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utterlyinevitable · 4 years

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Trials & Tribulations (CH. 4)

Me Without You

Chapter 1: Afterwards Chapter 2: The Next 4 Days Chapter 3: It All Falls Down

Love Interests: Ethan Ramsey, Bryce Lahela Word Count: 3.3k Warning: angst, adult themes, possible destructive mental health triggers Summary: Have you ever been so out of touch with your emotions that you constantly make choices? Yeah… That’s what Becca’s doing.

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For almost two weeks Becca left him texts and voicemails at various times of the day - anything she could think of to reach him. She needed an explanation. Things were good, she thought. Why would he up and leave without saying a word? Weren’t they in a better place now? Why did he go?

They’d slept together a few days ago, breaking down every sacred barrier of professionalism they’ve erected since Miami. It was an initial shock for them to be on the same team come the fall but they could work though it. They were stronger than this. They’ve been through so many secrets together how could they not?

By day 9 Becca had long left the shock of abandonment behind and just needed to hear his voice, rationale be damned. His voicemail lulled her to sleep most nights when Rafael couldn’t come over to help numb the pain. The short curt message was so distinctly him;

“Dr. Ethan Ramsey. Leave a voicemail or call 911 if it’s an emergency.”

She’d always hung up right before the beep. Becca was embarrassed by how many times she called each day yet was more embarrassed to have him hear the desperation in her voice. As silly as she felt, it’s like a piece of her had gone missing. Eight weeks was a long time to pine after someone who ran away. More like an entire year… She had him once, why was he pushing her away again?

After catching him leaving their apartment that fateful morning after her ethics hearing, Elijah and Sienna held onto Becca’s deepest secret. They saw no need to start drama within their group after everything that has happened, especially for one briefly passionate weekend.

However short-lived, it was the most freeing three days of Rebecca Lao’s life. It felt right, he felt right. Why doesn’t he feel the same way?

Ugh I can’t keep thinking of him.

Becca pushed him to the back of her mind every single time he popped into it, forcing herself to focus on her patients and the little distraction known as her friends. Dr. Rebecca Lao was determined to move on, her completely decimated heart be damned.

***

At 1:12PM on that ninth afternoon Becca snuck back to the locker room and sent him another text,

Please let me know you’re okay.

She huffed as she shoved her phone deep into her coat pocket, ready to go on lunch and wallow in her misery.

For the last seven days Becca hadn’t worn a lick of makeup. She couldn’t bring herself to keep up appearances. Anyone could see the cracks through her painted face, so what’s the point in putting all the effort into it? She wore the bags under her eyes proudly a reminder that, albeit everything, she’s still alive and capable of thriving. Her greasy brown hair was pulled back in a haphazard bun and baby strands flying carelessly around her forehead, she hadn’t felt like washing it in a few days. Her eyes were dull. Nothing really sparked the fire in them anymore. No one was pushing her to reach past her potential anymore.

I can’t wait to spend all day in bed tomorrow. Maybe I’ll actually take a relaxing bath…

“Ah, Dr. Lao!” she heard the chipper and lively voice of Naveen call a few feet ahead of her. She looked up from her fixated gaze on the stark white linoleum and to the old doctor bounding happily towards her with his cane. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, thank you for asking,” she responded trying not to meet his inquisitive eyes. “How have you been?”

The question was simple enough. It was obligatory small talk in most circles however here and now they held a deeper meaning. Rebecca couldn’t have been the only one taking His departure roughly.

“Hanging in there,” he told her honestly with newly darkened eyes, and she gave him a sad smile back. Naveen extended an olive branch to the only other person that would understand, “Would you care to join me for lunch?”

“I’d like that, yeah.”

“Wonderful,” he beamed “I’ll meet you in the atrium in 15 minutes?”

Beca forced a small smile, “It’s a date.”

Naveen and Becca sat at a table at one of his favorite local Indian restaurants near the hospital. During the fifteen minute drive over, the man raved about the chutney and how the family-run establishment was one of the only ones with a proper heat meter - “not like conservative dishes you’d find at chains”.

The two pleasantly spoke of their last few days as if they were two lifelong friends despite only knowing one another for a few months. Once the waiter brought over their meals she finally let herself ask the question causing hives at the back of her neck, “Have you heard from him?”

Naveen moved the rice around his plate to mix with his lamb curry and took a deep breath; he knew this was coming.

“He sent me an email once he got there,” he said as evenly as he could manage. “I’m sure he’s fine. Ethan’s tough.” Naveen wished he could ease the woes he’s seen pass the young resident’s features ever since that day of the announcement. But his loyalty towards his makeshift son outweighed conflict in his heart. There was a reason Ethan didn’t tell her and I must respect it. However misplaced. With a slight smile he tried to reassure her instead, “Surely enough, no matter his rank, he would have taken control and whipped everyone into shape. He’ll be back home to us soon enough.”

Email? She didn’t think of that… God, He is an old man.

Her attention was fixed on the salad in front of her, pushing the leaves one over the other. “I jus -” There were so many questions she needed answers to. If anyone knew Him well enough to help her speculate his motives it would be his most dearest friend. Her voice was small as she continued, “Why didn’t he tell me?” It took a lot of strength to keep her voice from cracking.

Her stormy eyes finally lifted to meet warm brown. The deep marks of age on his dark brown features arched downwards in sympathy. He set his fork down by his plate and dabbed the corners of his mouth, preparing to ease the mind of this doleful girl.

“He told me he applied the moment he quit but didn’t expect to hear back. It was a wishful thought; he never would be able to stay retired long. We have that in common, him and I. As for why he didn’t tell you I can only speculate.” The older doctor tried to keep his features impartial and failed. “The boy has a one track mind sometimes; when he puts his mind to it nothing will stop him until he’s reached the desired outcome.”

She’s seen Him exhibit that kind of behavior before and gave Naveen a sad smile back in recognition.

Naveen reached across the table to cover her hand with his. “He’s been through a lot in life and hasn’t always been the best with feelings. But when you know him long enough, and get to know his expressions, it’s easy to see something...” the Chief of Medicine chose his words carefully, “intimate has become of you two.”

Normally Becca would have scoffed at the insinuation, but now she just couldn’t bring herself to react. Naveen’s words were settling in - she knew He had scars from his childhood that he didn’t dare talk about. She knew He was closed off and an acquired taste. And she knew Naveen was half-right.

Sadly she replied, “I don’t think there’s anything between us.”

Naveen didn’t want to argue, he could see through the broken girl in front of him and his heart ached for them both.

Rightfully he changed the subject, “Are you working on any exciting cases?”

“Not as exciting as they are unfortunate,” she shrugged, picking at the salad. “I have a young girl with leukemia and a patient on dialysis with pneumonia. I’m not sure either of them will pull through.”

“If you need any help, I’m only a page away.” His gaze cascaded a sense of comforting warmth over her. “You’re not just my grandmentee, you’re family.”

She was happy to have Naveen in her corner but couldn’t help wondering if the offer was conditionally tied to him.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for joining me,” Naveen acknowledged, “I say we make this a routine thing!”

For the first time in a long time the corners of her lips perked up, “I’d like that.”

That evening she sent him an email;

Hey,

I know you’re kicking ass down there (you know I mean the outbreak, please don’t punch anyone!), but I hope you’re being safe. I had lunch with Naveen today, he’s really worried about you. We miss you. Please please please let us know you’re okay. I’m still mad at you for leaving but I’ll forgive you if you just please talk to me. If I did something wrong, I’m sorry. I just want to know that you’re alive and well. Even if you don’t want to talk to me, please keep Naveen updated.

See you soon,

R x

***

“Roo-mie Bar Crawl. Roo-mie Bar Crawl.” Sienna chanted from the middle of their living room. The gang was all dressed up and ready to let loose after a really harrowing week on the job.

Becca hadn’t contacted Him since that first and last email three days ago. She made her peace with it. After days of trying, a deep conversation with Naveen, and receiving absolutely nothing in return for her efforts, she settled on the assumption that He was ghosting her. Her heart ached but she didn’t want to let the heartbreak consume her. Instead she’d find other distractions.

Those distractions came in the form of Rafael, Bryce, and Sienna. Each friend mended a different part of her tattered heart. Sienna took care of her by way of baked goods, forcing her to talk about her feelings and retail therapy - Becca needed a bit of mothering in these last few days, especially since she didn’t have a close relationship with her birth mother. Bryce was her feel-good companion, he’d take her out for a drink or an excursion, anything he could possibly do to have her smile reach her eyes once again. Lastly, Rafael helped take care of her intimately - although he’s been M.I.A. the last week…

The group congregated in their shared living room, ready to go. Becca sat on the sofa next to Bryce as he helped lace up her heels. Sienna chanted once again and everyone cheered a response. Once more Elijah listed off items and everyone patted their pockets and their bags. Phone? Check. Wallet? Check. ID? Check.

“Is Raf not coming?” Becca asked as they paraded through the hallway.

“No, he’s got plans with his girlfriend,” Jackie said matter-of-factly.

Becca's footsteps fell behind her friend ever so slightly. What!?

“Really? When’d that happen?”

Jackie retorted like it wasn’t the most important bit of information, “I don’t know, recently?”

