, each studying their devices. After completing a full circuit of the yard Paul sighed, “Guess that was a colossal waste of time.”

Marjan shrugged, “I guess it depends on how you look at it. I’m just glad we were able to put entire floors between ourselves and that,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder towards the second-floor window that revealed flashlight beams moving.

“You mean the flirt fest? Yeah, I’m not too broken up about missing out on that either.”

Marjan nodded emphatically, “Don’t get me wrong, I love TK like a brother, and I want nothing more than for him to be happy. But I don’t feel the need to be in the room as it happens.”

Paul hummed his agreement, “Carlos is my best friend but when he is infatuated with someone, he is basically unbearable. I’ll take ghost hunting outside over witnessing that any day, thank you.”

Marjan glanced back up at the window, “How gross do you think they are being right now?”

“On a scale of 1 to 10?”

“Sure, why not?”

“11, definitely.”

-----------

“So,” TK started awkwardly, “how’d you get into ghost hunting?”

“I watched my family die and have been determined to find their spirits ever since.”

TK’s eyes grew wide, “Seriously?” he asked.

Carlos chuckled, “No. I just liked scary movies and ghost stories as a kid and have always believed. You?”

TK shrugged, “I guess I’ve always believed too. My dad is huge into this stuff, so I learned a lot about it growing up. Then I met Marjan and we hit it off and she needed a partner so I just kind of, did it.”

“Are you and your dad close?”

A small smile spread across his face, “Yeah. He’s the best. He’s a firefighter, and growing up I always wanted to follow in his footsteps, but this came along and kind of just fit, you know?”

Carlos nodded thoughtfully, “Yeah, I think I do. If you had told 15 year old me that I would be ghost hunting for a living, he would have thought you were crazy. But, I like it. I get to see new places, meet interesting people, and spend time with my best friend.”

“Well,” TK said, “I think it was a good choice.”

Carlos looked at him curiously, “Why’s that?”

TK grinned suggestively, “Because it means we met.”

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

So far, the inside was not much more interesting than the grounds.

Marjan was starting to get antsy. She knew that ghost hunting was generally a “hurry up and wait” kind of situation, but she hated the long periods of nothing. At least she normally had TK to banter with. Tonight, she was stuck with a companion who was studying an abstract painting with far too much interest.

“I think this is an original Kelpe,” he said eventually.

“A what?” Marjan asked incredulously.

“A who,” he corrected, “Paul Kelpe was an American painter from about the 1930s until he died in the 80s. He was known for abstract art and retired to Austin before he died.”

Marjan stared at him, “How in the actual hell do you remember this stuff?”

“My mind is like a steel trap.”

Marjan had several things she’d like to say in response to that, but before she could even begin eerie music floated down the hall, effectively ending their conversation.

They looked at each other, and Marjan was gratified to see her excitement reflected on Paul’s face. “Is that...” she started to ask at the same time Paul exclaimed “The piano!”

They looked at each other for just a moment more before they hurried down the hall, back towards the piano.

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

It took a few tries, Carlos managed to get the door to the turret room open. He and TK walked inside slowly, shining their flashlights around the room.

“Wow,” TK said, and Carlos nodded his head in agreement.

The room was filled with the scattered paraphernalia of life. It looked like everything had been left as is, as if the resident of the bedroom had just walked out the door, ready to start their day. If that day had been about 80 years ago, judging by the dust.

“It doesn’t look like anyone has been in here in ages,” TK noted as he gently brushed the dust off an ornate hand mirror.

Carlos was studying the doorway, “I think you might be right. It doesn’t look like there is any kind of lock or reason it should have been stuck, but it definitely did not open like a door that is commonly used.”

“I wonder whose stuff this is?” TK muttered as he examined the contents of the desk. “Whoever’s it is either loves antiques or it has been sitting here since it was new.”

Carlos had halted abruptly in his own exploration, staring at something on the table by the door. When he spoke, his voice was shaky.

