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toothpastecanyon · 29 days

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The Comfort of Agony, Chapter 9

For the first time in his eternal life, Alcor had been bound. He couldn't leave even if he wanted to... so it was just as well that he didn't want to leave, right? After all, this was what Mizar wanted.

He didn't know what she was so angry with him for, but he probably deserved it.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

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For a single, wonderful moment, Piper had forgotten there was anything wrong. She woke up in a comfy bed; not her own, but as she yawned and stretched and cast an eye over the room, she saw the sunlight streaming through a window, heard birds chirping out their morning tune. It all seemed so peaceful.

She did feel kind of grimey, though. Her hair felt like a rat’s nest, and she was… sleeping in her clothes? She raised a hand up to rub her eyes, and found she was clutching a mirror; as she watched, it flickered to life, and with a toothy grin Alcor the Dreambender gave a cheery wave.

“Morning, Piper!”

Piper froze in place as the events of the past two days filtered back in. Oh… oh.

“Sleep well?”

“Yeah…” Piper said, faintly. She sat up. “I don’t know how, but… what’s on my hand?”

“Oh, just some demonic sludge from the demon we summoned last night!” Alcor made a face as he watched her try to wipe it off on the covers. “Sorry, it’s probably dried on by now.”

“Why do I have demonic sludge on my hands?”

“I needed to coat the room to protect us from the angel!” He watched her hurry over to the sink. “Probably could have, uh, washed it off at the time… but hey, no angel, and you got a good night’s sleep! And look at all the sludge we got!”

Piper looked at the glasses of dried black ooze by the side of the sink, and wrinkled her nose. “That’s, uh, great… where is the angel, anyway?”

Her phone started ringing from the bed. Piper shook her hands dry and wandered over to look at it - oh, it was her Dad, again. With a guilty expression, she silenced her phone and looked up at Alcor expectantly. He gave a sigh.

“Well, let me just say first that I thought of this when I said we could go to a motel! It’s not ideal, but you were really tired, and now that you’re awake we can stay here and brainstorm some ways to-”

“Wait, wait.” Piper shook her head. “You didn’t say where the angel is.”

“Where he is… right.” He clapped his hands together. “Probably, uh, somewhere right outside?"

“Right… outside?”

Piper glanced up at the open windows, and felt a rush of fear. She moved quickly to close them.

“Yep! And, ah, he wasn’t far behind us when we got here, so he’s probably got some kind of plan ready to go the second we step outside the door, but, uh…” Alcor scratched the back of his head. “You know, we’ve got a plan too!”

“We do?”

“Yeah! We can stay in here as long as we want, and think of what we’re going to do next!”

Piper’s eyebrows drooped. “So we don’t have a plan.”

“We don’t have a plan, yet!” Alcor’s smile looked strained. “But hey, like I said, all the time in the world to come up with one! Come on, let’s start spitballing! Want me to start? Here’s one I came up with last night: decoy mirror!”

“Decoy mirror?”

“Yeah! You wrap it up in a bag and drop it as we leave, we run to the car, by the time he figures it out we’re off!”

“Okay…? But my car’s busted up. What if it doesn’t turn on?”

“Hmm… we could steal one!” Alcor clasped his hands together. “Sta- uh, someone taught me how to hotwire cars once, I bet I could get one going!”

“Steal a car. Great. Sounds great.” Piper’s phone was buzzing in her hand; she dropped it back on the bed and rubbed her eyes. “And then what?”

“And then we drive off!”

“And then what?” She saw him pause, and dragged a hand down her face. “Look, Alcor, your plan is… nice, but we can’t just run away from the angel forever.” She thought of last night and shuddered. “He’s nearly killed me twice now. We’re not going to keep getting lucky - we’ve got to stop him.”

Alcor’s smile finally faded. “Yeah… yeah. I know. I just… I’m not sure how.”

“Well… how do we win this? What needs to happen for this to stop?”

“What needs to happen? We need to get rid of that angel, for good.” He saw her eyes dart towards the demonic sludge, and shook his head. “Not with that stuff, that’s not strong enough. No, I think… I think we need me.”

“You?” She looked at him, and the glowing runes of the mirror. “You mean…?”

“I need to be unbound.” He looked down at his clawed hands, and clenched them. “I know… I know you might have mixed feelings about that. I get it if you still don’t trust me-”

“Oh, no.” Piper waved him away. “You know what, I’m in with you now. If we need to unbind you, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Wh… really?”

“Really.” She thought of the angel’s twisted smile on Mag’s face, and gave a grim nod. “I know who killed Scarlett now. It wasn’t you.”

Alcor blinked a few times, and then a big, beaming grin stretched across his face. He seemed at a loss for words; after a moment, Piper cleared her throat.

“Anyway,” she said. “So we need to unbind you. How do we do that?”

It seemed to take a moment for Alcor to hear the question; it sobered him a little, and he nodded. “Right, right, uh… yeah, that’s the hard part. You see, the easiest way to undo a binding is for the person who cast it in the first place to renounce it.”

Piper grimaced. “And that’s Mag.”

“Yup, that’s Mag, who, uh, currently thinks I killed his daughter.” He gave a helpless shrug. “So if you’ve got any ideas for how to get him alone long enough to explain everything, I’d love to hear it.”

She was silent for a moment… and then sighed. “No idea,” she said. “You sure there’s no other way?”

“Nothing that’ll work in your lifetime. It’s gotta be Mag.”

It’s gotta be Mag… Piper looked away, out to the sun’s light glowing through the blinds. Well, shit, she thought. How was that going to work? Even if they could somehow stop the angel from murdering her before Mag even knew what was happening, what was she supposed to say to him? Would he even listen?

She thought of that rainy night he showed up at her doorstep, somehow only days ago. The stranger playing cards in her living room, desperately trying to connect with her; the photo he slid under her door. She didn’t doubt he cared about her… but that was the problem, wasn’t it?

A memory played in her head, a bloody hand against the side mirror. I did it for you, he’d said. I did it for you.

He’d done this all for her… but would he stop for her? She didn’t know.

She really didn’t know.

Piper hung her head at that. She heard her phone buzz once, and looked over. Stars, her Dad must be worried sick; with a sigh, she picked it up.

…

Huh.

“Oh!” Alcor was saying from beside her. “I know! What about the Dinner Crew? We could - how far is it to Portland from here? - we could drive out, see if they’d be willing to help us…”

His words washed over her as she looked at the two missed calls, and the message from her Dad’s phone:

I TOLD YOU THIS WAS THE END OF THE CHASE

Wh… what? What chase? Piper frowned in confusion, and as soon as she opened her texts she could see another message was being written.

“...haven’t talked to them in centuries, but that might be a good option. What do you think, Piper? Piper?”

Piper heard his voice, but she didn’t look up. “Just uh - just one second,” she said. “I don’t…”

“Is that your Dad again?”

She didn’t answer. She didn’t answer because the message posted, and the dread that had been slowly creeping into her stomach suddenly turned to cold-blooded horror:

IGNORE THIS NEXT CALL AND HE DIES

It posted, and almost immediately, her phone began to buzz in her hands. Her Dad’s friendly profile picture smiled up at her; she sat frozen for a second, and then scrambled to answer it.

“H-hello?” She said, her heart beating in her throat. “Dad? Is that you?”

Silence. It felt like it lasted an eternity… and then, she could hear a breath on the other side.

A voice. Not her Dad’s voice.

“You know who this is.” Mag’s voice, cold and dispassionate, sent a bolt of fear right through her heart. “And you know what I want. You understand where I want you to go?”

Piper could see Alcor bristle out of the corner of her eye. She swallowed, and nodded.

“Good,” said the angel, like he could see her. “It is too late for you, Tainted One. I am going to kill you. You are going to come to me, and I am going to kill you. Do you understand?”

Gritting her teeth, she nodded. “You’ve been trying to kill me this whole time,” she said; her words were quiet, but clear. The angel brushed past them.

“Bring me the mirror. Save your father. Let your death redeem your soul. Try to fool me again, and his blood will be on your hands.”

Then it cut out. Piper stood there for a moment, her phone still pressed against her ear… her fist, slowly clenching. Alcor’s eyes were wide.

“He’s got your dad,” He said, and started to pace within the mirror. “Oh - oh, no, oh, shoot, he’s got your dad! What are we gonna do?”

Piper didn’t respond. Like she was in a dream, she felt herself pocket her phone, and she reached down to grab the mirror. Alcor eyed her nervously.

“Piper?” He said. “You, uh… you okay?”

Okay? Piper felt her heart hammering in her chest. She shook her head. “No. No, I’m not. Blood on my hands? Like I’m the one threatening my Dad?”

She stalked over to the cups of sludge by the sink. They’d dried on top, but when she felt on top her hand broke through to a wetter layer. She felt it between her fingers, then started to stack them on top of each other. Once she had them in line, she looked over to the blinds, made her way over, and pushed them aside to look through to the parking lot.

“We’ve got to get to him,” she said. “Come on, Alcor. Let’s steal one of these cars.”

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“I guess you’re used to this then, huh?”

It was an awkward joke the cop down at the station made when he was taking David’s statement; a little throwaway line after he mentioned Scarlett, and moved quickly on from before David had time to get mad. But he was home now, slumped in front of the TV with his phone in his hands, and every time he thought of that thoughtless little comment, he wanted to put his fist through the damn wall.

Used to this? Used to this? Dear god, he hoped he’d never become used to this! It was hell losing Scarlett, and as he was finding out, Piper was like a new, entirely different hell built on top of the old one. He did some of the same things he did the first time: he didn’t sleep, he threw up when he tried to eat, he waited desperately for any kind of update, any kind of indication that she was going to be okay. Hearing her voice on the phone - stars, he couldn’t describe the relief he felt in that moment, but then she hung up, and anything could’ve happened to her after that.

Anything.

David remembered the first time, remembered the look on Mag’s face when he came home that day. He remembered how he tried to say something, but he just shook his head and he burst into tears, and when David rushed over to him they squeezed each other so tight they couldn’t breathe, and there was an awful kind of comfort in that, a grim fondness for that memory every time it passed his mind.

Because that was the last time Mag had cried with him. And a year from then, after all the lies told, the trust broken, the demon summoned just downstairs from their sleeping daughter… David realised, that was the last moment he felt like he still had a husband. The last moment he recognised Mag.

David’s own reflection stared up at him from the darkness of his phone, and he gave a deep sigh. And now, looking back from this mess… David wondered whether it had been the last moment before Mag had stopped lying. He’d always thought something in Mag had broken after Scarlett died, but maybe it was always there. Maybe he’d never been the man David thought he was.

How else could he explain what he’d done to Piper?

Stars… David sat back in his chair, taking a long moment to rub his eyes, and run his hands through his greasy hair. He could hear the TV chattering away, the 24-hour news covering an abandoned police car on the interstate hours out of town, the incessant speculation on what this all meant, where he was going, and what had happened to Piper.

He needed… he needed a break. He just needed a break. He just needed a break.

He stood up, and looked at the gift bag on his end table. The Father’s Day card, the torn envelope with his name in her handwriting. She’d gotten him some nice soap.

…

A shower would be nice.

David turned away from the TV, and headed slowly upstairs. He walked down the hallway, passing frame after frame of Piper’s smiling school photos. He paused, at the door to her bedroom - it was a guest bedroom now, really, but he’d never been in any hurry to take down her posters, or ask her to come get her clothes, her old stuffed animals lined up on top of her closet. He’d seen them last night, their shiny eyes gazing at him through a crack in the door, and he’d closed it.

And he left it closed now, continuing on to his bedroom. He checked his phone one last time before leaving it on the nightstand with the volume all the way up, and grabbed a towel on the way to the ensuite. Then he stripped, stepped into the shower, and turned it on.

The water was cold… and then warm. He turned it up some more. Hot. He turned it up as high as he could bear, and stood under the jets, his head bowed, sobbing into his hands.

He didn’t know how long he stood like that, but his legs were tired by the time his tears faded to shuddering breaths. His skin was lobster-red and itchy when he turned off the shower, and as the steam rose away, it left him cold. He wiped his eyes, and took a few slow breaths before stepping out of the shower, drying off, and putting on his bathrobe.

He did feel a little better, he decided, but then.

Then, he opened the door. And his phone wasn’t there.

David paused for a second, frowned, and walked over to his nightstand. He wondered if he’d dropped it; he glanced under the table just to check, but it wasn’t there.

It was just… gone. And the longer David stood there, the more an eerie sense of something wrong began to creep down his spine.

The TV. He could hear it when he got in the shower, but it was silent now. The whole house was silent now, like it was holding its breath.

David looked down the long, dim hallway, and set his jaw. He kept one eye on it as he opened the nightstand drawer, grabbed a key, and knelt down beside his bed. Pulling a metal case out from under the mattress, he unlocked it, revealing a small pistol and two magazines. He picked it up, loaded it, and also grabbed a little silk bag; he drew out a thin silver necklace etched with an intricate pattern of glowing wards, and slipped it over his head.

There was a noise downstairs just as he finished. Rising to his feet, David gripped the gun tight as he shuffled towards the door. Down the hall he went, walking slowly, his heart beating in his chest as he looked in every door. He opened Piper’s door, glanced in quickly, gritted his teeth, and continued.

Down the stairs, every creak echoing terribly loud in the silence of the house. He could make out a voice as he reached the bottom, coming from the kitchen… no, coming from the basement. David paused in front of it, his breath coming a little heavy as he recognised that voice - was that Mag?

It was Mag. What the hell was he doing here?

There was a faint light coming from behind the door; David edged away from it, and looked to the front door, left wide open with the sun streaming down on the porch. Casting one last glance at the basement, he let his common sense win him over and hurried out of the house.

Hurried, and then stopped dead, just a few feet from the door. There was something strange on the porch, a glowing white line carved into the wood, and it seemed to only glow brighter as he approached it. What was this thing, a barrier? A trap?

He looked back at the basement door, and narrowed his eyes. Someone was going to explain to him what was going on.

As he approached the door again, the voice had gone silent. He reached out, grasped the door handle, and then quickly twisted it open and pointed the gun up as he stepped through.

He didn’t see anything at first. But as he stepped down, he spotted the feet, and then the rest of a lone, tall figure standing still in the middle of the basement. His heart clenched at the sight; oh, stars, it really was Mag.

Mag was in ragged dirty clothes, head down, facing away from him. David thought he’d turn around, but he didn’t; cautiously, he opened his mouth.

“Mag?” He said, his voice echoing in the basement. “What are you doing here?”

Nothing at first. He could see Mag’s head roll a little to the side, and his right arm clenched - he had a knife, David saw, and he raised the gun.

“Mag?”

The tension seemed to build all over his body, and he was muttering something. David dared not step closer, but he could just about make it out:

“…handle this, I can… let me handle this…” he was saying, and then he suddenly snapped up and turned around. “Dave?”

The sight of Mag… stars, David had thought he looked rough the last time they met, years ago, but that was nothing compared to now. Thin and hollow-cheeked, sallow-skinned and sweaty with dark bags under his eyes like bruises, a shredded orange jumpsuit just barely hanging onto his form - David hardly recognized him. He saw Mag process the sight of him for a second, and then his face split into a beaming grin that showed off his knocked-out teeth.

“Dave!” He said, stepping closer - and pausing when David raised the gun. “Hey, it’s me! It’s Mag!”

“I know,” David said, grimly. He watched Mag’s grin fade. “What are you doing here? Where’s Piper?”

“What am I doing here?” Mag repeated, and blinked. “What am I doing here, I’m… oh, right, I’m here to protect you?”

“Protect me?”

“Cultists, there’s a- there’s cultists, they’re coming here!” Mag’s arm twitched a bit as he spoke, and he put a hand over it. A hand, David noticed, that had his phone in it.

“Is that why you stole my phone?”

“Stole your phone? Oh… you were going to call the police on me!” Mag looked at the gun pointed at his chest, and scowled. “Have a little faith in me, Dave! I’m not gonna hurt you!”

“What happened to Piper?” David saw Mag’s scowl deepen as he turned away. “Mag, what did you do to-“

“NOTHING! Jesus, Dave, I did nothing ! I’ve been the one trying to track her down! I’ve been the one going to hell and back-“

Mag took a step towards David, and he stepped back. Mag cut himself off when he saw this; his whole face darkened.

“Un-fucking-believable,” he muttered, and threw the knife down in disgust. “There, are you happy now? Can you stop aiming that thing at me for one fucking second and have a civil conversation?”

David shook his head a little. “Why were you there, Mag? Why were you at Piper’s apartment?”

“Because I wanted to see my daughter again! I didn’t know there were cultists after me, it’s not my fault!”

“Cultists?” David frowned, but Mag was pacing back and fourth.

“You know, I just wanted to visit her again, that’s all I wanted to do, I just wanted to see her one last time! I’m like a fucking stranger to her, Dave, I’m surprised she even knows my name! And whose fault is that, huh? Whose fault is that?”

David arched an eyebrow. “Are you- are you blaming me?”

“Oh-hoh, he catches on quick!” Mag barked out a laugh. “You were just so eager to cut me out, weren’t you? You were just waiting for me to slip up so you could take Piper away from me!”

“Are you serious? I tried to keep her in touch with you, Mag, I really did! You kept missing visits!”

“It wasn’t! My! Fault!”

“Oh, really? Were you too busy shooting up cults to see your daughter?”

“Shut up!”

“You can’t bullshit me anymore, Mag, I looked at the timeline of your charges! You left her hanging to go on murder sprees!”

“Shut up, SHUT UP!” Mag covered his ears with shaking hands. “Shut the fuck up, you don’t know what you’re- it’s not my fault!”

“Mag-“

“This is what you do. This is what you do!” He raked his nails down his face. “You’re always trying to, trying to paint me as some kind of dangerous person-“

“Of course you’re a dangerous person! You did it, didn’t you? You killed those people! You-”

“I NEVER HURT HER!” Mag bellowed, and the sound was so loud it rang through the basement, sent David flinching back.

It was so loud, it seemed like it took all the air out of his lungs, and he sank back against the wall, holding his head as he spoke so quietly.