“She’s his childhood sweetheart,” Kyra piped in. “Just moved back and they’ve been on a few dates. Very romantic.”

Becca bit her lip, “Yeah… good for them.”

There were so many questions racing through her mind. They had just slept together for the fifth and seemingly final time less than 2 weeks ago. Was Becca the other woman? No matter the questions there’s just one thing Becca couldn’t shake;

I’ve gone and thrown myself at another man who doesn’t want me.

She was determined to have a good time regardless of the mountain of rejection forming at her core. Good thing alcohol’s the best medicine… She was prepared to spend the next few hours looming in her chaos, choosing reckless behavior instead of facing her feelings.

***

The group pregamed at Donohues for happy hour, choosing to spend their most coherent of hours in a familiar place. They downed 2-for-1 tequila shots each and played a round of darts until the board began to move. Becca did all she could to keep from staring at the empty far corner of the bar. Every time she did she took another shot.

Then the residents made their way to a dive bar for cheap drinks. It was a small hole-in-the-wall place with not enough space for the large group. Bryce and Kyra went in to grab the first and only round bringing it out to the side of the building where everyone else was waiting. The sun had now fully set and the group was getting cold. To warm up Jackie suggested they chugged.

Fifteen minutes later they ended up at a sports bar and grabbed some quick grub. Elijah was drawn to the TV playing a game Becca couldn’t care less about. Her and Bryce shared a plate of nachos and a double cheeseburger with onion rings. Sienna gave a side eye at how close her two friends were becoming. After the third bar the group started to fan out, Aurora and Kyra headed home needing a solid seven hours of sleep to be functional.

Feeling the buzz and forgetting about Raf, they powered on! On their way to the club the group passed an Irish pub with music blasting. They accepted the inevitable detour and danced in the middle of the floor to the house fiddle band. Everyone had one drink before Sienna, Jackie and Elijah bowed out afterwards overcome with exhaustion.

The last two troops gave one another a devious smirk and headed to the club arm in arm.

Bryce and Becca held off on drinks feeling full of life from the last few rounds and put off by the elite pricing. He grabbed her hand and led her onto the technicolor floor. They danced and danced to song after song. Occasionally she’d turn around and he'd hold her flush to his chest. The sensation releasing copious amounts of serotonin and oxytocin.

At one point she was sandwiched between Bryce and another hopeless stranger. It seemed the two men wanted to outlast the other. She found the determined glimmer in her friend’s eye so amusing. Becca turned away from the poor stranger and back to Bryce, the two men calling a silent truce. He raised his eyebrows and she mouthed “stay”. He moved in closer and kissed her temple causing the nameless hopeful to storm away.

They stayed. They danced. They drank.

Bryce leaned over to speak into her ear, “That guys totally checking you out.”

She cocked her head to see a dark skinned stranger in well-tailored clothes eyeing them.

“Maybe he’s checking you out,” she sneered.

Bryce’s contagious and magnificent smile lit up his face, “He’s definitely trying to figure out if we’re together.”

She made a show of rolling her eyes.

Pointing over his shoulder he said, “I’m gonna go get us another round.”

The mystery stranger used that as an opportunity.

“Hey,” his tenor voice smooth and unconflicted.

The stranger wasn’t much taller than Becca. He had dark olive skin, enchanting amber eyes, a buzz cut which is so different from her type - she liked a man with locks she could latch on to. His shallow beard accented his chiseled jaw. He wore a navy blue v-neck that drew the attention to the defined muscles beneath. He was a small man compared to those she surrounded herself with, and was a stark contrast to what she was attracted to. And maybe, just maybe he could help her forget for a minute.

“Hey,” Becca said back, scanning the crowd over the man’s shoulder for Bryce’s return.

Before she knew it she was bumped in the back and tumbling towards the handsome stranger. Bryce was the culprit walking hand in hand with another girl he picked up at the bar as he shot his friend an encouraging wink.

The stranger nodded over to Bryce’s retreating form, “Looks like you’ve been dumped.”

“I’ve been abandoned by my friend,” she clarified. Becca’s eyes locked with the olive strangers and shrugged, “Guess I’m in the market for some company.”

He raised his eyebrows and they both moved to close the distance, letting the air around them take control. His thin hand moved to her waist while one of hers laid to rest on his taut forearm. They moved in unison. She kissed the stranger fiercely for what felt like hours in the middle of the club, their tongues battling for dominance. His left hand trailed up to her hair and the right settled on the skin at the small of her back to keep her flush to him. When they came up for air he asked Becca to go home with him.

Without hesitation she said she’d meet him at the bar in five.

Sitting in the dirty bathroom she couldn’t believe what she was doing. She was intoxicated, alone and willing to go home with just about anyone that would give her the time of day? No. She was stronger than this. She shouldn’t succumb to this. She wasn’t desperate enough to do this.

But the alcohol took over.

She regretted the decision immediately.

After all this time she never expected a response.

First with a text, Are you ok?

Why now? She thought as she stood in the dingy bathroom watching the notification flash over her lockscreen.

She fled.

Becca shoved her phone deep in her pocket and retreated back to the commotion as fast she could. She scanned the room briefly looking for Bryce but spotted the stranger moving onto his next conquest. She reached the base of the stairs, her phone incessantly vibrating. She pulled it out to see the same message sent a second time. Against her better judgment she typed back;

Not at all.

Within seconds, flashing across the phone screen was the name she longed for.

Incoming: Ethan Ramsey

She didn’t have a chance to say anything as she made her way outdoors before he asked in a low and stoic voice, “Where are you?”

“Where are you?”

“Rebecca…”

She wanted to hang up so badly. But his voice… How she missed his voice. And he was there. He sees her messages - he called because he cares. Well that’s what she told herself. Why else would he finally respond after all these days?

Her words were caught in her throat - she had so many things she wanted to say to him - to ask him, but nothing came out. She was rendered mute between the embarrassment and opportunity.

“Becca are you still there?”

She had to open and close her mouth a few times before the words manifested on her tongue. “Right where… you left me,” she whispered more to herself than anything.

He left. He left me.

The two ex-lovers were silent, the load of everything she’s had to bottle up finally taking its toll and Becca started to sob. All of the feelings she’d tried to box away and shrug off came crashing down. Ethan Ramsey broke her heart. He let her into his world outside of Edenbrook and vice versa. She let herself fall for him and it became detrimental, a derailment to every hope she started residency with.

Another person she considered close had betrayed her.

Another man had disappointed and abandoned her.

Becca never talked much about her past, gently refusing to confront the heartache her father caused her, what Landry had done to her, how Rafael avoided her and how her idol, her mentor and lover abandoned her. The culmination broke her.

She dropped to the curb, her vision impared by her tears. She let her face fall in her left hand and clutched the phone in her right to her ear. One word kept running through her mind as she completely fell apart on a dim Boston street at an ungodly hour of the evening, praying that the son-of-a-bitch on the other end of the line would put her at ease;

Pathetic.

“Bec-”

She hung up the phone.

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giant-sketches · 4 years

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Guardian Naga Chpt. 4

I have come to deliver on my word of a longer chapter with more sketches attached! Plus, a fun surprise! We’re getting into the good stuff now my friends!!! If you have yet not read the latest, or any chapters thus far please do check out the links below. Also if you would like to be added to the tag for this fic please don’t hesitate to ask. :D

Chapters: 1/2/3/

Another two weeks had passed as Roman continued to visit the Naga with sweets and converse with him about his day. Only two months remained before Remus’s return, but despite this fact Roman found himself looking forward to his meet-ups at the caves. He shared stories of his youth and about many harrowing adventures he’d experience due to his mischievous brother. He spoke of the wonderful people in the kingdom and about his childhood friends. The plan was progressing smoothly, but Roman couldn’t help wanting to learn more about the Naga. He only talked about himself while there and the Naga would remain silent and listening. Thus, during his free time he read any books he could find relating to his new friend.

Sadly, not much was written about the Naga besides the one fairy-tale he vaguely remembered before. After an unsuccessful search the solemn King was about to give up when an anomaly caught his eye. Two books set beside one another displaced an unusual amount of darkened space between them; as if there was nothing attached to their bindings. Taking a chance Roman removed the two false coverings to reveal an enlarged space hidden behind. Inside lay an old journal with the name of the first king inscribed on top, Virgil.

“What in the world is this and why was it hidden away?”

Checking first to see if anyone around, Roman quickly returned to his personal quarters in order to further inspect the journal. He took additional precautions not to damage it by wearing gloves as he proceeded to flip through. The journal appeared to be a sort of day-by-day log the first king wrote in to keep record of the kingdom’s progression. For the first few years not much was written besides the occasional conflict among lords, complications with trading overseas, and a six month long famine. The famine records were particularly interesting as it seems to end abruptly with entire fields filling up with crops overnight and rain washing over the land for three whole days. Something so unreal, it was like a miracle!

“What if…was it the Naga?”

Roman paused for a moment to contemplate this train of thought that popped into his mind. What if this was the Naga’s doing? If it was then why did the Virgil not write anything down about meeting him? As Roman continued looking through the journal he found not even one mention of the Naga. Yet, more miracles kept occurring: from alliances being formed with decade long enemies, a pandemic being cured in less then a month, and the appearance of magic itself in a select amount of people, including the past King. It was well known in history books that King Virgil was a fan of dark enchantments and had complete mastery over shadow spells.