“I think you might be spot on with the later,” he said.

TK turned around, frowning. “What makes you say that?”

Carlos picked up the item he had been studying and turned so TK could see it. It was an antique calling card, yellowed with age, but the name printed in delicate script was still legible; it read “Mrs. Alice Littlefield.”

“Well, shit.” TK breathed. Carlos nodded.

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

They reach the piano at the same time, equally out of breath. They each examine their various devices. “I’m getting some pretty strong readings,” Marjan noted.

Paul nodded, “Me too. He moved around the piano, examining it, “I don’t see any wires or triggers, or anything that suggests that this could have been caused by another person.”

Marjan ran an experimental hand across the keys. They played normally. She hit a few notes, but they all sounded as they should. “It seems to be working just fine too.” She lifted the lid and they each shone their flashlights inside.

“Everything looks normal in here too,” she noted after a while. She looked around the room and gestured at one of the cameras they had set up. “Maybe the static cam caught something.”

Paul nodded, pulling out his phone to make a note, “I will definitely look. Hopefully we got good audio too.”

Marjan nodded, “This is so cool,” she gushed.

Paul smiled, “It is, isn’t it?”

-----------

Tk looked around at the contents of the room, “It doesn’t look like anything has been touched since she died.”

Carlos nodded, gently fingering a lace handkerchief on the bedside table, “It looks like she just up and left. It’s kind of sad, actually.”

TK looked at him curiously, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, it doesn’t seem like she had anyone who cared enough to go through her things after she died. Once she died it seems like she just…stopped existing and the world went on.”

TK didn’t really know what to say to that. He glanced around the room and then back at Carlos.

“Unfortunately, I think that is generally what happens, no matter who is left behind. But if it makes you feel any better, if people are right about Alice being the ghost here, she apparently had different plans.”

“I honestly don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.”

TK shrugged, “Me neither.”

“I guess what really bothers me is the thought of what will happen to us when we’re gone. I don’t have much family left as it is, and not too many friends outside of Paul. Would there be anyone left to remember that I existed, or would it just be a room full of stuff that says Carlos Reyes used to exist?”

TK studied him for a moment before speaking, “I know where you’re coming from, believe me. All I have are my dad and Marjan. But I think that it’s more a matter of what we do than what we leave behind.”

Carlos smiled at him, “That’s pretty wise.”

TK grinned, “I do my best.” He took a few steps closer to Carlos. They were so close now that he could every nuance of brown in the other man’s rich, warm eyes. “If it makes you feel any better,” he said softly, “I’d care if you were gone. I’d help to keep your memory around.”

Carlos smiled at him, “Then I guess that means I should do the same for you.”

“It’s a deal then,” TK replied, sticking out his hand. Carlos took it and the shook, but their hands lingered for several moments longer than necessary. Carlos was the first to pull away, albeit reluctantly.

“I guess we should keep going with the actual investigation part before our respective partners hunt us down and murder us.”

TK nodded solemnly, “True. What good is our pact if we both die at the same time, murdered by our perfectionist co-workers?”

They exchanged a grin, but Carlos frowned as TK’s expression shifted and his gaze drifted past him. “Everything okay?” he asked hesitantly.

TK didn’t answer right away, “I’m not sure,” he said eventually. “I thought I saw something but...I don’t know. Probably just a trick of the light.”

Carlos looked like he wanted to say something, but the sound of his phone alarm cut off whatever it was that he had to say. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. “That’s the 15-minute warning. We have to be out of here pretty soon. We should head back downstairs and help the others gather the equipment.

TK nodded and began to disassemble the camera they had set up in the corner of the room. “Hey Carlos?” he asked as he worked.

“Yeah?”

“We make a pretty good team, don't we?”

Carlos grinned, turning away to hide the blush darkening his cheeks, “Yeah, I think we do.”