“I never… I never hurt her. I didn’t. It was a cultist, it was- i-it was a cultist, it was a cultist…”

And before David’s eyes, his words faded to shaky breaths, and he buried his head in his hands as he started to cry. David blinked; he lowered the gun, and as Mag’s sobs got louder, and seemed to shake his whole form, David started down the steps. He walked slowly at first, but then faster, and he laid the gun down on a passing table as he came to kneel next to Mag.

“Hey,” he said, laying a gentle hand on Mag’s shoulder - Mag flinched away, and he took it back. “What’s going on with you, Mag? What happened?”

“I-I…” Mag started, but he was too choked up to speak. He gulped down a few shuddering breaths, and tried again. “I-I feel l-like I’m losing my m-mind, I-I can’t… I-I d-don’t…”

“Hey, hey. Take your time.” He watched Mag take a deep breath, and let it out with a hacking cough. He frowned. “You don’t look well, Mag.”

“I don’t, I don’t feel well,” Mag managed, and gave a little chuckle. David gave him the slightest smile, but it quickly faded.

“Mag,” he started. “What happened at Piper’s apartment?”

“I-“ his shoulders raised up defensively… but he took another look at David, and they slumped down. “I messed up, Dave. I really messed up. It’s my fault she’s in trouble - a-and that’s why I have to rescue her! I have to-“

He made to rise, and David put a hand on his chest.

“Mag, you can’t go after Piper. If someone else has her, you have to tell the police. They have to know who they’re dealing with so they can bring her home safe.”

“The police.” Mag scoffed. “Like they did with Scarlett?”

David’s lips pulled tight. “I know,” he said, and gently pushed Mag down. “But you can’t help now. There’s a manhunt out for you.” When Mag still tried to rise, he added: “And every second they’re looking for you, they’re not looking for Piper.”

That, finally, seemed to stop Mag in his tracks. He sat back down hard; his arm started twitching again, and he hugged it against his side.

“No, wait…” he said distractedly, and then looked back at David. He gave a guilty smile. “Stars, you’re, you’re right, aren’t you? I’m just a liability to her.”

David didn’t like how he said that, but he couldn’t find a way to phrase it before Mag spoke again.

“You’re right, you’re both right, I should’ve, I should’ve just stayed away from her.” With a flat, joyless laugh, he pulled his knees up to his chest. “Every time I’ve seen her, I’ve just made her life worse. And now she could be, she could be dead in a ditch somewhere, and it’s all my fault!”

“It’s… you said cultists came to the apartment?” David struggled to find the words. “You couldn’t have - they didn’t-“

“They were only there because I was there.” He shook his head, held his arm in a white-knuckle grip. “It was, it was all such a perfect plan in my head, you know? I break out, and I get to see her just one last time, and we have a nice night. I just wanted one last night with her, you know?”

“Mag…” David’s face softened, but he kept speaking.

“Just one last night, and I would’ve been happy for the rest of my sorry life. Heck,” he said, and gave a dark chuckle. “If she agreed to visit me, I would’ve even let them take me back to prison.”

Those words struck David cold. “Don’t say that,” he said, and watched Mag turn away. “I’d visit you, Mag.”

Mag gave a dismissive snort… but then, he looked back. “Even now?” He said, in a small voice, and swallowed when David put a hand over his.

“Of course I would.” David squeezed gently, and then lifted it up with him as he got to his feet. “Come on, M, we can finish this together. How about I make you a cup of coffee before we call?”

Mag’s eyes were misty. “You’ve still got coffee?” He said, and gave a watery laugh. “You hate coffee.”

“So does Piper.” David laughed as well. “It might be pretty old; I hope it’s still good.”

“You know what?” He wiped his eyes. “I think it's worth a try.”

Mag seemed to start getting up, but all of a sudden David felt Mag’s hand tighten around his in a vice grip; he flinched back from the pain.

“Agh, Mag, not so tight!” When Mag didn’t respond, David tried to pry his fingers off. “Mag, let go! Mag?”

Mag’s eyes were shut tight. As he watched, Mag’s whole body seemed to tense up, and he shook his head.

“No,” Mag was saying. “No, no, that’s not - what are you doing? Agh, you can’t- Stop! No! No!”

“Mag?!” David said, but it was like Mag didn’t hear him. After a moment Mag’s grip loosened and let him slip out, and then David watched him cry out in pain and fall to the floor. “Mag! Mag!”

Mag jerked and twitched like he was having a seizure; David froze for a moment in pure horror, and then rushed to his side. He struggled to roll Mag over - once he did his hands hovered over his shaking body, unsure of what to do.

“Mag! Mag! Mag, what are you- what’s going on?!” He saw his phone still clutched in Mag’s hand and tried to pry it out, but his grip was iron. As if in response, David watched it tighten even harder, and crush it to bits.

What was going on? He looked to Mag’s face, and caught a glimpse of something strange happening under his flickering eyelids; it was like they were starting to glow. Even brighter was something on his right arm - David could see a bright white light shining out from the holes in his jumpsuit, and smoke was starting to come off the fabric.

Just like the white lines outside, and it hit him then: possession. David’s stomach dropped; he froze for a second, then scrambled to take off his necklace. He forced it over Mag’s head, but the wards stayed a steady blue.

They didn’t detect anything! How was that possible?

Before David could think of anything else, Mag suddenly went still. He sat up without a word, and when he opened his eyes, pure white light gazed into David’s soul.

David scrambled to his feet. The demon in Mag’s skin rose with him, and he backed away, backed up to the gun on the table, and grabbed it.

“Stay back, stay back!” He pointed it right at Mag’s face. “This is loaded, stay back!”

The demon didn’t listen. Wordlessly, it walked towards him, walked forwards as he backed away, walked forwards until David had his back against the wall, his arms outstretched, the gun point-blank to Mag’s chest.

“Stay back,” David said, shaking his head. “Stay back, I-I’ll shoot! I’ll…”

The demon regarded him for a moment with those terrible eyes… and then leaned forwards, pressing Mag’s chest against the barrel of the gun.

A second passed, and then another. David could feel his heart hammering in his chest; his hands tightened on the gun, but he looked at Mag’s face, and he swallowed a lump in his throat.

“I’ll shoot,” he said, quietly, even as the gun weighed down his hands. “I’ll… I’ll…”

He trailed off, and watched as Mag’s face twisted into a horrible smile.

#transcendence au #toothwrites #alcor the dreambender #magnus wright #mizar

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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👀👀👀

Work in progress lineup of some characters from Unto Dust by @toothpastecanyon

I don’t know what’s going on with June’s colors, or if she’ll even have the tail or not (probably not I just wanted to draw my version of a typical fairy). Went crazy with Jasper’s design bc fun, and I’ll redo Anadixis’s outfit. I imagine June being slightly above average height, and the kitsunes being around a foot below average height. Do they all just loom over Lucy Ann.

I might edit this post with updated versions.

#transcendence au #lucy ann #oh wow they look amazing!!#I love all their designs!

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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Omg I love this

Hello! I’ve been wanting to draw more TAU demons, and I’m currently following The Comfort of Agony. I’ve been testing out some sketches of Nxlar the Antithetical (who I’m pretty sure you made, pls correct me if I’m wrong) I’ve been wondering what she looks like below the shoulders, as the only picture of her is this

(this was a screenshot of the post for reference)

(I love the design btw)

Also, do you know any basic info on her abilities, traits, and specialties? And could you give a physical description of her for a future wiki page?

Sorry if this is worded oddly, I have trouble organizing my thoughts.

Have a lovely day/night/week/spring/whatever you have going on when you see this!

Hi! Omg if you drew her I would love you forever...

Okay, so in my head, she is very eldritch horror. Think humongous gray-green tentacles (that's the green blob stuff in the background) that bend in and out of reality and don't seem to connect to anything at all, a mouth that's waaay too big for her face, and four giant spider eyes that are constantly rolling in every direction. As for her bottom half: I hadn't really thought about it much! I'm giving you free reign on that one -- go nuts :)

As for her abilities -- Tooth called her the "Mistress of Decay" during the summoning ritual in Comfort of Agony, and I wanna stay in line with that, so I'm gonna say her domain is deterioration. She's all about breaking things down bit by bit, furthering entropy, fun stuff like that. She's called Nxlar the Antithetical entirely because she's basically the demonic equivalent of a contrarian hipster and will full-on no-show if you light any of the candles around her circle while summoning her.

Lastly, I believe Nxlar already has a wiki page, but you should definitely add onto it if you want to! (I loooove the TAU wiki it's so much fun lol)

Hope you have a lovely day/night/week/spring too!

#transcendence au #Nxlar the Antithetical

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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Hi!!! I love magfic so much -- the dynamics between Mag and Piper and Alcor have me actually feral (also: nxlar cameo ✨️✨️) Just cause I love to put things to a timeline: did you have a specific time frame in mind while writing it or is it meant to be more squishy?

(I am asking this in an official ask instead of on the discord for Wiki Citation Reasons btw)

Thank you Gnome, that’s so kind of you to say! I don’t have a clear timeframe for when this takes place, but it does happen after Noie, who is born in 3669. So maybe it happens 1000 years later, in the 4600’s?

I am definitely a squishy timeline writer though haha. Piper still drives a Camry XD

#transcendence au #toothasks #magnus wright #I love the wiki :DD

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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The Comfort of Agony, Chapter 8

He didn't know what she was so angry with him for, but he probably deserved it.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

Nxlar the Antithetical is from @gnomewithalaptop awesome TAU Dash Simulator!

______________________________________________________________

Piper had never in her life been so tired at eight PM. Her whole body felt so sore and clumsy and heavy, like lead was running through her veins. She was so tired she wasn’t even quite sure she was awake; she kept jolting up, opening her eyes, looking around the motel room as she tried to get ahold of herself… and then opening her eyes again. It was confusing, and half-formed dreams followed her into the waking world. She was sure there’d been a unicorn here, but she was…

She was drawing a circle. Or more aptly, Alcor was drawing a circle, with her hand. It moved smoothly and steadily, a focused presence sharing her body as it drew a complex array of symbols on the tile…

Piper jolted as she opened her eyes again. Had that been a dream too? No. That was real.

Stars, her neck was killing her. She cast a longing glance at the bed just a few feet away, and then slumped down to look at the mirror in her lap.

“Alcor…” she started. “When are we… when’s this done?”

“Nearly done with this binding circle.” He said, and she could feel her eyelids drooping lower. “I picked a more powerful demon to quickly ward off the angel, so the circle had to be a little more complex. Nxlar’s a good choice, she’s dangerous, sure, but pretty sensitive to…”

“…and that should hold her! You ready Piper? Piper?”

Piper sat up; there was a wetness on the side of her mouth. Eww, she’d been drooling.

“Jeez,” Alcor gave a sympathetic frown. “You really are tired. You wanna just go to sleep?”

“I’m…” she rubbed her eyes. “I can’t sleep until we do this, so let’s just do this, right?”

“I mean, I can do it alone,” he said, sheepishly. “I, uh, sort of have already been doing it, rather than telling you what to draw. If you just wanted to go to sleep while I, uh, use your body…?”

Piper gave a slow blink. She could tell he was trying to broach something to her… but she was fried. She just sat there fighting her eyelids as he made a few more quick markings.

“Uh, alright,” Alcor said, and had her stand up. “I’ll do the talking, then.”

Grabbing twenty three candles, he walked around the chalk, setting them down in a zigzag pattern on an inner and outer circle. Once that was done, he took a look at his work - and rolled his eyes a bit at the clutter of her circle. Twenty three candles? Alcor thought any demons with more than twelve were being a bit extra. And Nxlar - ever the contrarian - didn’t even want you to light them, so it didn’t have the pretty candlelight glow while you chanted. Not to mention all the intricate chalk symbols you couldn’t even make out in a dark room…

Alcor shook his head. Well, aesthetic concerns aside, the circle was done. Raising Piper’s hands up in the air, he began the summoning.

“O, Nxlar the Antithetical, O Great Mistress of Decay, I draw upon your darkness!”

The room seemed to drop ten degrees, and Alcor let out a subtle scoff that fogged the air. Putting ‘great’ in your own summoning chant - a little gauche, don’t you think? But a sickly rotting smell was starting to emanate from the circle, so he put it out of mind.

As he watched, the unlit candles started to sag and bloat at their bases; the white wax greyed and split, and a dark, stinking sludge oozed fourth and began to pool in the center of the circle.

As tentacles slowly took form, Alcor slipped the mirror behind Piper’s back, and opened her eyes. He watched a dripping maw form, and smiled as a rumbling, frustrated growl rattled the walls.

“A̷ b̶i̶n̸d̵i̶n̸g̶ c̷i̶r̴c̵l̵e̴?̵” Nxlar’s voice was a staticy echo. One of her tentacles snaked out towards the edge of the circle; it stopped short, and she hissed as she drew it back. “Y̷o̴u̶ ̸d̷r̴a̷g̴ ̸m̶e̸ ̶o̴u̵t̶ ̶h̴e̵r̵e̵ ̵w̴i̴t̶h̵ ̴n̷̬̚ō̴̺ ō̸̩f̸͎̎f̸͎̅ë̴͇́r̴̝̈i̷̠͆ṉ̴̀g̶͔̓,̶ ̷a̸n̶d̵ ̸t̵h̶e̵n̶ ̷y̴o̴u̸ ̶t̶r̴a̵p̷ ̵m̶e̵ ̵i̵n̴ ̶t̵h̵i̵s̵ ̴t̶i̵n̶y̸ ̸c̵i̴r̶c̴l̴e̸?”

“Tiny? Oh, please, it’s not tiny.”

Nxlar snarled. “M̵a̸k̴e̸ ̴y̸o̵u̷r̶ ̴d̴e̶a̶l̷,̴ ̴h̶u̵m̴a̷n̷!̵ ̸A̸n̴d ̵y̴o̶u̶ ̷b̸e̷t̶t̷e̸r̸ ̵c̷h̷o̷o̶s̵e̴ ̵y̵o̵u̷r̷ w̷o̵r̷d̸s̶ c̴a̶r̷e̶f̴u̵l̷l̵y̵ - I’̵m̸ ̸n̷o̸t̸ ̸f̴e̴e̴l̸i̸n̶g̸ ̴g̴e̷n̵e̷r̴o̶u̴s̵!”

“Actually, that’s the best part about this.” Alcor couldn’t hide a grin as he stepped closer. “I don’t need a deal at all.”

“W̸h̴a̷t̸?̴”

“I just needed to summon you.” To the demon’s astonishment, Alcor carefully rubbed out a compelling ward with his foot. “There you go, you can go now.”

“You - you don’t want a deal?” Nxlar’s tentacles began to writhe beneath her; the confusion was turning quickly to anger. “ Y̴̤̆ȏ̶̘u̵̥͠ fo̷͍͒r̵̘̊c̸̜͆ḙ̸͂d ̵̔m̴̺͌e̵͙̿ ̴͕̀tŏ̶̥ c̷̣̿ö̸̘́m̸̲͐ȩ̷̓ h̵̢̛e̸̡͐r̷̨͒e ̶f̵̹̂ȯ̶͖r̶̳̋ ̶̧͗ n̶͙̚o̷̯͌t̵̼̓h̴̦͐i̵̢̕n̵̜̿g̸̹͆?̷̧̊”

“Yep!” Alcor gave a cherry wave. “You’ve been so helpful - thanks for coming!”

“̷Yo̷u - g̸o̴r̵e̷ ̴a̶n̵d̸ ̴m̶a̶g̵g̸o̵t̵s̴,̴ ̶I̸’̵m̴ ̴n̵o̵t̶ ̵g̴o̶i̴n̸g̵ ̴a̴n̵y̶w̴h̴e̶r̸e̶ ̸W̶̛̮̙̰͓̙̩̫̗͈̲͂̈́̾͗̐͊̊͒͝͠Į̷̱̖͐̌̏̒̄̓̔͒̄̔̓̏̕̕T̵̯̺͔̰̈́̔͋̿̌̄̅̑̄̾͌͝HO̶̞̼̖̣͚͉̻̻̪͒̇̀͌̆̾̔̂͗́́̈͛͛̕͜͠͝Ṳ̵̢͚͈̳̠͒̕T̶̻̹̠͖͊̇̈̋͜ Ỵ̸͎̟͇̦̳͎͇̳̞̭̤̲̣͜͝ͅO̸̺̖͎̲̲̳̠̖̳̅̑̑Ṳ̸̗̬̐̉͆͘͜͜͠͝R̶̢̗̪͉̲͖͉͉͓̹̾̀̈̈́̃̃͒̕̚͘͠͝ H̵̨̘̩̫̖̻́̀̊̆̒́̓̆̔̀́̍̕͠͝E̴̡̢̥̝͚͉͔͚̦̦͖͎̳͌̏͆̎͑͊͒͝Ā̵̲͇̻̬̜͉̫̹̳̼D̷̨̡̛̰̰̳̫̯̱̜̳̀̈́̌͑̌͛̊̅̍͐̒̑!̶̧̢̡͇͚͇̖̭̯̹̗̫̥͛͑̉͛͌͒͂͊̌̀̔͌̽̕͝͠"̶͝

With a shriek, Nxlar launched herself right at him - she shrieked again as she bounced off, and started battering at the binding circle with her tentacles. Alcor stood at the edge with a cheshire grin; when her assault slowed, he gave a wink, and chuckled as she screamed in frustration and fought even harder.

“You can do that all you want, Nxlar, you’re not gonna get through. You might as well…”

Alcor felt something bubbling up in his throat; he had just a moment to notice it before it came up as a loud, ripping snore. He covered his mouth, but Nxlar paused, her four eyes frowning.

“̴W̶h̸a̴t̴ ̵w̵a̸s̷ t̶h̸a̷t̷?̷”̴

“Nothing!” Alcor waved her away. “Anyway, you should go, so-“

“No, that was a snore. Are you s̶l̶e̴e̴p̵i̶n̸g̸?̴ Or…” she peered closer, at the faint glow in his eyes and the mirror clasped behind his back, and realization dawned. “You’re no human. You’re possessed!”

“I… uh…”

“You’re Alcor!” Nxlar said, and recoiled in fear - but almost as soon as she did, she was leaning forwards again. “I can barely feel you! What happened to you?”