“Wait! What if this journal is also enchanted? If that’s true then there must be some kind of trick to it…hidden text maybe? How would I get it to reveal itself though? If I remember correctly dark enchantments dealing with paper included elements like spit, ash, and blood being placed on the paper to reveal anything hidden.”

Still, Roman was unsure of which to test out first. True enough he could try all three, but because of how old the journal was he was afraid of damaging it if his attempts failed. He’d have to decide on one and hope for a good result. As he scoured his brain for any hints as to which component to use a peculiar thought came across his mind; blood, the King’s blood. Was it possible that the first King would only want those of royalty to see what was hidden inside? If it was about the Naga it would make sense.

“Blood it is then.”

Without hesitation Roman placed his hand underneath his desk and pulled out a small dagger. Swiftly, he placed the blade against his thumb and pressed until blood trickled out. He pulled the journal towards him and cautiously placed his thumb at the corner of where the entry about the famine began. Instantly, the blood spread rapidly across the page and dyed it a deep crimson red. Blackened cursive rose up from the stained pages and wrote out the first King’s meeting with the Naga and his conversations with him afterwards. Near the end Virgil spoke of building a shrine for the Naga to live in and be with the people it protected. Yet, the final passage cased Roman’s blood to run cold:

To my dearest friend, I am sorry that I was unable to keep you safe and happy as I had promised when we first met. The people who once worshiped you as a guardian deity and depended on you have been blinded by their fears of the unknown. As I write this I am gravely wounded and I cannot come to see you as I had hoped in my final moments. I wanted to protect you, but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to harm my countryman, this mistake has cost me my life.

However, I fear it has cost you an even greater punishment that you are undeserving of. You are not the deceitful monster they think you are, yet despite my greatest efforts to convince them they fell to their own anxieties. I can only hope you can forgive their foolishness. As for me I’m sorry I couldn’t give you what you wanted in the end. I could only remain your friend as I had fallen for another. I hope one day you’ll find your destined one as well my friend.

Now, if this message is ever found by one of my descendants who has become the next King, please grant me my dying wish. Seek out the Naga wherever it may be dwelling and tell him how sorry I am. As the current King I want you to apologize on behalf of the entire kingdom and mankind. Please do this for me so I can rest without any regrets.

Roman’s tears were overflowing as he kept trying to wipe them away, but more continued to appear. All he could think about was the loneliness, pain, and heartbreak the Naga must have suffered for the past 500 years. Roman felt he was no better than those foolish humans of the past as he thought back to their first encounter. He had to go apologize immediately, even if today wasn’t a meet-up date there was no time to waste. He needed to grant Virgil’s dying wish no matter what.

Usually Roman came to visit every other day in the morning or evening, but he was now in front of the caves midday. Though out of breath from sprinting towards the forest he began calling out into the caves for the Naga.

“Naga! Are you there? It’s me Roman. Naga!” There was no answer. Was he not inside the caves?

Roman had no idea where else to look as they had never met anywhere but at the caves. As he began to worry that he may not be able to meet with the Naga today his ears perked up at the sound of leaves rustling behind him. Unsure of who or what might be lurking inside the brush he spun himself around quickly in preparation. However, before he could even think about taking further action he froze at the sight of the Naga emerging from the forest.

This was his first time laying his eyes upon the massive creature when not covered in shadows. The Naga’s frame was lean with smooth skin covered in emerald colored scales. He had his chest loosely wrapped by a grey cloth. His ears were pointed outwards and decorated with a single gold earring. The Naga’s hair was a deep black and most spectacular sight was his tail that was covered in an array of gold and green scales that glittered in the light. Overall, only one word came to mind as Roman continued to gaze in awe,

“Beautiful.”

Startled, the Naga finally noticed Roman standing still outside the entrance to the cave. It was obvious he had missed Roman’s remake as he sheepishly began backing up into the forest in order to hide himself. Panicked, Roman called out to him,

“Wait! It’s okay, you don’t need to hide anymore.” The Naga was surprised at Roman’s remark and hesitated.

“Are you truly alright with my presence?”

“Yes, please. I want to see you.” The Naga was lost for words as he slithered his way out into the open.

Roman was still amazed by the sight and as he reflected back on their first meeting he found it hard to believe he was ever afraid of someone so lovely. What an utter fool he had been, he thought as he turned away in shame. Then, without warning, Roman felt two large hands wrap around him. He had failed to notice the Naga had leaned down towards him and was now gently picking him up. Despite the scales his touch was soft as he pressed his pointer finger up against Roman’s face and lightly stroked it. Roman was unsure of what was going on, but he felt no discomfort and actually enjoyed the uncommon sensation.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you little one. Know I will not harm you, but I noticed that your eyes were reddened and grew concerned for your well-being. Have you been feeling alright as of late?”

Was the Naga worried about him and trying to comfort him? This Naga was beyond considerate, how could he have not seen this all until now? As Roman was about to lose himself in another burst of tears he could feel the hands surrounding him begin to stretch and expand.

“Wha-”

“Ah, no need to fear. It’s just that my body shifts in size throughout the day as my body heat rises. It will stop soon enough, so please endure it until then. I promise not to let you fall.”

“O-Okay.”

Roman had become flustered at the sight of this already massive creature growing even bigger right in front of him. He was embarrassed to admit he enjoyed the view as he gave the Naga a soft smile. It did not take long for the fingers surrounding him to quickly outgrow his tiny frame. Once the growing stopped Roman was small enough to roll around the Naga’s palm freely if he wanted. The creature had become gigantic! Concerned over Roman’s possible reaction to his growth the Naga whispered,

“Are you not frightened by my new stature?”

“Oh course not, yo-”

Roman stopped short as the gaping hole on the Naga’s face, where his other eye should have been, caught his attention. He shivered at the realization that the people from 500 years ago must have done that to him. The Naga, however, took this reaction differently and instinctively used his free hand to over it up. Roman jumped at the sudden movement and fell backwards.

“Hideous is it not? I apologize for scaring you Roman. I’ll let you down now so you may leave.” A sad smile shown on his face.

“What, no I’m not afraid and I don’t want to leave.”

Instantly, Roman could feel the sadness reflected in the Naga’s now enormous eye permeating through his body.

“You must be a wonderful King. To have such courage when standing face-to-face with a monster such as I. I’m sure you are dearly loved by your people, but while here with me you have no need to hide your fear. You can be truthful with me.”

A sharp pain ran through Romans’s heart. “A….monster? Do you really see yourself as a monster?”

“What else would I be? Even now my size is large enough to crush you between my fingers. Are you trying to convince me that you see me differently?”

“I-I do.”

“I’m sorry, but I find that hard to believe.” Roman gritted his teeth as he grew increasingly agitated.

“I found Virgil’s journal!”

The Naga was shocked. “What did yo-”

“I said I found Virgil’s journal from 500 years ago. For some reason it was hidden away in the royal library and the text about you was locked away with a dark enchantment. Despite that I was able to read his final words and dying wish.”

“Virgil’s dying wish…what was it?”

Roman was now sobbing, but he cleared his throat in order to give a clear answer.

“He was killed while trying to protect you from the people who had formed an uprising. He wrote how sorry he was that he couldn’t see you in his final moments or return your feelings of love for him. His dying wish was that one of his descendants would find the journal and seek you out in order to formally apologize on behalf of the kingdom and humanity. That’s why I came here today in such a hurry.”

“So it wasn’t just because you wanted to see me then?”

“Wha-no, of course I wanted to see you. I’ve always looked forward to our meetings.”

Roman couldn’t help, but blush at his sudden remark. The Naga too found himself blushing lightly. An awkward silence fell between them both until Roman decided not to delay on his mission anymore.

“Anyway, I wish to fulfill the first King’s dying wish and wholeheartedly apologize for the kingdom’s sins against you for the past 500 years. Even if you chose to never forgive us humans that’s fine, but I personally would like you to know that I truthfully do not see you as a monster. If anything you’re undeniably beautiful in every way.”

“Beautiful? You find me beautiful?”

Roman struggled to answer as his head had overheated from embarrassment. Had he just confessed to the Naga? The Naga noticed how woozy Roman looked and believed it was best for him to call it a day.

“You needn’t worry little one, despite all the things humans have taken from me I still have a heart. Thus, I accept your apology as the current King. Thank you for taking the time to come deliver it in person after all this time.”

Roman collected himself and responded, “You’re welcome!”

“I think for now you should return to the castle to rest. You appear exhausted and I’d hate to see you come down with something.”

“Yes I think you’re right. I’ll take some time to rest, but I promise to return shortly.”

The Naga only smiled as he gently placed it’s hand onto the ground to let Roman off and then quickly slithered back into its cave without a word. Roman casually walked back to the castle lost in thought as he found himself confused about his feelings for the Naga. Had he actually fallen for him, or was he simply just mistaken?

End Chapter 4

@soviet-speck @valentin0vkc @legendsgates

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ahs-honey · 5 years

Text

Out of the Ordinary. (Wilhemina Venable x Reader One Shot.)