---------

A few days later, TK was walking up the sidewalk towards Paul’s house when he heard his name being called from behind him. He turned to see Carlos rushing to catch up with him. He couldn’t help the little flutter his heart did at the sight of him. He paused, letting the other man catch up.

“Hey,” Carlos greeted as he reached him, “What are you doing here?”

TK shrugged, “Honestly, I have no idea. Paul called me and asked me to come over.”

Carlos frowned, “He asked me the same thing. Which, is not weird since we are friends and business partners, but you being here too is strange. No offense,” he added hastily.

“None taken,” TK assured him. “Honestly, I was thinking the same thing.”

They stood awkwardly on the sidewalk for another moment before Carlos shrugged, “I guess the only way to find out is to head in.”

TK nodded and gestured towards the door, “After you.”

Carlos let them in and led TK towards the office. When they entered the space, they were even more surprised that Paul was not alone.

“Marjan?” TK asked incredulously, “What are you doing here?”

Paul answered, “I called her first because I needed someone else to confirm that you two are as big of idiots as I thought you were.”

Marjan nodded solemnly, “And I can confirm, you are the biggest idiots.”

TK and Carlos looked at each other, baffled. “What did we do?” TK asked defensively.

Marjan and Paul simply exchanged a look before Paul turned his laptop around for them to see. There was a video feed paused on it. It seemed to be one of the feeds from the turret room. Carlos gave the other two a confused look, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Oh, just wait,” Paul said, reaching down to hit play.

They all watched silently, Marjan and Paul watching their companions more than the video. TK and Carlos watched as they moved through the frame, getting closer. TK blushed as they grasped hands. He knew what part this was, he just had no idea how sappy they actually looked. He was just grateful there was no sound. As he watched, he saw a figure appear over Carlos’s shoulder. His eyes widened. That couldn’t be…

“Is that an FBA?” Carlos asked weakly, looking up at Paul and Marjan. Paul glared at him, “Just watch.”

They all turned their attention back to the screen to see as the figure became more solid. There was no denying that it was the ghostly figure of a woman. She remained there, just past Carlos’s shoulder, for a least a minute before vanishing as quickly as she had appeared.

Present Carlos and TK looked at each other. “I guess you did see something,” Carlos said weakly. TK was still too shell-shocked to respond. They had been in the same room as a Full-bodied Apparition – the holy grail of paranormal investigating – and they hadn’t even noticed.

He looked over at their partners, who seemed torn between amusement and frustration. He understood the feeling.

Eventually, Paul spoke, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that you two were so busy flirting you did not notice a literal ghost not even two feet from you.”

Carlos ran a shaky hand through his hair, “Yeah, I think that about covers it,” he said weakly.

Marjan snorted, “Actually, it looks like she yeeted herself out of there as soon as possible. Face it – you guys are so gross that even the dead don’t want to deal with you.”

TK and Carlos locked eyes. After a moment Carlos shrugged and TK groaned, “The shippers are going to have a field day with this. We will never have another moment of peace.”

Carlos considered this for a moment, before a sly grin spread across his face, “Maybe, or we could just beat them at their own game?”

TK frowned at him, “What do you mean?”

“TK Strand, would you like to go on a date with me?”

There was a beat of silence before Paul and Marjan groaned and TK grinned, “I thought you’d never ask.”

Marjan looked at Paul, “Our lives are ruined,” she said mournfully.

He nodded grimly, “Let’s be real though; we never stood a chance.”

Notes:

I actually did a lot of research for this one and since once an English major always an English major or something like that, you can find my sources here, here, here, and here. If nothing else it's worth it for a look at the house (which is a real place) because it does give off some serious spooky vibes in my opinion.

[Read on Ao3]

#911 lone star #911 lone star fic #halloween fic #tk strand #carlos reyes #marjan marwani #paul strickland #I normally wouldn't bring back something but #...it's halloween #and this is a ghost hunting au #so here you go I guess #yes it's a day early but frankly today has not been a great day and i need the distraction #also it's the 30th it counts

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