“Uh, nothing!” Alcor felt his face starting to burn. “Nothing, you should go, I-”

“Are you…” Her jaw dropped open, and her tentacles froze in place. “Are you bound?”

“No! N-no, I’m, I just-“

“You are bound, aren’t you? You’re bound to that mirror!” All the anger was gone; Nxlar was grinning with pure glee. “The mighty Dreambender, bound away and pleading for my help… this is the best day of my existence!”

“Pleading for your help? I’m not-!”

“Oh, just wait until the Midway Bar hears about this!”

“No, don’t tell the- ugh.” Alcor dragged a hand down his face. “Okay, fine, I might be kind of slightly bound right now-“

“Kind of? You’re more stuck to that thing than the last piece of flesh on a bone!” She cackled with delight. “Aww, little Alcor, don’t look so embarrassed! Getting bound happens to the best of us - or wait, what am I saying, of course it doesn’t!”

She then collapsed into a fit of laughter. Eyebrows drooping, Alcor picked up the chalk again.

“Okay, cool, we’ve had our fun. I’m just gonna draw a banishment ward now.”

“You’re a little - a little weakling!” Nxlar was wiping yellowed tears from her eyes. “A little human-born weakling, trapped in a mirror! How’d they trap you, did they pwomise to be your fwiend?”

Alcor rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’re very funny, Nxlar. Goodbye.”

He finished the ward and pressed a hand to it. Nxlar was still cackling away as it began to glow.

“Sure, I’ll leave!” A tentacle waved as she faded away. “I got such a story to tell at the Midway Bar - why don’t you come down there sometime? Oh, wait, you-“

And she was gone mid-quip, though Alcor didn’t think he was missing much. He pinched his nose and let out a low groan; there goes his reputation. He was never going to hear the end of this after he got unbound, wasn’t he?

Oh… well. That was a problem for another day. Staring down at the thick grimey sludge left behind in the circle, he was glad at least that he got what he wanted.

“Here’s our demonic essence,” he said through the mirror. “I’ll just spread this over the room, and then you can get some well-deserved sleep, okay Piper?” A pause. “Piper?”

No response, and after a moment, another snore broke through. Oh, she was out , and he didn’t blame her. He could feel her scattered dreams, her flashes of fear as the dangers replayed themselves in her mind… Alcor made a face, and touched the mirror to her forehead. He wondered if he could still do this. Concentrating, he sent a pulse of his power through the mirror, and into her mind.

He felt her dreams settle down, felt the edges smooth out into a soft, pleasant grey, and he smiled. Good. It was the least he could do for her. And this body was exhausted as well - he just had one thing left to do, and then he’d let it rest.

There were a couple plastic cups over by the motel sink, and Alcor grabbed them and started scooping as much sludge into them as he could fit. It was thick, disgusting ooze, and he shuddered as he stuck his hand into one. He started painting along the baseboard, moving beds and tables that got in the way, leaving a black, smelly continuous line through the entire room.

Once that was done, he stepped back, careful not to wipe his forehead. There. The angel wouldn’t be able to maintain a consistent hold on Mag in this room; if it was trying to keep him in the dark, it wouldn’t come in.

His face tightened. Mag… he was going to find a way to reach him. But for now, he couldn’t help him. He could only help Piper, and he swore, he was going to find a way to get her out of this mess.

He finally walked her body over to the bed, lay her down on the mattress, and pulled the covers over her body. He kept a hold on the mirror as he propped it up on the other pillow, adjusting his view until he could keep watch on the door.

“Goodnight,” He said, softly, and then he closed her eyes.

His own stayed open, a soft yellow glow shining in the darkness.

______________________________________________________________

It was a cultist. It was a cultist.

That was the first thing running through Mag’s mind as he came to. The wave of agony that crashed over him; everything, everything hurt. His ribs felt broken, he couldn’t breathe through his nose, he tried to move his arm and felt such a spike of pain it made him sick to his stomach - oh, that was dislocated. Ow. Ow.

“Oh my stars!”

Bright headlights were torture to his pounding head. Through his swimming eyes, he saw a silhouetted figure approaching him.

“Are you- are you okay?!” He watched them cup their hands over their mouth. “Oh my… d-don’t move, dude, I’ll… I’ll call an ambulance! Hold on!”

An ambulance, shit. Mag gritted his teeth, and dragged himself forward. Every movement was a herculean effort, and he could feel the little pebbles of the tarmac scraping themselves along raw and shredded skin. A car on the highway zoomed past so close to him - he needed to get out of here. He needed to get out of here now. Come on, he needed to heal!

“H-hello, 911? Yes! Yes, oh my stars! I-I found a man on the highway! He’s really hurt, you gotta send someone quick!”

It came slowly, reluctantly. Mag squeezed his eyes shut as his shoulder snapped back into place; there was a pop in his chest as his rib reset itself. He got to his knees, and the tattered rags of his clothes hung loosely from him as he got his feet underneath him.

“Y-yeah, I’m on the 101, exit… Oh, I don’t know!” The man had his back to Mag, peering desperately into the darkness as he approached. “I-I don’t, maybe I can drive to find the nearest one? O-or should I stay with him, he really needs help! I-I can…”

Mag’s foot scraped on the tarmac, and the man glanced back - glanced, and then turned around with wide, horrified eyes.

“I-I can…” His eyes traced up, up the filthy orange prison jumpsuit, all the way up to meet Mag’s eyes. He backed up against his car. “I… I…”

Mag could hear the 911 operator still talking in his ear. He reached forwards, plucked the phone out of his hands, dropped it to the ground and stepped on it.

“Sorry, man.” Mag said, and tried the car’s handle; it swung open. “And sorry about this, too. It’s a bad day for both of us, eh?”

Then he squeezed himself into the car and started the engine; the man, standing frozen in front of the headlights, quickly scampered out of the way. Stepping on the accelerator, Mag sped up on the shoulder before merging onto the highway. Hair was in his eyes - he shoved it back, then put two hands on the wheel and leaned forward.

“Come on,” he muttered. “Can’t lose her now. Hold on, Piper.”

His hands tightened on the wheel - tightened on the gun pointed at-

It was a cultist.

That voice… his voice, but not his words, he knew. And the memory that flashed in his mind now, the gun pointed at a hooded figure with a knife, it was blurry, surreal.

It wasn’t his own, he knew. The angel altered his memories sometimes; there were things it knew he couldn’t handle, things he could sleep better at night without. It knew what was best for him.

It was a cultist.

All he had to do was trust it, and it’d keep him safe.

It was a cultist.

It’d keep his family safe.

It was a cultist.

It’d show him how to bind Alcor away, and they’d work together to dismantle every sick cult that tore families like his apart, to make a world where what happened to Scarlett would never, ever happen again.

It was a cultist.

He didn’t need to think. He didn’t need to feel. He just had to give himself over, give himself completely, let himself become a hammer to be wielded, an instrument through which the angel could reach into the world and wipe away the darkness wherever it existed.

It was a cultist.

He didn’t need to think, and that was good, really. He wasn’t a smart guy - he never had been. He was a warm, mortal body, and that was all he needed to be. He just needed to trust in the angel, and everything would turn out okay.

It was a cultist.

He just needed to trust the angel. It knew what it was doing. It knew what it was doing.

…

Why was that giving him a pit in his stomach?

Mag grimaced; he could feel his arm pulsing. A cold presence was pushing itself into his mind, pushing him to the side. He closed his eyes, letting him swallow him up, and he thought no longer.

Glowing eyes opened in his place, and peered into the darkness.

There was a motel coming up on the side - the sign read ‘COZY JOE’S CHEAP MOTEL ROOMS’. It looked at the sign, looked at the long, squat building just off the side of the highway.

It looked… and it drove on.

#transcendence au #toothwrites #magnus wright #Nxlar the Antithetical #mizar #alcor the dreambender

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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Oh I LOVE this this is just as good as the Jumblr post :DDD

The Stanley Pines Memorial Library goes on Yelp. Reviews are mixed.

The spiritual successor to my TAU Dashboard Simulator post.

#transcendence au #gnome you've done it again <3

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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The Comfort of Agony, Chapter 7

He didn't know what she was so angry with him for, but he probably deserved it.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

It was dark outside the store, but Piper swore she could feel the fluorescent lights beating down on her. She stood in line, shuffling slowly forwards until it was her turn. Dumping everything on the counter, she watched the cashier take a long look at her items before his gaze flitted up to her. The lights buzzed loud in the stretching silence - she tried for a smile.

“Hi,” she managed. “Uh, busy day, huh?”

“Hmph.” He grunted, and picked up a box of chalk. “You got a lot of these.”

“Yeah! Um - sidewalk party! We’re, uh, we’re all gonna draw on the sidewalk!”

“I see. Lot of candles, too.”

Piper laughed - it sounded way too loud. “Yeah… power outage? At my house?”

“Uh huh. And the sigil ink is for school, yeah? I hear that one all the time.”

“It’s… i-it’s, uh…” She looked at his raised eyebrow, and stretched her smile. “Look… I really need this.”

The man stayed still a moment longer… then, with a sigh and a shake of his head, he picked up the scanner. Beep, it went, and Piper tried to take a deep breath. She glanced down at the mirror in her purse, her heart pounding in her chest.

Beep. Beep. The man stuffed everything into two shopping bags and tapped his screen.

“Comes to, ah, one ninety seven, sixty six. Cash or card?”

“Card?” Piper blinked. “Oh, uh, I mean, card, yeah! Here you go - or wait, I scan it.”

After fumbling through the payment, she snatched up the bags, took her receipt, and hurried out of the store. The parking lot was dark, with glass crunching under her feet and the roar of cars speeding through the nearby highway. There was a shadowy figure smoking against the wall, and Piper tried not to look like she was walking too fast as she made a beeline for her car over at the gas station.

Once she was in, with all the doors locked, she tossed the bags onto the seat next to her and let out a huge breath.

“Oh, my stars,” she said, patting her pockets for her keys. “He totally knew what I was buying that stuff for. Do you think he’s gonna call the cops on me?”

“Probably not?” Alcor made a face. “He probably wouldn’t have sold it to you in the first place, but, uh… we should probably go. Quickly. Piper?”

“I’m working on it, where’s my- oh! In my hand!” A nervous laugh as she put her keys in the ignition. “Sorry, uh… getting a little tired, I think. Been a long day.”

“I know. We’ll be stopping for the night soon, though.” Alcor strained to peek over the dashboard. “We passed a motel a couple minutes ago, right? If you drive back that way, that’s probably the closest one.”

“Yeah,” Piper said, a little distracted as she pulled out of the parking lot. “Yeah, that’s… I’ll do that.”

It was quiet as she accelerated down the ramp, and merged back into the highway. The road stretched out endlessly ahead of her, the streetlights passed her by one by one by one; stars, she felt like she’d been driving for a lifetime. She shifted a little in her seat, rolled her shoulders, rubbed her eyes. Glanced over at Alcor, and made a face.

“So, uh,” she started, if only to break the silence. A few seconds passed as she thought of how to follow it up. “I still don’t get it. We’re summoning demons… to bind an angel?”

“Exorcise an angel, binding’s just a part of that.”

“Uh, okay?”

“It’s, uh, different.” Alcor took one look at her expression, and sighed. “I get it, this is way out of your comfort zone. But I promise, this is the safest way I can think of to get the materials. We’re summoning weak demons with strong binding circles, and we’re not even making deals with them, okay?”

“Okay…” Piper turned the wheel as she took a gentle turn. “Then, uh, what are we doing with them?”

“Nothing. We don’t need them - we need their chalk.”

“Chalk?”

She glanced at the shopping bag full of chalk they’d already bought, and he seemed to anticipate her question. “Chalk from a used summoning circle - it’s imbued with a low level of demonic essence. Once we get enough of it, we should be able to use it to trap the angel like normal chalk can be used to trap demons. We’ll need more complicated stuff later, but it can wait for when you’re not exhausted.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Piper said, slowly. “But why doesn’t normal chalk work?”

“It’s, uh, complicated.” A short laugh. “But basically, angels aren’t drawn to the physical world the same way demons are, so they can’t be bound in the same way. It’s not exactly harder, but the materials for it are different - not exactly stuff you can just buy in a store.”

“Okay…”

“The simplest way to repel an angel is with demonic essence. That’s why we’re doing this tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow - summon a few demons in your motel room and he won’t come near. You can sleep easy!”

“Sleep easy,” Piper echoed, rubbing her eyes. “I hope so.”

She was starting to feel warm sitting back in her seat; she shifted around again, turned on the AC and blasted it right at her face. She kept her eyes fixed on each road sign as it came out of the black and sped past her, waiting for that motel. Come on, she thought, any minute now…

She was so focused on the road ahead, she didn’t notice the dark figure of a car merging onto the highway and smoothly pulling up behind her. The lights came on in an instant; Piper jumped in her seat at the sound of a siren, and then her stomach dropped at the flashing blue and red lighting up her dashboard.

“Oh, shoot!” Piper gripped the steering wheel; she realised she’d swerved a bit out of the lane and quickly corrected. “Shooot… Alcor? What do we do?”

“The cops - dammit, this is the last thing we need.” Alcor strained to look out of the side mirror. “Uh, stay… stay calm? Maybe he’s pulling someone else over?”

The highway was empty but for the two of them; Piper made a face. “I don’t think he is.”

She flicked on her signal and started slowing down; Alcor blinked. “You’re pulling over?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“You can’t do that!”

“What do you mean I can’t do that?”

“You’re a missing person! He probably recognised your car!”

“Maybe he’s just here for the demonology stuff?” Piper eyed the plastic bags. “We could hide those somewhere, right?”

“It doesn’t matter where you hide it if he runs your plates, Piper!” Alcor watched in panic as they kept slowing down - he banged on the glass. “Piper! Piper, he’s gonna take you into custody! Piper-”

“What am I supposed to do?!” She snapped. “Run from the cops? I’m in a fucking Camry, Alcor!”

Alcor didn’t respond to that. Piper took a few short breaths as she turned onto the shoulder; her eyes were burning, and she rubbed them.

“It’ll be - it’ll be fine, okay?” She came to a stop, grabbed the plastic bags, and opened her glovebox. “We just act natural, right?”

“Piper-”

“We just act natural.” She tried closing the glovebox; she forced it up a few times as the plastic bags bulged. “It’s not like they can arrest me, right? I haven’t done anything wrong - I’m the one who got attacked! They can’t arrest me for getting attacked, right!”

“Piper-”

“Agh, stupid little- this is just perfect!” She slammed the glovebox one more time, and watched through blurring eyes as everything came tumbling out onto the floor. “What am I supposed to do?! I’m screwed! I’m screwed!”

Alcor spoke quietly. “You’re not screwed.” He said. “It’s gonna be okay, okay? Take a deep breath.”

Piper took in a shuddering breath, and pressed her hands to her face as she let it out. “I’m so fucking tired.”

“I know. I’m sorry. We’ll be on the road soon, okay?” When she glanced over at him, she found a reassuring smile on his face. “Once this is over, we’ll be at the motel, and you’ll be able to go to sleep. You’ve done a traffic stop before, right?”

“...Yeah.” Another deep breath, in, and out, and then she set her jaw. She looked behind her, at the blinding white headlights shining through her back window, then over to the glovebox again. “Okay. License and registration.”

“Yeah!” Alcor watched her dig through the papers that had spilled into the footwell. “I’ll dim myself, too. I’ll look like a normal mirror, but I can keep an eye on things, okay?”

“Okay.” Piper heard footsteps just as she found her registration; she sat up, and put her hands on the wheel. “Okay, okay.” Glancing over at the mirror, she found it blank, just as he said. Chalk boxes were still strewn around the footwell, but there was nothing she could do about them now - hopefully he wouldn’t notice. Nothing to do about it now.

“Okay, okay, okay.”

She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as a bright light came up to her window. She couldn’t see the figure well behind the flashlight; but a hand reached out and knocked on the glass, and she rolled it down.

“Uh, hi officer, I just-”

Click. Piper paused at a strange noise… and then froze as the cold, hard barrel of a gun pressed itself against her temple.

“Don’t move,” said Mag’s voice with an eerie echo, and Piper didn’t dare to breathe. From the corner of her eye, she could see the mirror light up again, could see a furious brickwork demon come roaring into view.

“Y̵̛̘̼͛̿͋̊̏̈͘ö̵͇͕͕̩̹͉́͌́̀̄̀͌̽̄͘͘͜͠ȕ̶̮̦͒͒͆̐͐̔̈̚,” Alcor snarled as the angel put away the flashlight; the pure glow of his gaze cast its own light into the car.