A/N: hi omg it has been YEARS. i never usually write these sorts of stories but i decided to give this request a shot and here it is !! i hope someone out there enjoys this :)

Request: “ Can I request a Venable x Reader pre apocalypse where they are used to the reader being really upbeat and charismatic all the time and then there's one day they don't see them at work, and Venable goes to the reader's apartment to see how bleak it is and the reader's having a depressive episode and it,,,just really shocks Venable?” — @urleastfavtree (thank you so much for requesting this and pulling me out of the biggest ever writers block !! i hope i did the idea justice.)

Wilhemina drummed her manicured nails against her plum mahogany desk in a rhythmic pattern, her eyes falling to the clock in the corner of her laptop screen in what would seem like worry to even the most oblivious onlooker, if it weren't for her drowning any emotion in a facade of frustration.

You were never late. And yet, here was Ms. Venable, anxiously waiting for her annoyingly-cheery assistant to rush through the door and start word vomiting her way through the worlds worst excuse. Something along the lines of, 'I found an abandoned dog in the street and I had to take it to a shelter' or 'I went to buy breakfast for the homeless man across the street'. Those were the kinds of useless, ridiculous acts she could imagine you doing that would result in you not showing up for work on time.

However, an hour rolled by slower than ever before and you were still nowhere to be found. In fact, Ms. Venable almost waited the whole entire day for you to burst into the building. She would catch herself staring holes through the glass windows, hoping to see you dash past with a bright, apologetic smile on your face. She felt herself listening out for your contagious laughter and the sweet sound of your melodic voice in every hallway and corner of the building, and she even had someone bring her two cups of coffee in case you ended up showing up eventually.

The red-head couldn't even bring herself to start wondering why she had allowed you to take up her mind the entire day, but she absolutely despised the fact that you had such an affect on her. She always thought you were the most frustrating person to be around. You were so nice. Too nice. To her, to the idiots that worked at the company, and to absolutely anybody you would come into contact with.

Venable would never be the one to make or take phone calls unless the company was to be dealing with a difficult caller, but by lunch time, she had an iron grip on her telephone as she dialled your number.

Worry didn't fail to truly settle in her stomach when — after the third call — Venable realised that you weren't going to pick up the phone. That's when the woman decided she'd be leaving work early to deal with 'personal matters'.

It wasn't hard finding your address in the system, nor was it too hard getting to your apartment. But standing in front of your door, one hand tightly wrapped around her cane and another inching towards the run down wood, Wilhemina was soon finding it very difficult to come up with an explanation as to why she had gone so out of her way just to end up... here. At her assistants apartment. The person she'd claim she would have no trouble firing daily.

Just as the older woman shook every bit of evident concern off of her features — the crease in between her eyebrows dissolving and her stance straightening to perfection — you warily swung the door open, almost immediately seeing your own confusion being mirrored back at you as Wilhemina's eyes scanned your dishevelled form.

"Ms. Venable? What- uh, what are you doing here?" You wondered out loud, pressing the door towards its frame slowly in attempt to cover up as much of the mess of your apartment as possible.

"I-" the woman paused, clearing her throat as all emotion was forcefully drained from her face, "you didn't call in to work. Unfortunately, it is my duty to ensure that I get the reasoning behind that."

You were too debilitated to put on a show, and yet you couldn't help but tell a white lie in attempt to squeeze any last bit of worry out of Wilhemina's perfect features.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Venable. I was sick all night and I slept through most of the morning," you bit the corner of your lip in hopes of easing the sadness building up inside of you, yet that didn't seem to work as Venable was soon met with teary eyes, shocking her enough for a visible frown to form on her face.

Deep down, the older woman knew it'd be best if she'd just flee the building right now. She knew that was the safest option. And yet, seeing you in such a shambolic state had her forgetting the reputation she had fought terribly hard to build, and before the red-head could see reason, the concern in her tone shone through like the sunlight on a summer morning.

"Have you eaten yet? I have time to spare before my next meeting and it wouldn't be too harrowing of a job to cook you a decent meal."

You swallowed the gasp that was threatening to part through your lips as, for once, Venable managed to say something which wasn't even mildly offensive to you.

All of a sudden, you felt yourself growing embarrassed of the state that you were in. You happened to be an absolute clean freak on any other day. Your clothing was always rich in colour, vibrant even, and your hair was always as close to 'neat' as possible. Yet here you were, hair unkempt and matted in places; clothing rumpled and dull-looking. You must've looked terrible on the outside but that didn't matter so much when you felt even worse on the inside.

"My- My apartment, it's-"

"I didn't ask about your apartment, (y/n)."

You sucked in a sharp breath, bracing yourself for complete humiliation, "r-right, Ms. Venable, sorry. Of course you can come inside."

Your fingers loosened and soon let go of the steel door handle as you let the block of wood draw open, the apartment soon coming into Venable's view. As much as your curious mind ached to see the reaction of the woman you'd grown to like so much, you couldn't help but train your eyes onto the ground as you stepped aside, allowing room for the red-head to slither into your home.

She slipped out of her boots and coat with practiced ease, not once stopping to gaze at the piles of clothes and rubbish strewn around the room, or to judge the bleak interior of your apartment. Venable had never found it difficult to dish insults out like words were nothing to her, but second after second passed, and the woman had not given even the slightest sign of displease or disapproval.

"Mind showing me to the kitchen?"

You finally looked up into Wilhemina's soft brown eyes, finding surprise and what could only be described as sympathy.

Nodding, you ventured through the building, Venable following shortly behind, cane drumming on the panelled ground.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I- I mean, you don't have to, Ms. Venable. Really, it's ok," you tried reassuring the woman that she wasn't obligated to help, but she simply ignored you, gesturing for you to take a seat at the kitchen table.

"You can call me Mina when we're in an informal setting," Venable spoke as she swung the fridge open, scanning her eyes over the few products you had in there. "French toast?" She asked, glancing over at you.

You nodded softly. "Thank you."

As the red-head busied herself with cooking, you sat and observed as she moved gracefully, yet with purpose, and you were drawn into deep thought, feeling yourself slowly detach from the moment.

That was, up until Venable placed a tall glass of water in front of you, uttering a simple, "Drink," before watching you gulp the cold liquid down almost immediately. You rapidly realised that you'd forgotten to drink today which you were sure that Wilhemina noticed, based on the slightly scolding look on her face, that softened only once you gave her a thankful smile.

You couldn't quite understand why the older woman, who was pretty much known for being cruel, would do such a nice gesture for you. And as you ate your food in silence, eyes glued to Wilhemina's back as she washed your dirty dishes, you felt yourself growing fonder and fonder of the red-head. You'd been warned countless times to stay away from her; told that she was dangerous and frightening to the bone, but she didn't owe you a thing, and yet, here she was, keeping you sane and grounded without even barely realising it.

Despite insisting you could finish up the rest of the dishes, Venable was quick to shut the debate down as she ordered you to go lay down on the couch, claiming she'd seen you yawn too many times for her comfort. She, herself, couldn't begin to comprehend why she was acting the way she was with you, but something inside her warmed — and possibly melted — whenever she caught sight of you.

Once the woman had left your kitchen polished and good as new, she ushered over to check on you, gently pressing her cane to the ground in order to keep you from waking up or feeling startled. She'd hate to admit it — in fact, she would never do so — but a small smile crept onto her face as her eyes fell upon your peaceful form.

A blanket was soon draped over your relaxed body, slowly pulling you out of sleep as you reached out and grasped onto Wilhemina's leg. "You didn't have to do that," you sleepily mumbled, eyes remaining shut.

The older woman froze in panic of waking you, before realising you were still half asleep. "Ssh now. This isn't the time to protest. You're clearly exhausted. Did you even rest at all or was that not the entire truth?"

You paused for a few seconds before letting out a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Mina. I didn't wanna disappoint you."

The woman bit her lip as she felt the admission pull at her heart strings. She couldn't quite believe that someone so usually-upbeat and optimistic could even think those things.

Careful not to put any strain on her back, Venable gently sat on the edge of the couch, eyes scanning your features as if she wanted to remember this moment forever. "You haven't disappointed me. I- I don't think you could ever do such a thing," Venable spoke more to herself than anyone else, voice dropping to a whisper by the end of her sentence. The red-head paused momentarily, debating with herself on what to say. She was never good at the 'comforting people' thing, she thought as she cleared her throat, "But (y/n)?"

"Hm?"

"Don't you dare lie to me again about how you're doing."

There was a moment of silence where Wilhemina was almost convinced that you had already fallen back to sleep, yet your hand soon found hers, embracing it in a warmth she hadn't felt in years. More so, a warmth she hadn't allowed herself to feel.

"I won't, Mina. Not to you. Not again."

Venable was almost breathless by the time your fingers finally loosened and she heard your breath even out. In reality, it was only a few seconds that passed, but it was enough to drain Wilhemina of all oxygen.

Her mind spun with thoughts of you and her heart ached with emotion for what seemed like the first time in eons. And those things never really eased up. Not hours later when her eyes scanned the spotless apartment before landing back onto your sleeping form, allowing her to indulge herself in one last longing look before leaving the building.

And not even after that.