“Ȋ̸k̷͖o̷̮ẅ̸̘́w̴h̷̠̓ã̴̲t̵̞́ ỵ̵̆ȏ̷̠u ̷̻͠d̴͚͗ĭ̸̼d. Ŷ̸̈́͊o̴̰͛̂u̸̬̱̮̇̔̐ t̴̑̈́̈͐̀̎u̵̾̈͌͋r̶̛̯͋̅̑͌̍̈́ņ̷͓̓͐̀͘̕͠͠e̶͐d h̷̀è̷r̸͂ ̵͔̃͆̽͌̾͜͠͝ Ä̴̝͇̼̮̋̋͝G̷̡̱̜̩̮̥̼̍̾̍͆͋̏Ā̴̠̽̌̈́Í̵̡̥̙̱̯͕̪̃̒͊̀̃͜N̸̗͚̜̱̤̈́Ś̶̩̻͖̺́͆̍̎̀̒Ṯ̸̨̻͍̜̹̀͒͌͗̚͜ ̵̘̼̾̃̈́̀͑̍͆Ṁ̸̪̟̍̈́̿̏̏͘̚E̶̺̝̝̺̮͕̎̅! W̷̝̲͎̥̮̪̄͒H̷̨̞͍̜͓͒̆͋̆́̈́͐͗̽̈́͋̓̈́̽̄̚ͅE̵̡̧̨̱̜͎̟̠͓̪̯̓̋͐̈́̊̂̔̀N̶̡̨̢̧̥͙̪̝̘͇̹͈̜͕̓̉̔̽̅̌̃̋͐͂̕͠ ̶̢̛̬̤̪́̈́͋̔̍̇̚͝Ḯ̵̡̩̖̺̘̩͇̞̖̣̣͐͋͑̌̐͊́̀̌̊͌̕͜͝͝ ̵̨̡̨̫̤̠̯͈̫̥̩̈́̓̒͌͜ͅͅG̶̨̭̣̤̩̼̣̩̘̹̥̼̫͊͆̋͒̈̾E̵̡̡̹̞͈̫͕̭̥͙͈̩̠̰̟͗̀̊͂̄̅̄̐͆̅͂̓̀̏̒̚͠ͅT̸̡͔͉̥̂̍̊ ̵̨̡̣͈̦̻̺̽͑̐̃͗̑̅̕͘͝Ǫ̵̨̛̪͙̫̰̤̻̟̩̰͕̍͐͛͌̈̉̃͂͆͜͝U̴̮͎̻̬̝̙̟̪͕̼͇̩̱̱̗̐̎̓̃̏͒̈͑ͅͅT̴̨̧̤͚̲̩̗͖̞͉̼̉̂̒́́͜ ̸̢̱̞̜͉̈́̿͛͊̀̊͛͛́̒̋͝Ȫ̸̱̲̪̻͈̩̫͙̮̥̠̼͐̓͘ͅF̸̧̝̼̣̮̼̾͊͗̂̎̔̇̈̄̄͜͝ͅͅ ̴̧̡̛͈͖̞̞͙̙͓̂͆͒̂̊ͅH̵̛̱͖̒̈̔͗̏͆̄̔̔̿̏̀̈́̚̚̚Ȩ̸̢̛̥͈̳̠̦̫̩̹̙̩̼̅̒̔̅̉̇Ŗ̶̛͈͈̯͖͇̖͓̟̼͈̖͒͜E̸̢̙̱̯͙̙̣̘̤̟̹̲͊̓̉͋̈̈̿͗̏̌̀̿̈́̚͜͝ ̴͖̹̜̣͚̋̈́̌̓̍̐̈̀͗̈́̕̕İ̷̙̲̺͌͛̌̋͐͘ ̸̡̨̧̝͈̹̠̦̪̞̗͈̱̪̟͇̾̉́̈̅̄̎̓̽͒̒̓̕͝͝ͅẀ̸̢͍̞͇̻̙̱̳̃̑̔͆͛̈́̔́̈́̎̚I̸͈͖̘̬̲̥̮͊͑͂͊̍̈̔͂̐̉̔̓̓͜Ĺ̶̜̯͉̪̗͕̘̳̺͙͖̊̊͐͐͒̃͗̋͊̀̿͠͝L̷̢̡͖̞̯͇̳͔̻̤̜̖̤̈́̑̒̏̉̏̉͂͘͘͝ ̸̨̡̛͓̦̳̮̺̦͉͈̘̥̓̅͂̌̓̑͑̅̓̍͠͝T̸̨̨͎͇̮͓̰̖͖̙̖̟͗̾̂ͅE̶̡̧̪̗̿A̴̢̮̺̟̭̺̝͇̲̫͔̓̒̔̅̀̅͒̄̉̇̄̿͘͝Ȑ̷̢͚̳̳͍̖̱͕̺͔̆̈́̍͋̌̃́͛͊̌̿͛̀ͅ ̴͖̋̂͌̀́̅͗̑̕Y̴̛̛̞̬̺̞̠̩͉̹̜͎̟̆̈́̿͆͑͘͜Ò̵̧̡̡͈̹̮̩͊̿͆̀́̃̊̚Ǘ̷̡̧̜̤̟͓̞̼̮̦͖͖͓̗͔̯͒́̎̽̓̏̊̀̈ ̶̢̧͙̞͉̺̱͎̙͔̠̟̲̹̠̼͆͌̾̎̈̊̅̽F̴̡̦͉̦̠͖̭̹̘̥̉̈͑̌̑̌͜͝ͅR̸̞̗̫̒͠Ȯ̴̙̳̙̽̅̾̇̐͂̈́͗̈͌͛̈̋͘̚͝M̶̢̡̨̠͎̬͉̺͓͕͚̖̮̩̗̖̒̀̂ ̸̧̢̪̞͈͍͖̠̞̱̙͉̹̳̔̊̊̈́͘L̵̢̨̡̠͉̪̼̣̲͖̜̭̍͛̔̔͆̏̅͑̋͋̒̐̊̅̀͜I̶̢̨̲̼̤̭̘͖̭̼̻̲̘̥̰̋̈́͆̉̂Ṃ̸̡̢̖̲͎̱͍̮͓̱͓̰͓̆̈́̂̿̽͆̏̔̇͐͜͜ͅB̸̧̧̢̛̛̬͖̭̖͚̥̣̖̞͖̫͙̪͐̇͐̽̀͂̈͋͆͂͑͌͜ ̵̡̛̳̲͓̟̩͕̏̄̏̽̐̌͑̾̍T̵̯̗̝̘̬̙̐̈́̆̿̀̀̈́̀͒́̄̚͝O̴̼̯̊͐̅̌͛͘ ̶̨̛͚̘͎͉͛̊̍̔͒́̔̅̒̈́L̴̞̩̟̟̹͈̞̼̬̞̝͉̻̳͕̝͑̽̏̔͆̈́̾͒̓̽͘͘̕ͅI̷̡̳̜̬̠͈̭̥̥̙͖͚̫͔͌̄͐͐̃̆͋͜M̴͓̱̙̤̼̮͍͓͗͐̚͠B̶̢̲̖͙͕̊͛̇̐̀,̴̣̲͖͎̳͓̣̊̈́̽͗̂́̂͋̍́̾̈́̾ͅ ̶̞̟͖́̐̔̑Ǎ̷̛̜̻̥͚̲̫̲̩̥̗̘̩̳͇͍̇̂̈́̋͋̾̈́̕N̸̜͔͔͓̼̘̱͚̼͙̈̐̂̈̅͜͜G̶̻̘͖͙̣̃E̷̺͇̳̜̗̼͓̙̥̼̯̟̱̎͑͌͛̆̚͝͝͝L̷̰͓͛̅͊̏͆̓̋ͅ!̵̛̼̗̮͖̩͖̙̟̊͆̂͌̏̈͑̓͑̒̓͊̋͆̒͜͠ ̸̙͓̺͈͙̦͎̝̖̱͆̈́͜I̴̛̜͈͚̞̪͔͚͙̬͈̯͌͛͂́̉̈́̿́̊̈̚͝ ̸̡̧̨̫̞͈̥̳̠̰̰͕̙͚̺̈̊͗͑̇̾͊̍̈́̈́̾̑̄͛͝W̶̢̳͙̝͍͕̱͖̌̓͐̽̀̈́̕I̴̠̹͐̈́̐̎͑̓͐̈́̈́̚͝͝L̴̪̩̤͓̣̿͜L̷̢̛͉̪͍̾̿̀͊̏̓̌͊͊͗̇ ̸̮̫̺͙̹͉͖̺̻͙̤̙̜͖̋̂͐͛͒͊̅̅̐͝M̵̻̩̱̥̪̩͉̳͑̽͒̈́̅̏͊̔ͅA̸͓̱͇̫͛̂͊̑̃Ḱ̵̛͍̺͚̋͆̂̈́̀͗͑́̃̈́̒̚͝E̷̡͎͔͎̭̓̒́̕ ̵̪̠̘̿̆̀͂̈́̓̂͛͐̿͌̉̃͆̚͜Ỳ̸̢̛̼͕͈͙̟̩͓̼̣͇̹̀͛̍̔͑͆͊͋̑̚͜Ớ̷̧̠̟̺̘̜̖̼̫͇͔̣̣̦̫̥̝̏̈́͆̽́̔̊̿͆̂̍̕̕͠͝U̷̔́͒ͅ ̴̯͍͌̆͐̇̌͗͗͐̃̽̽Ẅ̷̧̢̢͔͖̳̤̳̜̦̖̝̱̺͖̲͔́̍̆̔̽I̶̛̩̫͈͍̬̤̗̹̽̚Ş̶̧̠̠̬̝̪̹͔̣̱͖̱̋̄̑́͝H̷͎̩͍͔̥̫̗̓̍̈́̄̉̉͂̀̅̏̾͗͐̓͜͝ͅ ̵̨̢͚̻̬̤̝̤̠̰̦̞̥̭̻͂̅̽̾̌͜͜Y̸̧̙̰͍̣̹͍̏̓̓͆͗̊̈́̇̈́̄̊̒͜͠Ō̵̞͔͈̜͙̂̅̅̂͗̏̀̂̑̕U̴̞͍͕̗̣͋̊̒͌͂̓̀̃̓͘ ̵̱͖͖̰͕̦̰̪͔̺̜̖̤̮̝̊̅̀̍͋̋̒̊̈́̋̔̓̕H̸̨̧̨̛̭̼̠̮̣̝̬̟̱̭͐̋̋̈͆̉̎͘̚ͅĄ̷̙̗͓̱̘̼̗͈̪̣͔̓͊̈̊̽̄̋̅D̵̠̝̗̖̱͓̋ ̵͕̞̪̎̐͛̒̀̋́̄̑̓̾͝͝N̵̛̛͙̮͙̠̗̲̥̙̬̻͔̱̘͍̐͛̿̾̎͗̅̎̎̎̈̃͝͝Ȇ̸̙͍̺̠̻̙̫͖̿̓͗̇̀̌̕͜ͅṼ̵̢̢̘̯̘̻̫̞̲͍̳̥͚̬̟͗͊E̸̘͚̣̲̱̭̪̥̱̗̔͌́̚͠͝͝͝͝R̸̘̜͇̈́͛̒ ̴̢̧͉̟̹͉̙͉͙̣͔̥͇͖̭̇̇̐̔̅͂̃̓͛̔̇͘̚͘͝͝͝B̵͇̬̮͚̟̤̹͕͙̫͒̀̐̃̏̽͊̇̕Ē̴̢̛͋̑̀̎̉̈́́͌͐̓͆̕͠͠Ę̵͍̟̭̬͋̒̔̇͝N̴̨̢̨̳̜̥͖̖̫͍̯̔̐̈́̉̋̓͗͐͑̊͑̑̅̀͆̑͊ ̴̠̟̖͓̞̲̊̆̈͗͛͂̄̌͑̔͘̕͘C̵̰̝̒̒̄̅̕R̵͕͇͓̫̭̘̯̦̙͖̱̱̬̙͑̋̿̓͑̌̌̈́̀͜͠͝E̸̲̰̰͙̼̟̼̥͂̅̽̋͌͗̋̐͜͝A̵̭̥͍͐͗̈́̐͋͝͝T̷̝̼̼͍̰̞͇̩̬��̣͛̎̍̋͛̆̈̍̕͘ͅE̶̡̡͎̩̼͙͕̟̲̔̒̌̋̀̋͋̇́͋̆͗̽̌̋̕̕D̵̡̨̮̯̱̠͎̣̟̘̥̙͈͙̰́̇̊̓̍̏̔́̚ͅͅ!̶̛̤͙̖̌́̈́̌̌̐́̓̈́̿̕͘ ̸̧͕̫̺̠̣̘̥̫͖̹̐͌̊́̔͜I̷̺̼̪̲̥̣̘̎̾̇̿̄͐͘ ̴̫͔́̋͒̃W̵̺̊͐́͆̀̋̍̚͘I̷̛͓̝͓̖̤̬͕̣̙͚̊̆̒̑̇͐L̷͎̎͂̀͊̔̆̍͋͋̍̂̂̃̚͠͠Ľ̵̲̳͙͔̖̍̑̓̽̔̕͝͠ ̴̨͕̙̦̳̟͕̟̱̮̲̫̀̏̃̆̕͜͝͠H̶̟̥̤̖̐̓́̎͛͠͝ͅȖ̶̺̙͍̹͓̝͙̦̔̈͑́̋͝ͅǸ̷̹̼̪͎̤̞͓̝̦̰̿̍̈́͗͌͒̍̕̕Ţ̵̨̤͚̬̖̮̈́͊͐́̽̈́́̀̄̕͜͠͝͠͠ ̶̡͕̤̝̫͚̝̮͕͕͋̀̄͂̈̒ͅY̴͔͉̞͌̅̅̀̃͋̂̐͝͝O̴̢͑̉̒̽̒̍̿̌̌̇͛͆̌͠U̷̢̢̟̖͕͓̱̘̘̝̘̱͋̓͂̎̊̊͒̓̑̏̍͒͜ ̴͙̰̜̘͙̭̪͔̱̞̔͋̒͌́͛̂̈́͋̄́̐͗̕͜D̶̯̖̺̃́̈́̏́̈́͊͗̐͑̒̐̐̿̃͘͝O̵̧̳̟̜̳̞̐̐͋͊̈̒̇́͗̀̎͘͠͠W̸̧̟̱̹͈͇̰͔͈̥̠͔͔̔̐͌̈͗̓̀̈́̋̒͒̕͜͝͠͝Ṋ̴͕̩͌͋̒̅̚ ̶̧̛̩̝͎̗̘̊̐͒̂̃̍́͆́͝T̷̢̰̗̫͙̥͎̱͉͖͉̿͜͜ͅƠ̵͍̓̀̆̓̇̆͊̿͑̂̾̚̚͠͝ ̸̺̂͋̀Ț̶̛̠̰͈͕̗̗͚̭̜̈͐͋̈́͐͒̀̈́͘ͅH̸̛̻͙͚̱̪͖͚͚̟̾̈̓͆̇͌̍̎̊̍͝͝ͅÊ̶̦̝͖̪͖̗̻͚̼̥̓ ̵̧̮̻͚͚̪͛̊́͒̃̅͑͐̈̅͊͗̈́͝Ě̶̢̝̳̟̬̫͚̗͓̖̱̮̳̳͓̑̒̓̋̽̈́N̶̢̪͚̣͓͎͇̪͕͉̗̏̀̈́̑̂͑͘͝D̸̛̛̛͇̈̾̍̑̽̀̐̏̀͒̓͘͝S̴̡̨̡̛͕̰̼̠͉͇̗̥͇͖̳̈̽͌̒͗̎̾̈̒̇͊̋͝ ̸̲͈͎̄́̉̋̎̂̈́͘͘͠͝Ǫ̵͚̬̮͉̻̙̭̦̠̘̞̦̉ͅͅF̴̢̧̫̤̘͚͚̟̊͗͗̈́̓͛̀͜ ̶͚̲̲̓̏̀̂͛͆Ţ̴͙̦̞͇͔̹͎̝̲̳͖̗̳̲̇̔̾̊H̴̡̻̺͖̘͈̩̭̦̤̪̱̭̭̙͇̿̂̉Ę̶̛͖̱͎̜͉̗͔̗̱̜̭͛͑̏̈́͛̎̈͛̐̋̔ ̴͍̟̘͈̩̞̩̄͒̋͊̍͑͋͆̊͒̆̋͒̓̈́̚E̵̘͗̃́̌͂A̴͍̳̩̪͖̠̭̼͔͍̳͐͗͝ͅŖ̵̪̙͔̲̱̀͋̒̾Ţ̸̨̛̫̬͕̾͂͆͐̈́̔̚̚͘͝H̴͓͍̗͗̾̈́̀,̴̧̼͕̪̦̘͚̦̺̹̼͈̣́̂̓̔̒̈́͝ ̶͖̺̈̇̈́̐̊͑̚̕

Piper squeezed her eyes tight as Alcor descended into a furious static - she could smell the burnt plastic of the car seat, could feel his words tearing at her eardrums. And the gun to her head… Oh, god, she thought. Oh, god, oh god, oh god. This couldn’t be real. She was dreaming. Please let her be dreaming.

But when Alcor’s fury finally died down, the gun pressed harder.

“Open your eyes.” Mag’s voice was flat. Emotionless. “Look at me.”

Her heart was beating like a rabbit. She couldn't get enough air in her lungs. Oh god oh god oh god-

“Look at me or die.”

Those icy words cut through her panic, and she opened her eyes, looked into the pure white light of the angel’s gaze. Mag’s face was completely obscured by the brightness; all she could see of him was the tattered orange jumpsuit on the arm holding the gun. A terrified whimper escaped her lips; she wanted to cover her mouth, but she didn’t dare move.

The angel stared at her for a moment, its alien gaze raking down her form. Then it spoke again.

“This is the end of the chase.” It said. “I let the air out of your tires. I cut your brake lines. I have total control, and I will kill you the second you step out of line. Do you understand?”

Piper could feel a sob welling up her throat. She just nodded.

“This is how you survive. I will tell you exactly what I want you to do, and you will do it immediately. Look at me. Do you understand?”

Piper looked at it, looked at those terrible eyes. And as she did, she realised she could see just the barest hint of something underneath catching its glow; she could see Mag’s lips, twisted up into a garish smile.

A smile. It was enjoying this.

“Do you understand?”

Piper swallowed back the bile rising in her throat, and nodded. From the corner of her eye, she could see something move in the mirror.

“Piper…” Alcor started - but what could he say? The barrel of the gun pressed ever harder against her temple, and he fell silent.

“The plastic bags.” said the angel. “Wrap them around the mirror, but do not touch it. If you touch it, I will kill you.”

Piper was terrified - terrified of the angel, and terrified of a hot, reckless anger building in her chest. Calm down, she thought. Don’t get yourself killed, she told herself.

(Like it’s not going to kill you anyway, it whispered back. You’re just another Scarlett.)

“Do you understand?”

Piper struggled to look at those eyes. She bit her lip, and nodded.

“Good. Do it now.”

The barrel pulled back a fraction, and Piper worked quickly. She dumped everything out of the plastic bag, spread it over the mirror, and turned it inside out to fit it in. Alcor watched her worriedly.

“Piper?”

The handle was still sticking out. Piper emptied the other bag, and pulled it tight over the handle. The plastic bulged a bit at the point; she picked it up, and looked back at the angel.

“Good,” it said, those eyes moving as it nodded. The gun was still pointed right at her head. “You may redeem yourself yet, child.”

(Redeem herself, snarled a voice inside of her. The fucking audacity.)

“Now hand it over, and I will let you go.”

“Piper?” Alcor’s voice was high and panicked as she started to move. “Wait, Piper, you can’t! Please, he’ll kill you, he’s lying! Piper, please!”

Piper paid no attention. The plastic crinkled as she presented the mirror to him, handle first.

“Piper, think of your Dad! Think of Mag!” A hand was coming forwards, reaching for the mirror. “Remember what he did to Scarlett, you can’t hand me over! Piper!”

Piper held the mirror steady as the hand came forwards, forwards, milliseconds passing like minutes as the blood pounded in her ears. She waited, waited until the hand was right over the mirror, waited until the fingers were curling around the covered handle and take him away from her forever - and then she moved. In the blink of an eye her hand tightened on a fistful of the plastic bag and she wrenched it back with all her strength; the bare handle pierced through the bottom of the bag just as the angel’s hand grasped it.

Demonic essence. For a terrifying instant, Piper thought it hadn’t worked; he didn’t burn, but after a moment his whole body tensed up like he’d touched a live wire. He stumbled back with a strangled yelp, tearing the mirror from her hands and dropping it on the tarmac as his hands moved up to grasp his head.

Piper didn’t want to get out of the car, but she had to; she opened the door quickly, scurried over to the mirror, picked it up, and rose to her feet just as-

“Piper?”

Mag’s voice. Mag’s voice, and when Piper looked up at him she saw his eyes, wide and confused, shining only dimly from the light of the moon.

“What…?” He blinked a few times, frowning as he tried to make sense of the situation. His arm was still extended, and the confusion shifted to a growing horror as he realised he was holding a gun, pointing it right at her. “Piper? I don’t- agh!”

His eyes flashed, and he dropped the gun and went down to his knees. Piper stood there frozen, but she could feel a spike of urgency from the mirror; Alcor’s presence was pooling into her whole body, not taking over yet but standing ready.

“We’ve got to go,” he said. “Now.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She bolted towards her car, jammed herself into her front seat, turned the ignition and felt it roar to life.

She stomped the accelerator, and the car started going; but only at a crawl. The engine revved loudly - the dial went into the red - but it struggled to pick up speed.

“Piper!”

“I’m going!” The car shuddered as she turned it back to the highway. “Something’s wrong with it, I don’t know-”

A hand slammed down onto the side of the window. Piper caught a glimpse of furious white; a gun aimed right for her face, but she made it onto the tarmac and picked up a burst of speed. BANG! Her ears rang, her windscreen shattered, and the angel was dragged off its feet, hanging onto the door by his fingertips as they made it to fifteen miles an hour.

“Oh, my god.” Piper said, but she couldn’t hear her own voice through the ringing. She glanced to the side and saw him still hanging on as they broke twenty. “Oh, my god!”

His hand was over the open windshield; she tried to roll it up, but he was too heavy for the motor. Twenty five, and the whole car was shaking and juddering - she didn’t know how much longer it was going to run. They needed to get away from him before it gave out.

Alcor was saying something. She couldn’t make out his words, but it made her look down at the mirror. She grasped it firmly, raised it up above her head, and brought the edge down hard on his fingers. They slipped but held; there was a cry of pain, and another BANG that felt like it was tearing right through her eardrums. She cringed as she raised the mirror again, and brought it down with all her strength.

This time, the angel was dislodged; Piper felt the car pull hard to the left as the weight fell off the side. She struggled to correct it - nothing happened when she tried to brake, but she had just enough room to turn away from the guardrails and right herself.

And there she was. Alive. She stared forwards, eyes wide, chest heaving, heart hammering in her chest. Her knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The whole car was shaking; she could see broken glass from the windshield shuddering off the dashboard and falling onto her lap. The display was a flashing mess of warning signs.

She sat there for a moment, stunned. A sign passed them: COZY JOE’S CHEAP MOTELS - 5 MILES

A blink, and then a blink again.

Piper stayed there frozen for another moment, and then reached forwards, and turned on her hazards.

#transcendence au #toothwrites #alcor the dreambender #mizar #Magnus Wright #I added so much zalgo in this chapter I hit the character limit lol

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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Oh wow, these drawings look so cool! You've really brought them to life! I love how you've drawn all these characters, Darceus looks great, and the two nieces have such a cool design! I like how they look like siblings but have neat little differences in their designs :DD

Thank you so much, I love them!!

Some fanart of Darceus Alamastern from @toothpastecanyon ‘s Unto Dust fic!

The mane is fun to draw, so I just hc that it started growing after taking in her nieces (because female lions can grow manes!)

Please don’t count the number of tails on the big drawing, I did the lineart at 1 in the morning, and misinterpreted my sketch.

The markings on the nieces are a little funky, but they’re supposed to be silver foxes. I’m also stupidly proud of the tiny doodle.

#transcendence au #whoa!!#Darceus Alamastern

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toothpastecanyon · 1 month

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Hi! I’d like to start with the fact that your writing is PHENOMENAL, the way every first chapter is designed to grab the readers attention, with a mystery or a cozy little opening, establishing where the character is in life and their motives, or a sneak peek at the problem the characters must overcome.

I’m really bad at articulating my thoughts, but ur characters are really well written and I’d like to make more fanart of them, but I’m not quite sure what they look like.

(The only fics of your la that i KNOW you wrote are Unto Dust, and The Comfort of Agony (both of which are really good btw, I also love how you write existing characters, and your portrayal of them(especially Lucy Ann))

Anyway, because there are so many interpretations of species used in TAU, I got a little mixed up on what the non-human characters look like.

Darceus- in Lucy Ann and the Lunch Bunch, there is a Kitsune named Felicity, who is described as “looking a kind of like a human, and kind of like a fox” which my interpretation of is shown below. I forgot that that isn’t typical for kitsune characters in tau (even though she’s the only one since yours) and drew her in a similar way. ( also, are there any distinctive features on her nieces?) btw the LION idea is phenomenal, also do you think she has a mane? They’re fun to draw.

June- how big is she? I assumed she was the size of a human based on her interactions, but then I realized she might be looking down of people because she can fly. But then I remembered that it says she walks around. So then I confused myself. Also, skin tone, hair color/texture, eyes?

Beatrice- SHE IS SO WELL WRITTEN I felt genuinely angry while reading her meeting with Lucy Ann (in a good way) and she seems like someone you would meet in real life, totally obnoxious! Also, I don’t really know how TAU elves usually look so, idk anything about her skin tone or hair or eyes.

Here are pictures of my doodles in case you want to take a look, try to ignore the paper texture please.

Also, an old picture of Felicity:

Sorry if any of this is worded weird, im not that good at talking, but could you please give a solid description of the major/cool characters in Unto Dust?

(And in case I didn’t say it before, the Comfort of Agony is SO WELL WRITTEN there is too much for me to say about it!)

Oh wow, this is all so kind of you to say! Thank you so much - I'm so glad to hear you enjoy my writing, and I love the sketches you've done! You already have a lot of great designs and the characters look super expressive!

It's really exciting to be asked more of what my characters look like and I'll give you the best description I can, but I do want to note I often don't have a clear idea of what my characters look like - I like that writing lets a reader come up with their own spins on what a character looks like! So while I'm adding my own interpretation of my characters here, if you have a different idea you think works better or just looks cooler to you, I say go for it!

I'll organise my thoughts by each character:

Darceus: I was definitely inspired by @feferipeixes' character Felicity to make a kitsune character! I really like the mane idea you have going in your sketches, and female lions do occasionally grow manes! I like the way you've drawn her formal attire, with the nine tails spread out behind her like a sort of cape! You really brought her to life!

I probably still imagine her with a fox's colouration - I liked the lion imagery to evoke the broader facial features and just overall stockier build than an average kitsune.

The nieces: They're probably both young adults of average height. I don't have a clear idea of what they look like, but it might be fun to draw them as a different type or species of fox - silver foxes look really pretty with distinctive markings! They probably have less tails than Darceus, maybe three or so.

June: I definitely had the idea of her being average sized - I think writing it from Lucy Ann's perspective makes her seem taller as a lot of characters have to look down on her (sorry Lucy Ann!). I really like the wings you drew for her! She's a middle-aged lady with a little grey in her red hair, and probably likes wearing a lot of running gear - gotta train for that 10K!

Beatrice: I really like the long ears you've given her, that looks super distinctive! The loose t-shirt is really good. I probably imagine her with more of a pear shaped build with dark brown eyes and hair. If she does magic like in her appearances with Noie I like to think it'd look a lot how Mod V's elf OC Florian does it.

Also I definitely am looking for Lucy Ann to start wearing a glove! I'm not sure whether it would be fun to have it be a red glove to match the rest of her outfit, or if it's black or some other clashing colour to illustrate how she sees it as something unwanted and forced upon her.

That's all I can think of, but if you'd like anything more specific I'd be more than happy to help! Thank you again for this ask and your awesome sketches - if you end up drawing anything else I'd really love to see it!

Have a great day! :D

#transcendence au #lucy ann #this made my day!#toothasks #beatrice delion #worldbuilding #Dinner Crew

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toothpastecanyon · 2 months

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Unto Dust, Chapter 2

Lucy Ann was nothing if not a survivor. After weeks of being on the run from the Angel, she was looking forward to getting back to her life of wandering the world, and relaxing in the sun.

But this time, it may not be so easy for things to go back to normal.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

Lucy Ann remembered that day on the banks of the Thamesis. The fear that rose in her chest as light bled into the horizon, as the fading stars above slowly abandoned her to her fate. She remembered the terror, the struggle, the tears welling up in her eyes as she realised this was it, this was the end, there was nothing she could do…

Nothing she could do.

She remembered thinking those words; she remembered how, as she lay back, her eyes fixed on the orange glow beyond the river… they didn’t seem as scary, now. She had done all she could, lived a good, long life. A life that she’d miss - stars, she remembered how the only panging regret in that moment was that she’d reached the end of it.

But if this was truly it, then so be it. She’d hidden from the light for a thousand years, and as she lay there, she realised she’d forgotten just how beautiful the sun was when it rose. The glow of the clouds, the village in silhouette, the first few rays peeking through the trees on a distant hill… she took a deep breath, in, and out, and she smiled.

She wasn’t scared at all. And when the light finally reached her, and gently warmed her cold skin, she laughed until tears ran down her cheeks, because she was alive, she was alive, she was alive!

She was alive. Lucy Ann had drawn the corner of the blinds, and was peeking out at the grey glow of early morning when there was a knock on her door. She glanced over sharply, and stood there still until there was another knock and a voice.

“Hellooo, it’s June! Are we awake?”

Oh - the fairy who owned the condo. Lucy Ann cast a glance at the summoning circle still drawn on the floor before reluctantly slinking over to the door. She opened it to a winged woman in jogging gear with a paper bag in her hands; she gave a sparkling smile that Lucy Ann struggled to match.

“There we are! Gooood morning, darling!” She gave Lucy Ann a kiss on each cheek before gliding past her. “Sorry to pop in so early - I hope I didn’t wake you up! Just wanted to drop off some supplies before work!”

“Um, thanks?” Lucy Ann saw her notice the summoning circle as she set the bag down on the coffee table. “I, uh, was gonna clean that up.”

“Oh, don’t worry about a little Alcor circle! If you’re going to summon anything else, though, could I ask you put down a little protection ward on the floor?” She gave an airy laugh. “Demons just love scratching up the hardwood. Anyway, I popped down to the supermarket and picked you up a few more bloodpacks! You don’t mind B positive, do you?”

“No, that’s, that’s fine. I’m not picky.” Lucy Ann watched her open the fridge. “Thanks, again… uh, I can put that away-”

“Nonsense, guests sit down!” June waved her off, and then did a double take. “Oh no! Are you cold, dear?”

“Cold?”

“You’ve got my ski gloves on!”

Lucy Ann blinked, and looked down at the thick black glove on her hand. “Oh,” she said, and quickly hid it behind her back. “Right, uh… a little? But it’s fine.”

“Oh, you poor thing! Let me show you where the thermostat is!” Her wings fluttered as she made her way to what was very obviously a thermostat right by the couch. Lucy Ann made a face, but decided to play along. “Here it is! Now you just tap the screen, and you can set it to whatever you like, okay?”

“Okay.” Lucy Ann turned it up a few degrees, then gave a crooked smile. “That’s, uh, much better. Thanks.”

“I hope it’s more comfortable! I won’t have my guests needing to wear gloves in my house - that just won’t do!”

She made her way back to the fridge, leaving Lucy Ann to discreetly slip off the glove. June shut the fridge, and beamed at her.

“That should be you stocked up for the week! And if you need anything else, anything at all, you let me know, okay? You’ve got my number?”

“Yeah. Uh, thanks, June.”

“It’s no trouble at all, love!” She was folding up the paper bag she made her way towards the door. “Now I have to get back to my run, but I’ll see you… oh, I almost forgot!”

“What?”

“Darcy from the Dinner Crew wanted me to invite you to our monthly meeting this evening!” June took out a hairband and started tying her hair back as she spoke. “Everyone would love it if you could come - we’ve all been so thrilled to have an original member back in Portland! You’d be a guest of honour!”

Lucy Ann grimaced. Meeting a whole new Dinner Crew - she didn’t know if she was up to that right now. “Uh, that’s real kind of you to offer, but I’m not sure-”

“Oh, and it’ll be after sunset, of course!” June laughed to herself. “Don’t you worry, we wouldn’t invite you somewhere you couldn’t go!”

At that, Lucy Ann froze. It was what a lot of well-meaning strangers assumed about her, and it wasn’t unreasonable; there weren’t many vampires who lived long enough to walk in the sun. Normally she took a bit of smug satisfaction in correcting them - or if they were outside, simply staring blankly back until they realised - but today, she didn’t quite find the words in time.

“Anyway,” June continued, opening the door. “I really must run now, darling, but I’ll swing by at seven and give you a ride! Ooh, this is so exciting!”

And with that, she was gone, and it seemed like Lucy Ann was booked for the afternoon. Great. Wonderful. Letting the polite smile drop, she went over to slump on the couch, and dragged a hand down her face.

Ugh… Oh, well.

Maybe it’d be a good thing to get out of this house for a while. And meeting the newest cast of the Dinner Crew could be nice - June was certainly a sweet lady, even if she was a lot.

A glance at the blinds, a grimace at the glow behind them. And of course, it’d be fucking dark outside. Because that was something she had to worry about now, wasn’t it?

Lucy Ann stared down at her hands, and remembered the dirt on them as she clawed her way up the banks of the Thamesis. She remembered the long, stumbling path she took back to her safehouse, the times she had to stop and hide in bushes at the sounds of footsteps because stars, she didn’t know what they’d do to her if they found she hadn’t burned. She remembered the grime on her skin, the deep ache from bruises she was too weak to heal… and the wonderful warmth of the sun.

She remembered making it home, collapsing into bed, and sleeping for a whole season. By the time she awoke, she’d wondered whether the whole thing had been a crazy dream; had she really walked in the sun?

She remembered seeing the drawn wooden shutters over her window, the soft glow of the sun peeking out from the edges of the panels. She remembered stepping towards them, remembered unlatching them, remembered throwing them open wide open and feeling-

Lucy Ann turned away from the blinds. She sat still for a moment, one hand pinching the other, before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. Something stupid was playing; she changed the channel to something else, saw it was worse, so she changed it back and settled in and forced herself to relax.

Stars, it was so stuffy in here. You know what, it was a good thing she was going somewhere; anything to get out of this fucking house.

______________________________________________________________

It looked, Lucy Ann thought, like a mix between a warehouse and a restaurant. The building was truly massive, with concrete floors and ventilation tubes weaving their ways across the tall ceiling. Dinner tables were neatly arranged across the room, and a buffet stretched down one side. A huge, messy line had formed; the whole room echoed with the sound of voices and laughter. It was so loud that June nudged her and said something; she couldn’t hear it at all, but she just smiled and nodded and that seemed to satisfy her.

June started digging into her meal: a steaming meat pie of venison, potatoes, and green vegetables. It looked so good Lucy Ann wondered whether she wanted to chance the line… maybe when it died down a little bit. For now, she was happy sipping her wine glass of blood.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Unlike June, Lucy Ann had no trouble hearing the deep, booming voice of Darceus Alamastern. The leader of the Dinner Crew was a lion of a kitsune, easily twice as tall as the other two foxes on either side of her, with nine great tails fanned out behind like a peacock’s train. Her smile was friendly, and her eyes were bright and curious, but it was hard to look at her and not find one’s eye drawn to the size of those teeth in her mouth.

One fang was broken off, Lucy Ann noticed. Ouch, she thought, and then shook herself, cleared her throat.

“Uh, yeah.” She said, and stared out across the crowd. “Lot of people tonight; are they all in the Dinner Crew?”

“Oh, no.” Darceus gave a hearty laugh. “We’re a little lean on formal members lately, but these meetings are open to the public. Anyone can come in and get a hot meal.” Her eyes twinkled as she watched Lucy Ann. “Were there so many members in your time?”

“With Hank?” She chuckled. “Oh, I’m not sure. We were a lot less organised back then. Took years before we started keeping any kind of track… but we got big pretty fast.” She sipped her drink, smiling to herself. “Yeah, pretty fast. It was really something.”

Darceus listened with interest. “To see the beginning of the Dinner Crew… it must have been quite remarkable.” She looked around the room, seeming to analyze something, before turning back to Lucy Ann. “It looks like everyone is getting settled in. I’m going to make a speech shortly, welcoming everyone to the meeting. Would you like to say a few words?”

“Sure.” She chuckled. “I hope you got a megaphone, though. This room is huge.”

With a grin, Darceus tapped the edge of the table; glowing purple runes flickered to life, and dimmed again as she took her hand away. “Don’t worry,” she said, “you’ll be heard.”

“All the tables have it,” June added, leaning in close. “After dinner, we have a kind of town hall where anyone can ask Darcy anything. I’ll tell you, you won’t believe some of the oddball questions we get!”

“Oh, I’m sure I can believe it,” she muttered. She would have said more, but Darceus was rising to her feet. Tapping her wine glass, all heads began to turn as she cleared her throat and started to speak.