#wilhemina venable x reader #sarah paulson x reader #wilhemina venable one shot #tori writes #ahs-honey #wilhelmina venable x reader #wilhelmina venable one shot #wilhemina venable fic #wilhelmina venable fic #ahs fic #ahs one shot

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windyfiend · 4 years

Link

By nightfall, after the suns had drawn down and slipped beneath the streets, an unsteady stillness had settled on the city. The smoke had cleared, the red stains washed clean, a killer caged in the belly of the palace, but in the dark the whispers grew louder.

By midnight, the shadows screamed for the truth.

Alexis worked by the light of a moth that clung to the blank wall of their barrack room. They sat hunched at a desk with tweezers and a knife, slow and carefully precise, picking apart the insides of a dissected bomb recovered from the stash in the sewer.

With a delicate touch, they drew out a tiny vial of blue shining liquid and held it to the light of the lantern-moth’s wing--

*RRRRRING!*

They jerked and saved the falling vial with a catch. The rotary telephone blared twice more before they picked up the receiver with a hesitant hand. “...Hello?”

[Hey, it’s Pallas, are you asleep? Listen, a couple of kids are missing. There’s a woman here at the station who says her granddaughter hasn’t been home since the vigil, and nobody can find her best friend either. Could be runaways, but after what happened today--]

“What are their names?” Alexis interjected. They clutched the receiver until it shook.

[Briony,] said Pallas. [And Runa.]

Alexis closed their eyes. “Runa isn’t missing,” they said. “I know where she is.”

“What do you mean she’s with the artificers?!” Pallas shrieked as soon as Alexis opened the door. She glowered, bristling in the moonlight, like a tiny angry dog in white frills and high boots. She gripped her hoverboard as if debating whether to smack Alexis with it. “We don’t even send dead kids to the artificers! What the hell is wrong with you!”

Alexis raised a hand in surrender but didn’t move out of the narrow space behind the door. “That was my reaction at first. But I think she’s okay--”

“You think?!”

“We should talk to Runa,” Alexis ended the conversation while they stepped over the threshold and pulled the door shut, a hoverboard gleaming under their arm. “If she was the last person to see Briony, she’s our only lead. We’ve already lost a day.”

Pallas dropped her hoverboard, stomped on it and folded her arms, her jaw clenched against the spout of insults that stoppered her throat. “So are you gonna get dressed, or are you conducting an interview in your pajamas?”

Alexis glanced down at their soft slippers and matching pawprint fabric. “It isn’t pajamas,” they explained. “It’s a tunic.”

Pallas made a show of rolling her eyes before she glided away down the starlit street.

Alexis swept after her. “It’s not pajamas!” they insisted, echoing in the night.

*knock knock knock*

Alexis waited in front of the ornate wooden door, a glance cast toward Pallas, who stiffened and huffed and bulged her angry eyes as if she might pull her dagger on whoever answered.

Locks clicked and swished one at a time, then the heavy door hushed open. Sebastian stood in the same clothes he’d worn on the beach, backed by the dim flicker of candlelight. Though dark circles weighed heavy under his eyes, he offered a proud and curious smirk.

“Well,” he purred, and tipped his head to see Pallas balling her fists, “isn’t it late for you little birds to be out of bed?”

“Where is she?!” Pallas wheezed through clenched teeth. “What did you do with her?!”

“Sebastian,” Alexis commanded attention with a slow and even voice, “this is Pallas, a fellow Scythe officer. We’d like to speak with Runa in connection with the disappearance of a young girl.”

“Ah. Runa. She’s sleeping, of course.” Sebastian stepped back with a flourish and opened the door wide. “But I’m sure she won’t mind if we wake her.”

Alexis marched into the smoky gloom, but Pallas hesitated several moments longer, staring into the dark doorway as if it were the hungry mouth of a dragon. But Sebastian quirked an amused eyebrow and Pallas, indignant, stomped stiffly inside.

Her stomach twisted. A knot of bile burned in her throat, and she shivered while the door slipped softly closed behind her.

One side of the wide vaulted room-- its polished wood and empty shelves reminiscent of a repurposed library --paled in the dead blue light of hanging lamps. Upon metal tables lay what remained of the four Light operatives that Kieran had dispatched that afternoon: a severed hand upturned like a dead spider. A leg peeled apart like a flower blossom. A head with its skull exposed, the face lifted away like a facade. It was unclear which parts belonged to which body. Lavender scented candles burned to mask the smell.

“This way,” Sebastian beckoned and strode to the other end of the room, where he rapped a polite knock before easing open a hidden door. “Runa,” he sang softly. “Come on, wake up. You have visitors. You remember Al, don’t you?”

He lifted the cloth from a table lamp teeming with moths, and light bloomed in the grand little room. There were tapestries and lush carpet, a gilded mirror and a polished chestnut wardrobe, and a soft four-poster bed that was far too big for the little girl who slept in it.

Pallas was the last to step inside. Her disgust twisted ugly and furious. While Alexis approached the bedside, Pallas whirled on Sebastian, snatched his collar in a fist and thrust him with a quick forceful bang against the door frame. “Is that your bed?” she hissed through a hateful sneer, her sharp eyes close and level with his. “Why is this child in your bed, Artificer?”

Sebastian raised his ringed hands in peace, his gaze half-lidded. “One, I’m not using it.” He lifted a lazy finger. “Two, it’s far more comfortable than a corpse slab, which was the other option. She’s just been through a harrowing surgery--”

“What did you do to her?” Pallas rumbled like thunder.

Sebastian let out a slow, quiet breath. His smirk sharpened cold. “I find your imagination most alarming,” he said.

“Alexis?” yawned Runa. She shifted against the overstuffed pillows and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost one in the morning.” Alexis knelt beside the bed, smiling gently. “I’m sorry for waking you. I brought a friend with me: the person threatening Sebastian right now is officer Pallas. She’s nicer than she looks, don’t worry. How are you feeling?”

“Okay.” Runa offered a tired smile in return, then pressed her palms in the soft mattress and began to sit up.

Alexis jumped, an alarmed hand on her shoulder. “No, no, don’t get up! Your spine--”

“It’s okay!” Runa laughed, and she grinned while she sat up on her own, straight and easy, away from the support of the pillows. “See? I can do it!”

“You’re pushing your luck,” Sebastian warned through a smirk.

Runa wrinkled her nose at him. “You said I could!”

“In the morning,” he countered. “The roots haven’t set.”

Through this exchange, Pallas’ grip weakened. The fury in her bared teeth proved harder to maintain while the child showed none of the expected signs of trauma.

Runa huffed a sigh and fell back into the pillows. “It’s technically morning,” she grumbled.

Alexis offered her a gentle smile. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Runa. I was worried.” The smile faded just a little. “You still need your rest, so I’ll skip to the reason we’re here so you can go back to sleep. We’d like to ask you about Briony. Could you tell us what you remember about the last time you saw her?”

Runa’s eyes grew wide and she clamped her mouth shut. “She was with me!” she blurted quickly. “We were playing on the hill until way after dawn, and then we saw the lampcatcher coming so she ran home and and that’s all, Briony isn’t a thief, I swear!”

Alexis raised their brows. Pallas stepped curiously closer.

“Runa,” Alexis began carefully while Pallas drew up a chair next to them, “were you and Briony involved in the graffiti on the windmill?”

Runa swallowed. She wiped her sweaty palms on the duvet. “What windmill?”

Pallas, with a pained exhale, sat down and leaned on her knees. “Why do you think we’re here?” she asked kindly.

Runa glanced quickly from Pallas to Alexis and back again, the faces of two Scythe officers both watching her expectantly. “U-um,” she stumbled over her words and squeaked, “stolen paint cans?”

Alexis shook their head slowly. A hand curled into a braced fist. “Runa,” they said gently, and met her guilty eyes with their own, “Briony is missing.”

Runa’s mouth fell open. Her body became completely still, not even a breath, as if she could stop time in the moment before she understood what they meant.

“She can’t be,” Runa whispered, and she shook her head for emphasis. “Not Briony. She’s hiding, she has to be.” She tried a smile, the sheets rumpled in her fists, while hot pressure burned behind her eyes. “I’ll help you find her.”

#stolen suns #original writing #original fiction

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thejackal64 · 5 years

Text

Pillars of Magic: Paradox | Chapter 1: A History Leson

Mewni’s morning began as countless others had before it. The sky was a vibrant shade of blue with hardly any clouds dotting its canvas, the birds were chattering back and forth to each other between the leaves of lush trees, and the people of the city were going about their daily rituals with the same monotonous rhythm that took them to and from work or school, same as any other weekday.

But the morning had only merely started the same as any other. All of its generic, charming tedium was broken by the shrill sounds of ambulances carrying with them their multi-color swirling lights. The birds bolted from the trees as the calm was shattered; people in the streets began to shout. Alarm sirens were ringing and teenagers were screaming. A pool of people flooded out of a school going every which way, not knowing where to flee, only that the light was blinding and fear compelled them to keep moving as quickly as possible in whatever direction they could.

The police first on the scene tried to corral the students as best they could away from the building, though they weren’t yet organized. A special forces unit was immediately deployed inside the school, leaving the basic officers to handle the pandemonium outside. There had been an obvious explosion, tearing a chunk away from the front of the building. The smoke had billowed up to haze over the formerly pristine sky for a mile. Mewmans from the surrounding area drifted around the edges of the chaos, gasping and crying, unable to turn their eyes away yet unsure how to take in the scene unfolding before them.

More whistles filled the air as firemen arrived at the scene, along with a barrage of vehicles chauffeuring panicked parents who barely waited for the cars to stop before jumping out and rushing towards the disaster. First responders were immediately overwhelmed and called in for backup on their lapel communicators, trying to juggle between holding the parents back and getting the wounded to safety.

The entire scene was anarchy.

Out of the amassed crowd pushed a woman with straight black hair, so silky it fell down to her shoulders like ink. She wore a fancy suit and jacket and surveyed the area as she went, jostling between anxious parents and gawkers alike. The throng was trying to be held back by a single policeman, but he couldn’t stop everyone from getting through and running towards the school, and couldn’t stop her either. She dodged under his arm and a couple parents followed behind her, soon many more pushing back against the swamped officer.

“Hurry Buffy! We wanna get this shot before they get the restraint beams up!” She had called back to a large monster loosely resembling a top-heavy bullrog. He was carefully trying to get through the people with a large spherical device clamped atop his shoulder. It was roughly the size of an Earth basketball, covered in a puzzle-matrix of metallic components.

“Excuse me, pardon me,” he kept saying as he unwittingly knocked into people to his left and right. Most of the mewmans only came up to his chest.

“Just get over here!”

He accidently stepped on the officer’s foot with his own webbed one as he quickly jostled to get past.

“Aghh!” the officer shouted with a growl. “This area isn’t secure! You’re not permitted beyond this point!” The officer continued to rail but the monster was already making his way after the woman.

“Very sorry!” Buffrog shouted back.

There was little the officer could do to stop him, his arms too busy trying to hold back the crush of people bearing down on him, several more managing to get by.

Some students were still coming out of the building, tripping over the debris and pieces of wall, covered in cuts and abrasions. Several were covered so thickly by pallid dust there wasn’t any color to their hair, skin, or clothes; and some remained completely untouched by it. They exited out side doors or even broken windows.

One student walked out the front of the school lobby, where the main blast had occurred, as if in a tranced daze. She didn’t run like the others, nor did she seem remotely interested in doing so. She raised a hand to her eyes as the sunlight streaming through the smoke caused her to squint, all of the flashing lights and blaring cries of sirens and parents assaulting her senses all at once. There weren’t any birds singing. Smoke and rolling colors blended together in a sickening fog all around. She didn’t understand.

The woman had found what she had been looking for.

“Her! This way, Buffy! Let's get ready to go live!”

As quickly as possible the woman wearing the suit jacket got to the confused girl’s side. Without touching her shoulder, she swept out an arm like a doting parent to direct her safely away from the rubble. Luckily, the wailing of an actual parent to get into the building served as an ideal distraction, allowing her to usher the girl away from the commotion. She looked back just once, seeing the officers stopping a distraught woman from continuing inside while they struggled to calm her down.

Then all at once along the perimeter of the school, restraint beams sparked to life between waist-high police poles they finally finished setting up, to secure the scene and keep everyone back. The beams were flat between the poles and glowed like red hot walls, only permitting badge-wearing officers and first responder personnel entry and exit.

The girl was in a blank stupor, heading wherever directed, her arms reaching up into her dusty teal hair aimlessly, touching and searching, her lower lip quivering. Her brown skin only showed through where her sweat and tears streaked away the light-colored grime.

The reporter did her best not to mess up her clean suit while she got the girl into position, careful not to touch her too much so no dirt would contact her finely pressed and expensive looking attire. She stood the girl just enough so that her back faced the commotion going on behind her.

“Gone…” the girl muttered as if to herself.

“What?” the reporter plucked half of a triangular-shaped object off her lapel that looked like a crystal pin, then pressed it onto the girl’s shirt. “Hang on, not yet.”

The large monster with the sphere atop his shoulder huffed as he finally got his footing across from them, wiping his brow as he stood before them both.

“I am ready,” he said, tapping the sphere. The outer shell of the orb broke apart along the outer seams, revealing an inner camera device that glowed red. He took the orb off his shoulder and leveled it to his face in order to peer through it, making sure to center the image in front of him.

“Be sure to get the school,” the reported barked, quickly checking and adjusting her hair in the sphere’s reflection. She nodded to her green-skinned partner. “We have to hurry.”

“B-but, he’s gone…” the girl stuttered in reply.

“The school is still there, don’t worry,” the reporter rushed. “You’ll find your friends in a minute. What’s your name?”

For a moment the girl blinked, fresh fluid running down the already created rivers on the contours of her face. “M-My? Uhm… Kelly, but…”

The cameraman again tapped the side of the sphere he held and the light swirling within glowed green.

“In three – two – one…” and he pointed his finger towards the pair.

With all seriousness, the reporter’s hustled face became an expression of seriousness and dread, washing over her as instantly as happiness fled the face of a child that dropped its Goblin Dog on the ground.

“Breaking news! Coming to you live from North Mewni, this is Excelcia with Good Morning Mewni News. Unfortunately it is not such a good morning here, as you can see behind me. There has been what appears to be an explosion at the Paragon Academy shortly after classes went into session today. First responders are ushering the injured to safety as I speak and we won’t have an official numbers as of yet of the potential victims; we’re getting first-hand reports coming in from eye witnesses like Kelly here.”

The sphere turned to focus on Kelly, whose eyes were glazed over, her hands still reaching into her locks.

“Kelly, what happened must have been truly harrowing for you and your fellow classmates, but what can you tell us about what happened from the inside?”

Kelly’s face was a mixture of shock and disbelief merged into one. Her fingertips reached for the clumps of hair that she thought should surely be there atop her head, but were not, feeling only her own scalp. She remained fixated with blankly staring eyes until once again Excelcia questioned her.

“I know this must be hard for you, but Kelly, can you tell us what happened?”

Her mouth quivered, the reporter hanging on her unspoken words and nodding as if that would somehow help them to spill out. But she could only feel a fresh wave of tears roll down as she felt the empty space above her.

“He’s gone… g-one.”

*****

Kelly had woken up early so she could spend a little extra time studying for her history exam. She was sure she would be able to breeze through the multiple choice questions, but wanted to make sure she could write a good essay that covered all of the major points about Mewni and it’s magical technology.

Her hair was messed from her rather tousled sleep. It was hard for her to get comfortable in the night, and she’d tossed and turned, thinking over the coming exam.

She grabbed her rather large hair brush and began to tidy up her aquamarine, moppish-like hair that went down to her ankles, brushing it into bushy softness. As she combed, and combed, and combed, she whisperingly repeated, “What is Mewni?”

She slipped on a pink and white striped sweater that was covered in tiny, glistening rhinestones, jumped into a pair of black shorts, and hurried downstairs for breakfast. As she poured milk into a bowl of sweetened Corn Puff cereal, she opened her notebook and ran her finger over the page.

What is Mewni?

There are many people who call Mewni home. Mewni includes not only the dimension of Mewni, which has easily become the most popular and trafficked dimension among its peers, but also the capital city of the same name, which is counted as the world’s shining star

She spooned in the first crunchy puffs into her mouth, hardly noticing their taste as she browsed through what she’d written during the past couple weeks.

Mewni has often been called a bustling metropolis. The city is massive, with its borders spread far apart. With so much space, one would expect the population to be likewise quite spread out, but that isn’t the case as the confines of Mewni’s borders are home to everyone.

She turned back a page, then forward, muttering through her food-filled mouth. “Yes, Mewni is huge. I bet it could take an entire day to walk through it all, or down through it all, if anyone wanted to ever do that.”

History tells us that in the medieval period of Mewni’s development, the world was ruled by many kingdoms…

“Oh boy, I hope I don’t have to remember the names of those.”

...each with their own sense of nationalism and sovereignty, and spread out across the land. It’s hard to say how long ago that may have been, however, as there have been no successful expeditions far past the city walls in recorded history. The land had become shrouded in a hyper-dense cloud of magic radiation that stretched for at least a number of miles in every direction, possibly covering a majority of the planet. Those who have tried to discover land beyond the violet clouds never made it back and officials have declared the practice “too dangerous.”

She finished up her bowl of cereal and shut the notebook, tossing it into her furry backpack as she dashed out of the door, which was comprised of her mother’s ample reddish hair.

“Bye honey!” the large mass of Woolett hair responded, an arm reaching out to wave.

As Kelly started on the path towards school, her initially frantic pace slackened. The various homes began to intermingle with office buildings, private dwellings converging in with the cityscape, slowly taking them over.

The city had multiple layers. Most of the citizens Kelly knew resided in the topmost section on the city where everything was beautiful, elegant, and modern. Splashed across building facades were plentiful lights and ever-present holographic bulletins displaying the news, latest gossips, or products to buy. Any part of the city currently being renovated was masked by the use of such holograms, or simply covered by beautiful tapestries or potted planters until the work was completed. The city always looked immaculate, and full of vibrant life. There were buildings everywhere, but also a decent helping of greenery to make it all feel natural. There was no place for disrepair or dirt, save for within potted plants.