“My friends!” Darceus began, and the chatter in the room immediately died way down. “Welcome one, welcome all, to our monthly Dinner Crew dinner! I trust you’ve all got something to eat - our thanks again to the Greater Portland Forest Community for catering tonight.”

She nodded to a white-haired elf seated at a table not far from their own, and continued.

“Whether you’re here for the meeting, or just for the delicious food, we really appreciate you all coming out tonight. The Dinner Crew’s got a long and proud history of holding these meetings - it’s been about one hundred and seventy years, now, unbroken since we reformed after the Chancellor administration.”

Darceus glanced down at Lucy Ann, and smiled. “But our history of giving back to the community stretches back far longer than that. Friends, we’re honoured tonight to host a truly legendary figure, a founding member of the Dinner Crew and lifelong advocate for the preternatural. Give it up for our own Lucy Ann!”

Lucy Ann stood up on her chair, and felt it in her chest as the entire room broke into thunderous applause. it was surreal, sometimes, to see just how much she meant to the Dinner Crew. She didn’t even think she had that big a role in founding them, and she certainly hadn’t been keeping up with them the past few centuries, but to this sea of strangers cheering her on, she might as well have been Hank himself. It was a humbling feeling, to wonder why they thought she was so important.

The applause took a while to die down, but eventually it faded, and she cleared her throat. “Uh, thank you, thank you!” She started, and grappled for something to say. “It’s… it’s an honour for me too, to be here with you all! You’ve all been, ah, more than kind.”

She felt like she wanted to stop there, but a whole room of eyes still looked on expectantly. Lucy Ann wasn’t one for stage fright, but she found herself fiddling with her wine glass as she went on.

“And, uh…” she started, and chuckled. “It really has been a while, hasn’t it! I don’t think I’ve been back to Portland since Dave was in charge - anyone remember Dave?” No hands went up at first - after a moment there was a lone whoop from the back. “Yeah, hey, someone remembers him! Of course, heh, he was before the Chancellor administration, so, ah, a long time ago, now. A long time.”

Silence, again. Lucy Ann scratched the back of her neck; stars, she’d been trying to kill time this morning, and she didn’t think to prepare something to say? Finally, she gave a bit of a shrug.

“Anyway, ah, that’s it for me. I’ll be in town for a little while, so if anyone wants to hit me up, go for it.” She chuckled. “I, uh, I probably don’t know where the party spots are anymore, so if anyone’s up to show me around the new Portland, that’d be great.”

After that, she sat down, and Darceus nodded at her.

“Lucy Ann, everyone!” She said, and raised her glass. Everyone else did as well, and there was a chorus of clinks across the room. June offered her drink, and beamed when Lucy Ann clinked with her.

Lucy Ann found herself smiling, too. Eh, her speech was a bit crappy, but everyone seemed to enjoy it well enough - with the way everyone started tucking into their meals, they probably liked how short it was. She watched as Darceus took a seat and rather awkwardly picked up a fork with her huge, paw-like hand.

Maybe this wasn’t the old Dinner Crew. Maybe these weren’t faces she knew… but they were faces she could know, if she stuck around. She’d been going it alone for a good while even before the Angel chased her across the continent; maybe it’d be nice, to let herself be a part of something again.

“Oh dear,” June said bashfully, looking over her empty plate. “I think I should have waited to start with everyone else. How rude of me!”

Lucy Ann snorted. “Hey, you said you were starving in the car. You said you were doing, like, marathon running?”

“Oh, yes, I’m training for my 10K.” She stared wistfully at the buffet table. “Do you think they’ll mind if I have a bit more?”

“Go for it!” Lucy Ann said; when she still hesitated, she added: “You know, if you’re up anyway, could you grab a little bread roll for me? If you don’t mind.”

June was on her feet in an instant. “Of course I’ll get that for you, darling! I’ll be just a moment!”

“Thanks!” Lucy Ann said, and called after her: “Perfect host!” She chuckled at the way June’s face lit up, and sat back in her seat.

Sipping her drink, she just watched the crowds for a moment, let herself zone out to the hum of conversation happening all around her. Darceus seemed to have slipped away at some point to walk among the tables; she wasn’t expecting someone to talk to her until June got back.

Which was why she jumped a bit when someone tapped her on the shoulder. They were right behind her; it took a second for her to turn her chair.

“Oh, man, you really do look like a six year old.”

That was the first thing Lucy Ann heard from a strange young woman standing in front of her. She was elven - the pointed ears gave away that much - but she was dressed almost in pajamas, with sweatpants and a loose t-shirt with a graphic of some tv show she didn’t recognize on it. She had her hands in her pockets, and a crooked sort of smile that immediately put Lucy Ann on edge.

“Yeah?” Lucy Ann said, and frowned at the gaggle of five, much more nervous humans that seemed to be gathered around the elf. “Can I help you guys?”

“You definitely can!” Said the elf. “See, my name’s Bea, and I’m a college student over at Portland State. Doin’ my masters in, heh, Elf Studies. Top of my class.”

“Okay?”

“I heard you might be attending this dinner, and when my friends heard that-“ Bea put an arm around one guy and dragged him in closer. “They were just begging me to introduce them. Especially this dork, he’s writing his whole thesis about you. Tell her, Matt.”

Matt’s hand was visibly trembling as he held it out. “Um, h-hello Ms. Ann. I-it’s, uh, i-it’s such an honour to meet you, I’m Matt- but, sorry, you already knew that, I-I didn’t mean to- sorry!”

Bea whistled. “Damn, kid, you’re really blowing this.”

“He’s not blowing this.” Lucy Ann cut in, and took his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Matt. What’s your thesis about?”

“Um…” His eyes bugged out a bit. “The impact o-of the downfall of, of the Chancellor Administration on Elven Societies in the Western United States, um… I-I’ve been reading a lot a-about the impact you had, i-it’s really impressive, you’ve been such an inspiration to me since I was a kid-“

“You’re losing her,” Bea snipped, and smirked as he seemed to deflate. Lucy Ann watched incredulously as she strode over to June’s chair and sat herself down in it.

“Okay - Bea, is it? What the hell is your problem?”

“I knowww, I’m sorry for bringing a bunch of humans over here to gawk at you.” She waved them away. “Come on guys, clear off! You’re bothering her.”

“They’re not-”

“Hey, is this blood?” Without warning, Bea picked up her glass and took a swig; almost immediately she made a face. “Eugh, yep, that’s blood,” she said, but to Lucy Ann’s disgust, still decided to swallow. “Oh, shit, that was nasty. Gotta ask - do you end up liking the taste of pennies, or is it more of a ‘gotta have it or I’ll die’ kinda thing?”

Lucy Ann was caught between shock and fury; she could only manage to snatch her glass back as she tried to form words. “You… what are you-“

“I’m back!” Came June’s singsong voice; Lucy Ann watched her pause as she noticed the figure in her chair. “Oh, Bea. You’re in my seat, hun.”

“Yeah, just a sec,” Bea said, putting her feet up on the table. “So you said you needed someone to show you around, huh? Show you where to have a good time?”

“And you’re volunteering?” Lucy Ann gave a harsh laugh. “You’ve got to be joking, right?”

“Why would I be joking? Hey, if it’s about those humans-“

“It’s not about those fucking humans, it’s about you!” She watched Bea flinch at that, and raised her eyebrows. “Are you- holy shit, are you actually trying to impress me right now? Is this what you do when you want someone to like you?”

Bea sat up straighter. “No. Hah! No, I just-“

“Because I’ve got some advice. Go say sorry to your fucking friends, because I don’t know how you managed to make them.” She leaned in closer, and watched Bea shrink back. “And they’re not ‘just humans’, you know. Just because they don’t live as long as you or me doesn’t make you better than them.”

“What? I don’t, I don’t think I’m better than them-”

“Oh, please, of course you do. You and every other baby immortal who decides to try ‘living amongst the humans.’” She scoffed at the thought. “Yeah, you’re, what, a hundred? Two hundred? If you wanna pretend you’re soo much older and wiser than your friends, maybe you should act like it.”

Bea’s face had gone a deep, angry red; her whole body had cringed into the chair, and her face was frozen in a tense smile that bared all her teeth. She didn’t seem to know what to say; Lucy Ann tilted her head.

“Well?”

“I…” Bea gave a hollow chuckle. “I meant…”

She trailed off there, and Lucy Ann rolled her eyes. “Just get out of the seat,” she said, and waved her away. “My friend was sitting there.”

Bea quickly got to her feet, backed away, and scurried off back to her table without another word. June sat down, her wings fluttering a bit as she gave an anxious chuckle.

“Whoo, that was… remind me not to tick you off! Here’s your bread roll.”

“Thanks.” Lucy Ann cast one last glance behind her, before pushing her chair back in. “So, ah, who’s Bea? Not a member of the Dinner Crew, is she?”

“Over my dead body!” One of the other kitsune spoke up across the table. June laughed nervously.

“Bea? Oh, not technically - she’s a young elf from the GPFC. She likes to get involved, though! She lives on campus, helps out with outreach there.”

“Outreach?” Lucy Ann snorted. “No wonder membership’s low.”

“Oh, no, she’s actually quite good!” June said, and then seemed to think about her words. “When she wants to be, she’s quite good. She’s, uh, definitely a character sometimes! I do like her - haha, I tell myself, the more she tries to rile you up, the more she likes you!”

“I see.” Lucy Ann arched an eyebrow. “She must love me.”

June only gave a tight smile at that, and took a bite of her meal. “Oh - oh, wow, this is so good! How’s your bread roll, darling?”

Lucy Ann wasn’t quite ready to let it drop yet, but it seemed the conversation was over. With a sigh, she took a bite of the bread roll.

“It’s good.” She muttered, and it was - almost annoyingly so. It was hard to stay angry with good food. “Yeah, it’s good.”

“Wonderful!” June perked right up. “You just let me know if you want anything else, okay? I talked to one of the caterers and he said they’ve got plenty of food to go around! I might even be a bit naughty and go for thirds, hah!”

Lucy Ann swished her drink around, and made a face as she set it on the table. If nothing else, she was definitely getting a new glass.

______________________________________________________________

It took a little time for Lucy Ann to get settled in again after her encounter with Bea, but she didn’t show up again, and many friendlier faces introduced themselves over the night. The two other kitsune at the table were Jasper and Anadixis; they were Darceus’ nieces, taken in after their mother was murdered by a cult shortly before the reformation of the Dinner Crew. Darceus himself returned with the leader of the GPFC, a venerable old elf called Gweiyir who introduced themself, but said very little otherwise and left shortly after. Vincent was another vampire who came up to give her a coupon for his nightclub; he seemed a nice enough guy, but listening to his rambling sales pitch, she really found herself regretting that open invitation she’d given in her speech. Yeah, sure, tell a room full of strangers to all try and be her buddy at the same time. Great idea.

Before she got too tired of him, though, the town hall portion of the dinner began, and she had an excuse to shoo him away. The questions were mostly pretty dry, but she listened in, trying to piece together all the new factions making up this Dinner Crew. There was one pro-nat who spoke up, but the whole room seemed well-practiced in shouting him down before Darceus even got the chance to cut off his mic.

“What a silly, silly man,” June had snickered, shaking her head. “You notice he waited until after dinner before getting himself thrown out? Ridiculous.”

And slowly, the night wound down, the crowd thinned out, and the loudest sounds became the squeak of shoes as Dinner Crew members started going table by table, gathering up the many empty plates. As Lucy Ann finished off her drink, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Ready to head home?” June said, and at the sight of her gentle smile, Lucy Ann felt her own slowly slide off her face.

Oh, right. Back to that house. She hadn’t thought about her hand all night long, but on the car ride home, she found herself rubbing it again, found her mind wandering back to that slightest tingling across her skin, so light it could be nothing at all… but would she dare to test it? What if she was wrong, what if it burned again, what if… what if he’d done exactly what he set out to do?

What if he’d hurt her in a way she could never heal from? What if he’d forever changed how she’d feel to walk in the sun, made it so she’d always wonder if its warmth was too warm, made it so she’d have to think about it, to worry about it, every time she left her house?

What if he had won?

Lucy Ann didn’t hear June’s voice at first. She flinched when a hand touched her, and stared as June gave a little laugh.

“Did you nod off? I don’t mind if you did, it’s been a long night.”

“Heh, yeah.” Lucy Ann summoned up a ghost of a smile. “A good one, though. I’m glad I went.”

“I’m glad, too. You let me know if you want to meet up sometime!” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, you know what we could do? Evening runs!”

“Hah, uh, you know, I’ll have to think about that.” She reached for the door. “Goodnight, June. Thanks for the ride.”

“It’s no problem at all, darling. Goodnight!”

Lucy Ann stepped out of the car, and watched it drive off. Then she turned to look up at the condo building, dark and silhouetted in the moonlight. She stared at it for a moment longer, then looked to the side, at the trees lining the gentle upward slope of the sidewalk. She gave a grim sort of smile.

Maybe not a night run, she thought. But she wasn’t ready to go inside just yet.

Lucy Ann started off down the path, her hands in her pockets, and her head tilted up, taking in the stars.

#transcendence au #Noie's Brother #lucy ann #toothwrites #Beatrice Delion #alcor the dreambender #worldbuilding

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toothpastecanyon · 2 months

Text

Unto Dust, Chapter 1

Lucy Ann was nothing if not a survivor. After weeks of being on the run from the Angel, she was looking forward to getting back to her life of wandering the world, and relaxing in the sun.

But this time, it may not be so easy for things to go back to normal.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

Lucy Ann didn’t have a ‘home’ necessarily. She’d had houses, sure - especially after the Transcendence when she stopped having to come up with an excuse about why she looked like an eternal six year old - but houses weren’t always where she felt the most comfortable. She liked being out on the road, bouncing from village to village, never staying long enough to draw an unwanted eye.

Sometimes though, staying in a nice, air conditioned house was all she wanted in life. Lucy Ann woke up in a nice bed, wandered over to a fridge with an ice maker, and put a couple cubes in her blood before wandering out to the balcony.

Thank god for the Dinner Crew. She didn’t even know the people running it this century, but all she had to do was show up at Portland and suddenly a friendly fairy was letting her crash at their condo for a few weeks. How great was that?

She stared down, down at the blue, blue pool in the middle of the complex.

It really was great, she thought. These past few months, she’d kind of… forgotten how it felt, to relax. She’d been running from that angel for so long, it felt good to slow down for a while.

To breathe.

To enjoy, this.

Lucy Ann smiled, swirled the blood around her glass, and then drank it all. She rinsed out the cup, put it in the dishwasher, and stood there for a second, thinking.

It was a nice day outside. Maybe she’d go sit by the pool for a little.

After raiding the towel closet, Lucy Ann made her way to the door and unlocked the latch. Sunlight hit her as she opened the door - a funny feeling, sunlight. It hadn’t hurt her for eons, but there was still a subtle tingling across her skin, a thrill to it that she kind of liked. It was like humans eating spicy food, she’d say; it was fun to feel just a little bit in danger.

She closed the door, locked it behind her, and started down the steps, scratching her right wrist. The pool gate required yet another key, but she didn’t bother; with a lazy jump she grabbed the top of the fence and swung herself over.

“No humans,” Lucy Ann murmured as she looked around. “Sweet.” She tossed her towel onto the nearest recliner, and gave a long stretch. A yawn rose out of her; she opened her mouth wide, her fangs catching the light for a second before she covered them with her hand.

Her hand, it itched a bit. It felt like the heat of the sun was pooling onto that one spot just over her wrist, and somewhere in the back of her mind it did seem strange… but she was settling down into her recliner, shifting around to get comfortable. She crossed her other hand over it as she closed her eyes - but almost immediately she was itching at it again.

Under her eyelids, she frowned a bit. This felt like the rash she got from eating garlic; there hadn’t been any leftovers in the fridge, right? She tried to ignore it, tried to stop scratching and just relax, but it didn’t stop itching. In fact, it seemed to get worse; the itch built and built, and the funny tingling started to feel like little needles jabbing themselves into her wrist, and the heat slowly rose like the sun was warming it, the sun was heating it, the sun was-

Lucy Ann’s eyes shot open, and she looked down in horror to see the skin of her wrist curling up into ashen flecks like parchment on a bonfire. She was burning - oh, shit , she was burning!

With a strangled yelp she grabbed for her towel - it was under her, and she toppled out of the recliner in the rush to cover herself in it. There, huddled on the tile with the sun’s light still glowing through her thin towel, Lucy Ann tried to get ahold of herself.

Okay… shit, okay. She was fine, she wasn’t burning - her one foot sticking out of the towel didn’t hurt at all. But her wrist… Lucy Ann bit down a curse as she tried to move it. It felt like white hot metal had been rammed right through it, and with every second that passed the pain only seemed to intensify; what the hell was wrong with it?

“Gotta get inside,” Lucy Ann muttered. She slipped the towel off her head, and started to wrap it around her wrist. “Agh, I gotta get out of here!”

She tied the towel tight around her arm, and made for the gate. Still locked; she jumped up, caught the top with one hand, and rattled the whole fence as she struggled over. Landing with a stumble, she started up the steps back to the apartment, keeping a tight grip on the towel - it was already coming loose. She got to the door and dug around in her pockets for the key; come on, come on, she just had it a second ago… there!

A twist and she was through; Lucy Ann slammed the door behind her and sank against the frame. She was breathing hard - the fear really hit her now, and it only intensified when she caught the pungent, acrid stench of burnt flesh - it was coming from under the towel, and…

And god, Lucy Ann didn’t want to look. She froze just before she took it off, and glanced around the room; the big glass windows that made the place feel so bright and open, they felt like threats now. She quickly drew the blinds, and in the darkness she sat on the couch, unraveled the towel, and forced herself to look.

“Shit,” Lucy Ann spoke in an undertone. “Shit.”

It was unmistakable: her wrist had burned in the sun as easily as a newborn vampire. It was a bad burn as well, a deep, angry divot carved out of her wrist, and four shallower points climbing up the back of her hand. And before her eyes it was still crumbling, still coming off in grey flecks that hung in the air, slowly disintegrating into a single, defined shape that took her breath away.

The shape of a hand.