The city was built high upon itself, using the levels below it to serve as its stacked foundation. Older buildings got over-topped by new ones as steadily the kingdom had risen, the wealthiest staying above while the less-so remained below. One could walk down the multitude of levels; the further one went, however, the more the sky overhead instead became a network of streetways and pillars, and foundationary bases belonging to larger buildings top-side. Everything became darker as natural light was replaced by false lighting, the air more closed and musty. The buildings were left forgotten the further down one went, going ages without seeing mortar to fill gaps or fresh coats of paint, especially to cover up ugly graffiti. The highest echelons of the city blocked the lower portions from view and even mind, as most of the attention was paid completely to the upper portion of Mewni, not the underbelly of it.

But, Kelly had never gone to other levels. The class of citizen she belonged to would never need for such things. Although she wondered about it, it was still beneath her desires to check out.

She started to think more about the test awaiting her later in the day and it weighed down her shoulders until even her feet felt heavy. As she reviewed the notes in her head her mind slowly kept wanting to indulge in more fun, exciting thoughts: that of discovering what adventures might lay beyond the violet clouds at the outer rim of Mewni. The daydream took over her vision as she imagined endless waves of monstrous creatures to fight.

“I’d love to be the first one to discover what was really out past that violet cloud.”

“My folks told me it was just against the rules.”

Kelly was immediately thrust back into reality. Her boyfriend, Tad, a smaller Woolett a quarter of her height and completely covered in hair, leapt up onto the top of her head. He perched there, his own hair color merging in with Kelly’s, looking like just an extension of her.

“Hey, babe.”

“Tad, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Mellow out, Kell. I wasn’t even tryin’ to get the jump on you. You were just, like, in your own world. What were you thinkin’ about?”

“We do have a pretty major history test today, Tad. You do remember, right? You studied?”

“How hard can it be?”

Kelly sighed and rolled her eyes. She could almost hear the smile coming from his voice. “You can’t expect to just ace the test without studying. I’ve been racking my brain trying to make sure I will remember everything, especially for the essay part.”

“You get way too stressed out if you think about it too much,” he said as he reclined, getting comfortable atop her head. “Hey, I heard what you said about the violet clouds. Wanna find out some day? Are there scary monsters out there?”

“No, Tad, of course not, we have plenty of scary-looking monsters inside the city, and they’re totally allowed to be here.”

“I meant outside the city limits. Look, I’m just saying I don’t know what there is to be afraid of out there besides getting in trouble with-”

“Off limits, under authority of the crown, pppft. Please.”

“I know, right?”

It wasn’t long before the two teens had arrived at the front of Paragon Academy. The building had a vaulted front exterior, covered in glass and held up by multiple marble pillars. Every facet of it was clean-cut and angled, looking like an architectural marvel. The ground floor of the building was hewn from white stone while the two upper floors were made of sandstone-like clay, bathed with sunset colors.

Kelly headed into the building along with several other classmates. She tried to squeeze past a locker and some classmates and wound up bumping into someone. When she turned to excuse herself, she found herself having to look up, and pretty far up. She had run into a tall, large-armed adult who was part of a trio wearing full blue jumpsuits. They seemed somewhat oddly out of place among the halls and students, but she figured they were probably just janitors.

“Excuse me,” she said.

The clean-shaven man stared down at her with eyes steadily widening, as if he’d been quite taken by surprise and seeing something amazing before him.

She bent slightly to pick up her notebook which she’d dropped. The man was quick to snap it up before she could. It was ridiculous how fast he moved to make sure his huge hand reached it before her more slender one.

“Uhm, you dropped?” he questioned, despite the obvious answer.

“Yes, thank you.”

Kelly went to take the book from his hand but found his grip to be vice-like. She pulled gently but continued to meet with resistance. When the man seemed unable to let go she looked back up at him. His eyes had been on her the whole time and only her glance broke him out of his trance, when her eyes met his own.

“Sorry,” he said, his cheeks flushing red. “Your book?”

“Yes, may I have it now, please?”

“The book… uhm, yes, it’s yours!” He stumbled on his own tongue.

“Yo, Kell, this dude don’t seem right,” Tad whispered.

“Shhh,” she hushed between her teeth, trying to maintain a polite smile that was lingering far too long on her face. She pulled the book harder and finally the man released it.

“I’m sorry,” he said, wiping his brow and trying to find some kind of words to fill the moment that was making his heart race. “Kobi.” He extended his hand her way.

Kelly chuckled loosely and took his hand to shake.

“Kelly. And hey, thanks for picking it up. Sorry I bumped into you.”

“No trouble,” he smiled. “I like Kelly. I-I mean!” he bungled over his words again while trying rapidly to recover, scratching his head. “I like to meet you. T-that is-I mean, good to see your p-pretty face. Uh-I-uh!”

One of the similarly dressed men broke into their conversation. He was far older, wearing small round spectacles on the bridge of his nose which sat atop a thin, rather well-shaped mustache that spiked out on the sides.

“We don’t mean to be any trouble, he means to say, miss. Sorry we got in your way.”

Kelly shrugged her shoulders and slipped the notebook over her shoulder and into her backpack. “Not a problem,” she said as she finally saw her exit and headed away towards the cafeteria.

“Dude was creepin’ my vibes, man, lookin’ at you that way.”

“Oh Tad, stop being so jelly.”

The big fellow was tall enough that he stood over most adults, and well over the students. He couldn’t help but let his eyes track the aqua mass of hair until he couldn’t tell Kelly apart from anyone else anymore, losing her as she and Tad vanished in the ever growing crowd of students.

The man’s partner tapped his elbow. “Let’s go, Kobi. We don’t have time to linger.”

They went in another direction, the expression on Kobi’s face like someone stole away his happiness. The third member of the blue-suited party smacked him on the back of his head.

“The hell you doing?!” he cussed in the loudest whisper he could muster.

The trio rounded a corner while Kelly and Tad continued on into the cafe, taking a seat at one of the tables.

Kelly knew she’d be able to get in a last few tidbits of studying before history class began. She was relieved that she didn’t have to wait until later in the day for the test, as her nerves were already getting the better of her. Even so, she wanted to cram in all the information she could before any of it could seep out of her brain.

Tad knocked on her forehead. “Hey, wanna go hit up that new club ‘The Bounce Lounge’ tonight after school?”

The pair of teens looked around. The school cafeteria was packing with energetic Mewman teens. Some were eating, others were chatting, and many more had their heads buried in books. Something about the atmosphere seemed naturally distracting. Kelly pinched the bridge of her nose and took a sharp breath before continuing.

“How you can even think about that right now is beyond me. I’m worrying about getting a good grade describing the aethertech of Mewni, and you’re worrying about the best place to party.”

Tad smirked within his locks. “Don’t hush my groove, Kell. I have an easy solution to the essay section.”

“Oh yeah?” Kelly doubtingly questioned. “What’s that?”

“Why not talk about the alternative technologies? You know, the kind that the poorer Mewmans use? Bet nobody’s gonna cover that. Automatic ‘A’ just for the topic.”

“The essay portion isn’t supposed to be a heavy opinion piece. I’m planning to try and write a mostly historical account, and you’re supposed to be giving me a springboard, not conspiracy theories.”

“Come on, K, history is all about opinions! Your paper will be too boring without some seasoning, you feel me?”

“That’s not even - ahhh,” she replied. “Look, just help me get my thoughts together for right now. I need to ace this history paper, and I have a lot of other things to do this week.”

“Alright, whatever, but you’re getting us some pizza later. What’s next?”

They looked back down at the notebook Kelly had flopped open on the table.

Despite Mewni’s predicament as a dense, mononational cityscape, the city-state has found its way forward and thrived on the backs of its brilliant minds and hardworking populace. In a land where magic has always been pervasive, the greatest challenge of Mewni’s ancestry was in discovering a means by which to take magic beyond its known limits.

The forefathers of a once medieval world would discover a means to convert magic from its aetherial essence into a more tangible fuel source. The discovery of this process, coined “aetherial manipulation” offered a seemingly limitless source of sustainable energy by which innovative creations could be powered. Lights that didn’t need to burn a candle wick were invented, factories that could handle the production of crops, the sanitation of water, and the distribution of such resources were now possible. High speed travel and communication had become all the more accessible for the average citizen where such luxuries had often been afforded to only royalty and noblemen. This, of course, included an impressive array of weaponry which could manipulate heavily dense magic particles to produce heat, cold, and a slew of other well known combative elements. All of these incredible advances occurred in rapid succession and would come to characterize a period known as “The Aetherotechnical Revolution”.

“Wow, you wrote everything the professor said down? Snooze-fest. Ya lost me at ‘forefathers’.”

Kelly’s finger continued down the page as she mumbled the words, a bit miffed.

After experiencing a century-long ‘golden age’, Mewni had come to stand at the forefront of inter-dimensional society, having carved out a place for itself as a magical hub that was vastly ahead of its time. But if the discovery of aetherotechnology ushered in Mewni’s golden age, the realization of its ultimate limitations would serve to conclude it.

Tad yawned, and Kelly persisted, louder and more angrily, trying to both get Tad to listen so something might sink in, but also to further emboss it into her own mind so she could translate it later during the exam.