______________________________________________________________

“Come on…”

Night was falling outside, but the curtains were still drawn. Lucy Ann huddled against the island counter, wincing as she leaned over a chalk circle to light the candles. Her burned hand was wrapped in beach towels, and though she tried to keep it still it screamed with the slightest movement. Worse still, though, was the infernal itching that had flared up around the edges - oh, it felt like it was still on fire! Once the candles were lit, Lucy Ann hugged her other arm around her chest just to stop herself from scratching.

“Fucking hell…” She muttered, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. “Fucking angel. Fucking Noie… I’m gonna fucking kill her, fuck! Come on, Alcor, why can’t you just fucking pick up for once in your stupid little…”

She trailed off into a stream of muttered curses, rocking a little as the itching somehow intensified. She didn’t even know half of what she was saying; all she knew was this was the second time she’d drawn this goddamn circle, the second time she’d lit his fucking candles, and if he didn’t pick up right now she was actually going to kill him.

“Te invoco…” She started, hissing through gritted teeth. “ Ut, ut facias voluntatem meam… Dico, nomen tuum: Alcor. Come on!”

Just like earlier, the circle began to glow, and Lucy Ann braced herself for another answering machine. She watched as a blob of inky darkness gathered in the center, growing larger, but not yet taking any form. For one terrible moment it just lingered there… but then, finally, she could feel the change in the air as he seemed to take notice of her. All the theatrics dropped; the glow of the circle cut out, and Alcor popped into existence as a little kid with wide golden eyes.

“Lucy Ann?” He looked her up and down, and blinked. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Glad you finally noticed!” Lucy Ann snapped back. “You know, I thought you’d actually start picking up my calls again after that angel nearly got me! What the hell, man!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He put his hands up. “I heard you, I-I meant to come, but, Noie, she-”

“Oh, fuck Noie, I don’t want to hear about her! You need to fix this, okay!”

She stabbed a finger at her arm, and Alcor nodded quickly, kneeling down. “Okay, okay, uh, what happened?”

“My hand burned in the sun - the angel did something to me!” She winced as he unwrapped it. “Agh, careful! Still hurts like hell.”

“Burned in the sun?” He lifted off the last layer, and sucked in a breath at the shape of a hand. “Oh. That’s… I thought I healed that.”

“Yeah, me too, asshole! Can you do it right this time?”

“No, I mean-” Alcor started, but he took one look at Lucy Ann and shut his mouth. “Sorry. I’ll fix it up now, hang on.”

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and laid a hand on top of the burn. For a split second it hurt worse than ever, and Lucy Ann took in a sharp breath… and then let it out in a sigh of sheer relief as the agony drained away.

“Oh…” She slumped forwards a little as he removed his hand, all the tension in her shoulders dropping at once. “Oh, that feels so much better. Oh, wow. Thanks, Alcor.”

Alcor gave a guilty grin. “I’m sorry I took so long. That looked awful.”

“ Stars, you have no idea.” She ran her fingers over the healed skin, her own smile shrinking a little. “I don’t get how he did that. I saw you heal it, and it was fine until I went in the sun, and then… eesh.”

“Yeah.” Alcor shuddered. “He didn’t just burn you, he marked you in some way. I didn’t see it the first time I healed you, but I think I got it now.”

Lucy Ann paused. She looked up at him. “What do you mean, you think?”

“Uh…”

“You fixed it, right?” She watched his smile twist in on itself. “Alcor, you fixed it, right? Because I don’t ever want this to happen again.”

“I… I’m pretty sure I did-”

“Alcor, I swear-”

“Look, angel magic, it’s weird, okay!” His wings fluttered nervously as he tried to find the words. “It’s like, sort of demon proof? I’d need a serious deal to get rid of it entirely, so I just kind of… covered it up? Like, uh, magic sunscreen!”

He tried for a smile at that, but Lucy Ann wasn’t laughing. “So, what? Am I gonna burn in the sun or not?”

“I don’t think so?” He looked towards the blinds. “But maybe we should test it out first.”

Lucy Ann followed his gaze, and found herself backing away. “Are you kidding me? I’m not gonna play guinea pig here - that fucking hurt! You seriously can’t just get rid of it?” She watched as his shoulders came up, as his eyes suddenly struggled to meet her own. “What kind of deal would it take?”

He didn’t answer at first; the question hung heavy in the air between them… then he gave a helpless shrug. It was all the answer she needed.

“A soul,” she breathed, and covered her hand. “You… really need that just for this?”

“He wanted to punish you, Lucy Ann,” Alcor spoke quietly, his eyes fixed to the floor. “He wanted to make you fear the light again. I can feel it in his magic, I can feel how much he hated you.” Alcor shook his head, and let out a sigh. “This is all my fault. I should’ve, I should’ve been there. I’m sorry, Lucy Ann - I-I really am. I really messed up.”

Lucy Ann made a face. “It’s fine, Alcor-“

“No, I-I…” His voice was shaky now; golden tears were suddenly springing from his eyes. “I messed th-this all up, I-I’ve been a t-terrible friend, a terrible brother, I-I’ve been a m-monster!”

“Whoa!” Lucy Ann recoiled a bit as he started sobbing into his hands; after a moment she sighed, and patted his shoulder. “Hey, calm down, okay? What happened?”

He just shook his head; after a moment he threw his arms around her and cried into her shoulder. She tensed up, but let him have it.

“Oh-kay,” she said. “It’s, uh, it’s gonna be alright.”

“She’s g-g-on-na ha-te m-me…”

“She’s not gonna hate you.” Lucy Ann tried not to roll her eyes. “Noie, uh, really cares about you… has a funny way of showing it, but she does.”

“But I r-uined h-her li-ife, sh-she doesn’t even want to h-hear it! I-I can’t stand it, sh-she wants me to just keep going like e-everything’s normal, like I didn’t kill her dad!”

Lucy Ann sucked in a breath. “Oof. That’s, uh… that’s complicated.” She gave him a light hug, then firmly pushed him back onto his feet. “But hey, it’s gonna be okay, dude. We’ve all killed someone we didn’t mean to before, alright? You’re gonna get past this.”

Alcor sniffed. “Really?”

“Yeah. Come on, big guy, chin up.”

He nodded to himself, and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Okay… o-okay, I’m okay. I’m okay.” A hard swallow, and then a smile. “Sorry, I… you summoned me for help, and here I am dumping all this on you, hah!”

Lucy Ann just shrugged obliquely, but he didn’t seem to notice; he blinked, and glanced back towards the circle.

“Oh,” he said, quietly. “She’s, uh, calling me again.”

“Noie?” Lucy Ann watched him look back at her, a question forming on his lips, and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure, go.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t mean to ignore you, Lucy Ann, if you need me to stay-”

“Need you to stay?” She snorted. “I’m not a preschooler, Al.”

“But-”

“Look, you fixed it, it’s fine.” She waved him off. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“But-”

“I’ll see you later.” She stared him down until he backed away. “Okay?”

He cringed. “Okay… but if you need anything, just call me, okay? I promise I’ll be better about answering-”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, sounds good…” She crossed her arms as he turned back towards the circle. “Bye, Alcor. And, ah, tell Noie hi from me, will you?”

“Okay, okay… wait, really?”

Lucy Ann gave a toothy grin. “No, obviously. I was just messing with you.”

Alcor gave an uncomfortable laugh at that, and then with a final wave he vanished from the room. The candles all went out with him, and in the darkness, six wisps of smoke steadily rose from the wicks.

In the darkness, Lucy Ann’s grin faded from her face, and she took a deep breath. Her hand - she brought it up to her eyes, traced along the healed skin once more with her fingers.

Did it feel any different? If she thought about it, it almost felt like there was a tingling there, just the slightest sensation that sent a shiver through her whole body. Maybe she was just imagining it; maybe she was just remembering the pain, the burning, twisting agony that reached all the way up her shoulder like a hand wrapped around and wrenching on her raw nerves, like a hand, like a hand…

Lucy Ann took a sharp breath in, and shook her head. She was just freaking herself out - it was fine, she didn’t feel anything. It was fine.

She glared at the light switch across the room; after a moment she stalked over, turned it on, and squinted as the lights came on. She hated the way she suddenly felt so exposed, how she wanted to cover over her hand as the darkness fell away… but see? It was fine! She wasn’t burning - she was fine! She could go back to doing whatever she wanted!

A deep breath, in, and out. Lucy Ann glanced towards the drawn blinds, and the darkness beyond them. After a moment, she wandered over, pulled the corner back, and stared down at the pool, at the one crooked recliner at the edge of the water.

She was fine… but she didn’t go outside. After a moment, she drew the blinds again, sighed, and went to fix herself a drink.

#transcendence au #Noie's Brother #alcor the dreambender #toothwrites #lucy ann #dipper #noie

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toothpastecanyon · 4 months

Text

Transcendence AU Dash Simulator GO!!!

31 notes

🌟 lesbianstellaconifer Follow

okay but actually block me if you ship mizcor -- 'hurr durr but we age stella up' -- SHUT UPPP she's literally a minor and alcor's canonically over a million years old so how about you stop being a freak

🎩 woodsmans-left-nipple Follow

Babe I hate to break this to you but Mizcor's literally one of the most famous relationships in all of post-transcendental literature

🌟 lesbianstellaconifer Follow

I could not have more obviously been talking about Mizar the Magnificent but you know what? Yeah classic Mizcor supporters can fuck off too actually.

Everybody likes to whip out Twin Souls like some kind of gotcha but have you even actually read it??? Like it's literally supporting demon worship and pedophilia -- both of which are EXTREMELY ILLEGAL btw. So yeah if I see any of my followers reblogging that shit I'm reporting you to the Occult Defense Agency idc if we're mutuals

🐟 demonologyturnedmegay Follow

*looks at my Alcorian Literature PhD* guess we better stock up on prison shivs buddy

🍃 haveyouseenmylibrary Follow

okay I'm sorry but

and Mizar the Magnificent isn't????

5k notes

📷 nature-pics-daily

Los Angeles 🏝️

#sunken city of los angeles #new california #travel #ocean #photography #lmao i almost got eaten by a kelpie trying to take this pic pls reblog it

98 notes

🧁 definitely-mizar Follow

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that The Scepter of Vanquished Souls, the newest book in the Wanderlust Trilogy, is now available for pre order on Glamazon!

Purchasers of the hard-cover edition will also receive never-before-seen content, including a deleted scene between Princess Samia and the Shadow King!

🤷‍♂️ not-not-ian-beale Follow

Boosting because I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. Truly one of Mira's best (and I'm not just saying that because she married me!)

25k notes

⚠️ alv Follow

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You are the 6 billionth user to log into Jumblr today!! This means you are eligible to win a FREE WACBOOK PRO!!!! Click here to claim your prize and win BIG BIG REWARDS!!

#twin souls #mizar #alcor #mizcor #twin souls: reawakened #twin souls: breaking circles #twin souls: newest moon #twinner #twincon3015 #not a scam

Based on your likes!

0 notes

🌞 azarath-metrion-zinthirst Follow

So. I had a day.

📖 stanley-pines-memorial-library Follow

Okay, but consider

🌞 azarath-metrion-zinthirst Follow

I don't remember my older brother's wedding

📖 stanley-pines-memorial-library Follow

A small price to pay for no middle school trauma

🐧 selkiebael Follow

Okay so I just read the url and--

Asfdksfjk go off you funky lil intern

📖 stanley-pines-memorial-library Follow

I'm actually the senior librarian. But thanks!

🐈 alcorphabetical Follow

Posts that have 10k notes. To me

15k notes

🔮 demonoftheday Follow

Today's demon of the day is Nxlar the Antithetical! Responsible for the Florida Springs Massacre of 3007, the body count for this purveyor of madness is estimated to be over 400 (source).

🐸 that-one-half-elf-bitch

I could fix her

41 notes

🍑 lookingformygnomequeen Follow

literally screaming crying throwing up rn I've turned off 'Based on your likes' like eight times @staff can't you just get rid of him already

2.5k notes

🎤 rosaslittleredboots Follow

#i accidentally set my alchemy textbook on fire today and i don't even care AAAAAA this is going to be amazing #northwest mansion mystery #pacifica northwest #rosa darling #im about to be so insufferable about this just you wait

616 notes

👹 sexiestdemon3015bracket Follow

🐸 that-one-half-elf-bitch

Nxlar SWEEEEEP!!!

#if you love me at all you'll vote for my lady love #LISTEN i could bring her to the light i nkow i could

37 notes

👻 sweetthingsaremadeofdeeznuts

Lmao so Nxlar the Antithetical totally turned my apartment complex into a pile of sentient sludge yesterday. I'm fine -- I was at work when it all went down, but uh... yeah, my situation obviously just became super not-great. I hate to ask, but I don't get paid til the 15th, so if some of y'all could float me some cash just so I can get a motel room for a couple nights, I'll fr owe you a life debt

Goal: 0/250

FundFriend

LenMo

#fuck demons fr #like seriously what'd i ever do to them 😭😭😭 #mutual aid #pls boost #don't tag as donation

17 notes

🏳️‍⚧️ gliesssse Follow

Important PSA

So idk if y'all have been reading the news lately, but the alcor virus has been making the rounds on the interwebs again. I feel like I shouldn't have to say this but PLEASE don't click any random links rn, ESPECIALLY if they're tagged with twin souls.

I know we twinners love to joke about it, but the alcor virus is legitimately dangerous and has been known to seriously ruin people's lives. Idk. Just like be smart and practice basic caution I guess? Jumblr's pretty much dead these days, so he might skip over us, but it's always better to be safe than sorry

⚠️ alv Follow

This is a good point! It is always better to be safe than sorry! That's why if you're smart, you'll click here for a list of ways to virus-proof your computer. Stay safe out there everybody!

Based on your likes!

4k notes

🌲 discogirl99 Follow

Anyone else just randomly crave connective tissue sometimes

🧁 sparkle-glitter-sideblog

no actually i think that might just be a you thing

#also i heard screaming on the other line when i called you earlier there better not be a mess when i get home #beloved demon brother tag

2 notes

👑 sameeya

Okay guys I might be crazy but what if the Shadow King was actually telling the truth when he said Princess Samia's brother is still alive??? Like, if you think about it, there's a tonnnn of foreshadowing in Crown of Ghosts and the author tweeted that there was gonna be a surprise twist in the new book sooo 👀👀

#i've connected the dots -- YOU DIDN'T CONNECT SHIT -- i've connected them #wanderlust trilogy #mira ramachandran #crown of ghosts #scepter of vanquished souls #princess samia #samia of cleves #shadow king #ahmed of cleves #bookblr

25 notes

🪨 professionalnatural-deactivated30141227

Reminder that you are beautiful exactly as you are and there are thousands who would sell their souls to imitate what you do naturally <3

👠 mizarsfrillypetticoat Follow

I actually really needed this today 💗

🦇 plsbytemevladdyzaddy Follow

Yo quit reblogging this op is a blatant human supremacist

🪨 professionalnatural-deactivated30141227

And? No one cares lmao

⚠️ alv Follow

Enjoy deactivation. Lmao.

🪓 wenda-was-a-lesbian-confirmed Follow

🕵🏻‍♂️ alcor-in-the-tardis Follow

#I sent screenshots of that one centaur post to her boss too #give you two guesses what species his wife is (tags by @alv)

Holy shit. Am I actually rooting for the alcor virus rn?

🍄 warioxreader Follow

maybe the real virus was the friends we made along the way <3

⚠️ alv Follow

No, the real virus is me. Don't take credit for my accomplishments.

🐲 retiredbus Follow

Heritage post

62k notes

🐔 old-friends-senior-griffin-sanctuary Follow

I just want to get dicked down again =/

#transcendence au #omg i love it

245 notes · View notes

toothpastecanyon · 6 months

Text

The Comfort of Agony, Chapter 6

He didn't know what she was so angry with him for, but he probably deserved it.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

Mag never liked when he woke up on his feet. He came back to himself, blinked the morning sun out of his eyes - and immediately groaned as all the pain hit him like a truck. His palms were stinging; he opened them to see deep gashes through the bases of his fingers, the blood smeared down his forearms. Broken glass crunched under his feet as he stepped back.

“Wha…?” He managed, turning to see a rumpled bed behind him; there was a hole in the drywall, and blood spattered over the headboard. “Oh, shit - where am I? What did I…”

And he trailed off, because there was writing in the blood - writing, and below it a messy star in a circle, a symbol that set his heart thumping in his chest. There were distant sirens as Mag stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as he read the dripping words.

THE BLOOD OF MY ENEMY’S KIN SHALL FLOOD THE GUTTERS

MAGNUS WRIGHT YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR SINS

His breath stopped. His mind was flashing back to the last thing he remembered; playing cards with Piper in the living room. He looked out the shattered door and saw the table they sat at, the cards scattered on the carpet, and suddenly the silence struck a terror in him.

“Piper?” He breathed, and looked at the blood on the bed, the broken glass of her bedroom window. “No… no, no, no, Piper! Piper!”

He charged into the living room, eyes darting wildly about like he could find her hidden somewhere; he didn’t know why, but he started opening cupboards. “Piper! Piper, are you there! Are you okay? Where are you! Where is she!”

That question he directed at his arm; a moment later there was a searing pain that made him stop and clasp a hand over it. The pain was burning hot, and he pulled at the sleeve of his jumpsuit, pulled it up enough to expose a pattern of glowing white symbols etched into his skin. They flared up and down in intensity, and after a moment, Mag frowned.

“The mirror? Of course I have it, but that doesn’t matter now! Where’s- agh!”

The pain twisted like a knife in his forearm, and he scowled.

“I didn’t- what do you mean, I lost it?” His other hand reached into his jumpsuit. “It’s right-."

And he stopped dead, because it wasn’t there. He felt around for the newspaper, then drew out his hand and patted his body down - slowly at first, but with an increasing urgency.

“No, no, I… I know I had it last night! I couldn’t have lost it!”

But it wasn’t there; his eyes set on the couch, and he leapt to it, checking the sides, tearing the cushions off, grabbing the side and tipping the whole thing up to check the floor… but no mirror. He let it fall with a thump, backing away, looking up at the growing whine of sirens.

“I couldn’t have lost it,” he echoed, shaking his head. “What… What happened last night? What happened to my daughter?”

He winced as the runes flared up. They shone through his jumpsuit, and let off wisps of smoke.

“The Dreamer’s Star?” Mag’s expression darkened. “Of course, they wanted the mirror. And they took my little girl… where are they now?”

The runes didn’t respond to that. Mag clenched his fists, and lifted up his arm.

“Come on, tell me! We’re wasting time!” It still didn’t respond, and he groaned, paced in place, ran a hand through his hair. “What do you want - do you, do you want an apology! Look, I know it was a bad idea to go and see her before the drop off, I know! You were right, you were always right… I-I’m sorry, okay! Just let me fix this!”

His pacing slowed, and he let out a sigh that slumped his shoulders. He leaned on the counter, staring down at the cards on the floor.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered, and shut his eyes. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. What have I done? I just, I just wanted to see you again, I didn’t… I-I never would’ve…” He put his head into his hands. “Oh, god… just tell me she’s okay. Tell me it’s not too late. Please.”

Nothing happened for a moment, and Mag tensed at the blaring sound of sirens - close, they could be in the parking lot. He made to pick himself up, but as he got to his feet, his arm suddenly stiffened with a supernatural energy. It lifted up, and pointed somewhere behind him. He blinked, then let out a breath.

“She’s alive…” His arm lowered, and his relief quickly darkened into a dead-eyed determination. “They’re taking her out of town, huh. Well, they’d better run. They’d better fucking run.”

There were footsteps outside. Lots of footsteps; Mag turned around just as there was a strong knocking at the door.

“Police!” Bellowed a voice, and Mag scowled; he advanced towards it, grabbing a wine bottle on the way there. “Police, open up! If anyone’s in there-“

He didn’t finish his sentence; Mag stood in front of the door, tensed his muscles, and aimed a kick just above the doorknob. It swung open violently, and he could hear a cry as it rammed into an officer; three others crouched in the entrance and he was on them in a second, bodychecking one to the ground and smashing another over the head with the wine bottle. The third one fired and he felt the bullets like hard punches to his chest, but he’d been shot before; he advanced on the man until he could see the whites of his eyes, grabbed him roughly by the throat, and dragged him halfway over the first story railing until his feet were kicking in the air.

“Keys,” he hissed, but the man was trying to claw out of his grip, his eyes bugged out with terror. Mag shook him. “Car keys, now! Hand ‘em over!”

With shaking hands, the officer dug in his pocket and handed over a ring of keys. Mag dashed him to the floor where he lay gasping and holding his neck, and bent down to pick up the gun he’d dropped.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll st-“ Mag coughed, and held his chest. “You-you’ll st-t-ay out of my way.”

Then he stumbled down the stairs, leaning hard on the rail, hacking and wincing at the sharp, deep pain. He felt like he couldn’t get enough air; he spat out a wad of blood, and grimaced at the spreading red stains on his jumpsuit.

“Heal me any time now,” he muttered, staggering towards the flashing lights in the parking lot. “Any time at all‘s good.”

His vision was starting to grey at the edges, but just before he passed out he could feel a surge of power go through him; the pain spiked, and then fell away entirely. He looked down his shirt to see four points of white light fading from his skin, leaving only scars behind. He took a deep, full breath, and let it out with a grin.

“That’s better.” He clicked the car key and saw which cruiser flashed. He headed towards that one, opened the door, and bent down to fit himself inside the driver’s seat. “Ugh, how short was this guy? Gotta put the seat back.”

He did so, but his knees were still almost touching the steering wheel. The radio was chattering urgently; voices were calling all units to this address, and he grimaced.

“Yup, gotta go,” he said, and turned the key in the ignition. It roared to life, and he gripped the wheel. “Alright. Oh-kay. Don’t worry, Piper. I’m coming for you. I promise.”

He hoped those words would reach his daughter somehow, and they did. At the same time as he sped out of the parking lot towards her with sirens blaring, Piper, driving down the freeway as fast as she dared, felt an unexplained chill go down her spine.

She shivered, and pressed the accelerator all the way down to the floor.

______________________________________________________________

Piper liked to be prepared. She was never less than fifteen minutes early to anything; she checked the reviews before going into any restaurant. Her friends didn’t throw her surprise birthday parties - they knew she liked to see what was coming.

She gave a grim smile now as she popped the trunk of her car. It was funny, because even though she couldn’t have possibly predicted the hellish morning she’d had… somehow she’d even managed to prepare for this, too. She took a spare set of work clothes from the trunk, glanced around the library parking lot, and hurried back into her car.

“Piper!” Alcor, propped up on her front seat, was trying to peer up over the dashboard. “Come on, we can’t stop long. Let’s go.”

“I gotta change, just give me a second.” Piper slipped off her tattered cardigan, hesitated, and draped it over the mirror.

“Hey!”

“I said I have to change.” Quickly Piper did so, and lifted up the cardigan. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Stupid mirror.” Alcor was floating there with his arms crossed; he stayed like that as she picked him up. “I can barely see anything from in here.”

“You wanted to see me change?”

“Wha- wait, no no no!” He flushed a deep beet red; Piper almost snorted at that. “That’s not what I- I just- I just meant in general! I’m sorry, I-“

“No, it’s okay, I know what you meant.” She drew out of the car, and shut the door. “I’d probably go mad if I spent a decade in that little thing.”

“Well, it was fine when I didn’t have to do anything outside of it.” He grumbled; the perspective seemed to stay on him as he walked to the side and sat down on a couch. “Now I’m just getting tipped over or covered up and then suddenly I have no idea what’s going on - ugh, and I used to know everything!”

“Everything?” Piper arched an eyebrow as she started towards the library. “What do you mean, everything?”

“I mean, everything! Demons are omniscient!”

“Then- wait, why are we going to a library?” She stopped. “If you know everything-“

“Well, I don’t know everything now .” He gave a sigh at her confused expression. “It’s - it’s complicated, it’s more like… I could know anything if I concentrated on it, but I didn’t literally have every answer in the world in my head. That would be… that would be bad.”

His expression darkened for a moment, and Piper shivered, remembered exactly who she was talking to. The mirror seemed to get colder for a moment, and then he cleared his throat and smiled again.

“But hey, who needs omniscience when you’ve got the internet? We’ll figure this out.”

“I hope so.” She made her way up the steps to the front door, and glanced down at the mirror. “Uh, having said that… I’ll probably need to stick you in my bag.”

He wrinkled his nose, but nodded. “Ugh, yeah, you’re right. Just keep an eye out for any weird auras, okay?”

“Weird auras?”

“Yeah! You’ve got the Sight, right?”

“No… Do I need it?”

“Oh.” He looked worried. “Uh, no, no! You’ll be fine, just… just keep an eye out, okay?”

With that encouraging note, she stuffed him in her purse; an idea struck her, and she pulled out her phone and put it to her ear like she was on a call. She opened the door to a rush of cool air, and glanced around; a couple rows of shelves to one side, and a row of computers to the other. There were a few people milling around, but they paid her no attention.

“Okay,” she whispered. “The computers, right?”

“Yeah, of course!” He spoke a little too loudly, and paused when she shushed him. “What? Oh, right, library. Sorry.”

Rolling her eyes, Piper made her way to the computers and took a seat in the quietest corner. There was a guy three seats down who appeared to be asleep on the keyboard; she gave him a glance over, then put her bag on the table between them and positioned Alcor so he could see the screen.

“Okay, is this- oops!” She accidentally tipped him over, and gave an apologetic smile as she lifted him back up. “Uh, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” His wings twitched as he waved her away. “Let’s just find that angel. Can you find any articles about Mag’s arrest?”

Piper grimaced. “All too many,” she muttered, but as she typed it in, she realized that was old news.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS: POLICE ADVISE RESIDENTS STAY INSIDE AFTER ‘VICIOUS’ HOME INVASION, FUGITIVE MAGNUS WRIGHT SUSPECTED

‘I Heard Her Screaming’ Residents of Apartment Complex Shaken After ‘Vicious’ Home Invasion Leaves Four Injured, Fate of Resident Unknown

MISSING VICTIM OF HOME INVASION IS DAUGHTER OF FUGITIVE MAGNUS WRIGHT: THE SEARCH IS ON FOR PENELOPE ‘PIPER’ WRIGHT

That last headline - along with a picture of her graduation photo - sent her heart right into her throat, and she instinctively ducked her head down before realising that would only make her look more suspicious. “We’ve got to get out of here,” she breathed.

“We need answers first.”

“But what if someone spots me?”

“No one’s going to spot you.” He crossed his arms. “Just act natural, okay?”

“Act natural?” She hissed. “I’m front page news, how am I supposed to-“

“Shhh!”

Piper hesitated. “Right. Okay, okay, okay, I just need to… I just need to calm down.”

She took a breath, and looked around - the guy was still asleep next to her, and nobody around seemed to have taken notice. Another breath, and she nodded to herself. Just act natural, she thought, and quickly scrolled off the article with her picture on it.

“Wait, wait!” Alcor said, she paused. “Look at that one!”

“Which one?” She asked, but noticed it as soon as the question left her lips:

PHOTOS EMERGE OF DREAMBENDER CIRCLE, CRYPTIC MESSAGE LEFT IN APARTMENT OF MISSING PIPER WRIGHT

“Dreambender circle?” Piper frowned as she clicked in. “That’s you, right?”

“It is.” Alcor was frowning as she scrolled down the page. “There it is - stop there.”

Piper stopped, and stared at the photo: it was a ghastly summoning circle painted in red on her wall, with a message that made her heart skip a beat.

“The blood of my enemy’s kin shall flood the gutters,” she echoed. “What the hell? That wasn’t there when I left. Did… did Mag write that?”

“No.” Alcor said in a low voice; she drew back at his expression. “And that circle - you won’t see the difference, but there’s subtle markings in the pattern that cancel it out. I wouldn’t be drawn to this one at all.”

“So?”

“So, the being who drew it wanted it to look like my circle, but didn’t want me to notice it at all.” His face was hollow, all in shadow but for a dangerous shine in his eyes. “Piper. Look up articles for the night Scarlett died.”

The sentence took a moment to register, and then Piper recoiled. “Wh-what? Why?”

But he didn’t respond, and Piper could see wisps of smoke drifting up from where the mirror was touching her bag. With a gulp, she did as she was told.

“Uh, this is the main one I’ve read,” she said, bringing up an article and turning the monitor a little towards him. A shiver went down her spine as she watched Alcor begin to read.

SEARCH FOR KIDNAPPED CHILD ENDS IN TRAGEDY FOR WRIGHT FAMILY

A two-week search for kidnapped child Scarlett Wright has ended in tragedy for parents David and Magnus Wright as her remains were recovered in a fire at an abandoned factory building this Friday. Police say evidence of demonic summoning are present at the scene and are investigating this as a criminal matter.

“We do have evidence that this horrible act was done as part of a demonic summoning,” says Chief of Police Devon Strauss. “What we can't confirm is whether the fire was deliberately set after the summoning to destroy evidence, or if it went wrong somehow and it was the demon that caused the blaze.”

Officially, the identity of the summoned demon is unknown, but there is no uncertainty in the Wright household.

“It was Alcor.” Says David, the father of Scarlett Wright. His husband Magnus, who works as a firefighter, was tragically present at the blaze as a first responder and recovered the body of his own daughter. “There is no question in his [Magnus’] mind, it was Alcor. He saw the bodies, he saw the circle, he saw the demon itself. There’s no question.”

He is understandably devastated by this outcome, but hopes Scarlett’s story will prevent future tragedies.

“I’ve read a lot about this [Alcor] since the news broke, I’ve seen a lot of misinformation about this demon in particular. People say he’s a ‘safe’ demon, that he’s kind to children, I see a lot of reports of children … summoning him, and all I have to say is don’t. Please, please don’t. If he’s so kind to children, then why did he take my daughter away from me? She was nine months old, she did nothing wrong, and now she’s gone, forever. And my family will never be the same.”

Piper had read that article a long time ago, and every now and then throughout the years she’d read it again… but only ever once. It was a creepy feeling, to read in dispassionate tones the tragedy that had torn her family apart so long ago… and that last line, from her dad. She wondered sometimes why he’d said that, if it was just because of Scarlett… or if even days after her murder, he knew something in Mag was changing.

A loud sound suddenly startled her. Her phone, right next to her ear - it was ringing, and she felt a flush of shame when she saw who it was.

“Dad…” she murmured, and held it gently, staring down until the name disappeared from her screen. The kidnapping, the demon summoning, the news articles… this must all seem so cruelly familiar to him.

She had to let him know she was okay. The ding of a text only made her more sure; she clicked into it, and her heart sank as she read:

Piper, I love you more than anyone else in the world. Please, if you can read this, tell me you’re okay. Please come back home to me. I love you.

A growling sound brought her back to reality; she looked up, and realised people were staring. She looked down, and saw why. A deep, rumbling growl was coming from her bag; Alcor’s yellow eyes were pressed up to the mirror’s surface, and all the colour in his face had drained to black but for a series of sharp golden lines. He smashed a fist against the surface, and the sound echoed through the quiet library like a rung bell.

The sleeping guy was awake now, and leaning away. “Uh, ma’am?” He started, nervously. “Your bag…”

Piper stood up abruptly. “My… my dog,” she managed, and backed up. “I have to go.”

Ducking her head, she hurried away from prying eyes. She ducked into her car, grabbed the mirror - and dropped it with a swear.

“Agh, that’s hot!” She flapped her hand in the air, and glared down at Alcor. “Hey, what the hell was that? What happened to inconspicuous? Hello?”

He didn’t respond, and her frown deepened. Wisps of smoke were still coming up from her bag, so she wrapped the handle in her tattered cardigan, drew it out, and dropped it face down on the other seat. There we go - like a sort of time out until he could calm down, she supposed.

She was giving a time out to a demon, Piper thought, and gave a wry smile before the sound of another text wiped it off her face:

I can see someone read this message. Is that you, Piper?

Or is this Magnus?

He was still typing, and Piper watched, a lump in her throat. Eventually it appeared:

I don’t know what happened at the apartment, but if you harmed our daughter at all then I never loved you. Not even after you were arrested did I think you were capable of this. Please stop this. Turn yourself in and bring her back safe.

He was still typing, but Piper couldn’t bear to leave him like this any longer.

It’s Piper, Dad. I’m safe. I love you.

Almost as soon as she sent that text her phone started to ring. Piper stared at it for a moment… and then with trembling hands, she raised it to her ear.

“Dad?” She said, and she could hear a shaky breath of air on the other end of the line. She could hear her father’s voice, and she didn’t realise how much she’d been aching to hear it again until she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

“It’s me, Piper. It’s Dad, I-I’m here.” The voice was thick and shaky, and breathless with relief. “It’s… are you okay? What happened? Where are you?”

Piper had wanted to reassure her Dad; she’d picked it up expecting to be able to say something brave, to tell him that she couldn’t come home yet but she was safe, that he didn’t have to worry about her…. But god, she heard his voice, and she just burst into tears.

“Oh, Piper…” Her father’s voice was soft, and soothing. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. I’m so sorry this is happening, but it’s going to be okay, okay?”

Piper just nodded, silently, tears running down her face.

“Just tell me what you can, okay? I want to help you. Do you know where you are?” And now she was shaking her head, even as he continued. “I have, I have the police here, they can come, they can help-”

“Can’t…” Piper managed. “You, y-you can’t…”

“Why not?”

She looked over at Alcor, lying silent now beside her, and another sob wracked her shoulders as she realised all the words in the world couldn’t explain to him the trouble she was in.

“Why not, Piper?”

“I…” her face crumpled. “I-I c-can’t…”

“Why-”

“I’m sorry,” she said, and then she hung up. It rang again, and she dropped it on the floor and put her head in her hands, shaking her head as it rang, rang, rang, rang…

And then it went silent. Piper swallowed hard, took a shuddering breath, and tried to rub her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

That voice came from the mirror. Piper looked at it face down on the seat, but made no move to touch it.

After a moment, she sighed, and looked away. “I’m making a mistake, aren’t I.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because I don’t know what I’m doing. I mean, what if you’re lying to me?” She pressed her chin against the window, the glass cold against her cheek. “What if you’re just… just pretending you didn’t, and I’m running away from everyone who could help me?” She felt a lump rising in her throat. “What would be so bad if I just called him back up and gave you away to the police and went home? Huh? Why can’t I do that?”

Alcor didn’t say anything for a moment. When he did speak, it was quiet. “I wish you could do that. I really do. You didn’t deserve any of this.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry for that. And I’m sorry about earlier, in the library.” He paused there, like he was thinking carefully about how to phrase this. “Piper?”

She looked back at him, and he continued.

“About that article… there’s something I’m quite certain of, now.” His voice was still quiet, but there was a hardness to it, now, a sense that it was an effort to keep it calm and even. “I’ve… been set up. I never killed Scarlett.”

“You already told me that.”

“But somebody wanted you to think I did… wanted Mag to think I did. They wanted him to h̵a̷t̴e̸ ̶m̴e̸. They wanted him to bind me, and it w̴o̴r̴k̷e̴d̸. I̵ f̶̫̓ȩ̵͒l̷͍͂l ̶̲͘f̶̛͚ỏ̸̥r it,̵͆ Ĩ̵͕ c̸̣͂an̴̈'̴tbȇ̶̠ḻ̶̉ĭ̵̜e̸̘͐v̶̤̄ȩ̴͠ ̸͙͘I̷͇͗-”

“Alcor?” Piper sat up, reached out, and turned the mirror over. Alcor was in that eerie brickwork form; he saw her and took a step back, his fists clenched, his whole form quivering, his eyes blazing with demonic fury… and a genuine fear that put a lump in her throat. “Alcor?” She spoke again, and watched him swallow, hard.

“You know who it is, right?” He stepped closer, and the whiter-than-white runes encircling his image flickered as fast as the beating of her heart. “You know who I’m talking about?”

And Piper did. “Yeah,” she said, and distantly she was aware of a great anger rising up like a tidal wave within her, of the blood rushing in her ears. “I know who you’re talking about. It’s that angel.”

#transcendence au #alcor the dreambender #mizar #toothwrites

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