Nobody had suspected that the magic energy surrounding the Mewni dimension would wane. It was always rather apparent that magic was truly a renewable resource, one that resurfaced as quickly as it was spent. Such beliefs were hard to combat, as a great deal of research had gone into determining whether their dependence on aetherotechnology would lead to a depletion of the resource. It was even more evident given that the clouds surrounding Mewni never weakened, never changed, never so much as moved. But after over a hundred years, studies were finally beginning to observe changes. It started with reports coming from other dimensions. A gradual decrease in magic had become apparent. In spite of this, Mewni’s own resources initially continued to show no signs of decay, but eventually it too began to show that it was ever-so-slightly thinning out.

“Jeez, this is so boring. I thought you wanted to impress the teacher, not put them to sleep.”

“History papers are never supposed to be entertaining, Tad. If you could get that through your fluffy skull then maybe I could actually get some more useful comments out of you.”

“It’s still too snoresville if you ask me.”

“Well, oh great history expert, what would you write about after all of this in a history paper?”

“Obviously I’d talk about all of the cool technology we came up with, like ships and laser beams and stuff. Oh, and what about the hoverboard and hovercars?”

“That’s getting too off-topic, dude. I need to talk history, not just cool stuff.”

“You could totally still work in the limited resource tech. Just mention some of the crazy stuff we know people had tried, like, in the past.” “You know what, maybe that’s not such a bad idea after all, as long as it’s based on historical facts and not here-say. You actually are using your head for a change.”

“That’s all I’ve got, babe.”

She rolled her eyes at him yet again before continuing past a couple more pages of notes. It took her a minute to find the paragraph she was looking for. The cafeteria had filled and it was steadily becoming louder; the din beginning to break her concentration.

“Here it is. I know the professor had mentioned something about “alternatives” to aether-tech., but we didn’t spend much time on it.”

With magic energy not as endlessly bountiful as it was once known to be, it was no surprise that restrictions would begin to fall upon the use of aethertech and the supply and demand of magic overall. Access to these resources has become more expensive, especially in recent decades, and though it wouldn’t put too much of a dent in the average citizen’s wallet, there are those in Mewni who have called the resource ‘unaffordable’ and many have claimed that less-wealthy individuals who don’t use aetherotechnology as much as the average citizen have sought to create bootleg forms of technology that seek to rely on a resource mostly or wholly separate from magic.

These attempts have likely been all but successful, with the glaring problem that alternative sources of energy are unstable and inefficient at best while completely unusable at worst. Furthermore, attempts to integrated other types of energy with magic have proven not only unsuccessful, but dangerous. Magic is a pure substance, and using it in conjunction with more ‘worldly’ elements have the potential to be hazardous, and possibly catastrophic.

As such, officials have outlawed the practice of citizens creating their own aetherotechnology and especially obtaining magic energy for the purposes of integrating it with alternative forms of energy. These experiments are regarded as “simply too dangerous” and, as such, production is to be approved and mandated by the crown only. It is a wonder if people truly are still attempting to make alternative forms of technology with such harsh restrictions in place.

“Honestly, babe, that is super wordy. You better make, like, a short easy version for the essay.”

“We’re gonna be writing for a history paper, it is supposed to be super wordy.”

“Do you really think the teacher wants to read something like this though, if you make the essay out to be this long, drawn out thing? I can’t even get through the first few sentences without starting to doze off, and I’m totally down with hearing about dangerous things.”

“They are specifically looking for this kind of stuff. I’m not writing a novel, it’s history and social commentary. Seriously, and you wonder why your grades suffer…”

“C’mon, I’m pretty good at math you know.”

“Look, my brain is almost done soaking in as much as it can handle, just bare with me for a little longer.”

“What’s next, the history of museums and fast food?”

“Sort of, yeah.”

“Wait, what?”

“Shhh.”

The pace of technological advancement in society has left culture shifting around it. At first, technology was designed to create more efficient processes so as to allow for more free time amongst the hardest working members of the population, but it soon shifted to convenience for everyone as society began to fathom just how much potential aetherotechnology had to offer. It can power factories and cars, but it can also project videos, cook food in new ways, and even be used to heat pools or create toys and thrill-rides.

People have a lot more free time now, and the question of the culture these days is not just what we can do with our time, but what we truly want to do with it. Big shopping centers with beautiful lights and live music festivals have become the norm, and the world has seemed increasingly more creative with professional and personal endeavors. Surely with a world that becomes increasingly more advanced, and a society that finds themselves free to be themselves and tackle unique life ventures, Mewni is bound to change even further for the better. Citizens will tackle the question of how to make the most of life instead of continuing to ask the question of how to make a living at all.

Kelly leaned back on the table bench. “I think if I write all of this, in this order, it should be cohesive enough, at least if I can make it as much as my notes as possible. It covers all of the bases. Mewni really is an amazing place when you take in how it all came to be.”

Tad’s eyes peeked through his hair to look over the notes for a second glance, this time more thoughtfully.

“Hmm, that is actually pretty cool. I wouldn’t want to work in a factory myself, but it makes you appreciate those that bring it all to life, you know? And, just like, imagine a life without magic and having to find some other way to do everything. Like, how would we even light up all of Mewni with just candles? We’d hardly get around if we had to still use carriages pulled by unicorns or something. Technology kind of rules, doesn’t it Kelly?”

The girl just smirked a little up at him as she saw his eyes light up for a brief moment of awakening.

“I think you’re right. It has really helped make the world a better pla-”

BOOOoooooom

The whole room froze in shock as they heard the resounding of an explosion coming from somewhere not far off, surely inside the school building, the floor shaking slightly beneath their feet. Within an instant the lights cut out throughout the room. There weren’t any windows in the cafeteria, so the power outage had all but left people groping about toward the hallway, seeking a light source. At first it was quiet; the explosion had stolen everyone’s voices. When there was no noise to follow up the initial boom, however, people began to whisper to one another. The muttering gave way to light chatter which, in turn, gave way to a cacophony of panicked voices crowding around the exits toward the hallways.

“C’mon, Kelly, let’s go this way.” Tad pulled at the girl’s arm and led her toward a hallway around the backside of the cafeteria, squeezing past tables and around other hesitant students who lined the walls of the room.

The two found their way through to the back hallway. There were significantly less people, allowing the two to proceed with relative ease. Nothing about the experience became any more ‘pleasant’ as the two continued, moving through a quiet, pitch black hallway. Each step began to feel like a pace taken away from the school they knew and into the corridors of a haunted, abandoned building.

Occasional echoing clangs and slams could be heard coming from behind, surely the sounds of those who refused to leave the cafeteria. They turned a corner, welcomed by a glint of daylight at the other end of the hallway. This path would shoot them out near the front entrance, back by where the front end of the lunchroom led.

“Should we really be going that way, Tad? We don’t know what caused that explosion.”

“There aren’t any better ways around. It’s way too dark back here. Let’s just take a peek and see if it’s safe.”

They both nodded affirmatively to each other before starting to move again. They crept along at first, picking up the pace with each step and impatiently pushing themselves to go faster. At last, they could see each other again. Light from the outside had filtered in enough to fill their surroundings with a little bit of dim color though dust was in the air. Sure enough, more voices could be heard, some of the chatter becoming more distinct as people came into view; Tad and Kelly had reached the school lobby. For whatever reason, there were still people crowding around and obscuring the view, refusing to budge. It was as if the whole lot of them were watching a show.

Finally, they made it close enough to take in the whole of their surroundings. The entrance to the school had been severely damaged; it was likely the blast zone of whatever they had heard a few minutes ago. Black marks lined the walls, chunks of stone and plaster from the walls and shards of shattered glass from window panes were strewn about all over the floor, light fixtures were destroyed, littered about in no particular fashion. Above all else, there was one detail that drew everyone’s attention.

In the center of the room was a large, black goo-like substance clumped up in the center of the room. The muck was fairly large, altogether possessing the mass of at least one full-grown Mewman adult. The pile of goo was pulsing and seemed to be moving. The pitch-black slime flowed over itself and back around, seemingly making an effort to hold some degree of consistency. But it inched along ever so slightly, behaving as though it were simply testing the waters of a foreign environment.

What had seemed like more than a minute-long stalemate was broken when someone began to walk toward the door and the goo in hopes of going around it. Nerves had possessed one student who couldn’t bear the scene any longer and simply wished to reach the exit. It proved to be a fatal mistake.

Suddenly the black substance dramatically increased the pace of its flow, moving into itself as though it were a container full of boiling water, circulating across a convection current. The substance rose into a narrow pillar and curled forward, looking like an aggressive and agitated serpent. The very next instant, a chunk of the black goo shot out of the pillar directly toward the teen who had stepped out of line. The substance landed on his face with a splash. Everyone else jolted backwards a few steps, spooked but uncertain about what was happening. Tad and Kelly followed suit, but looked on with trepidation. A knot was beginning to form in their throats as they felt a sense of dread creeping into them.

The target of the black goo put his hands up in panic and began trying to wipe the goo off of his face, emitting muffled gasps as the goo covered his mouth and began to move. His hands tore and clawed at the slime desperately, but his efforts were futile. The goo simply flowed through the gaps between his fingers, pulsating and flowing around itself along his head. It began to flatten across his face as it spread out further, spinning and winding at high speeds until it found the right orifices. The goo covered his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and began flowing into each.

His attempts to grab at the strange substance had stopped, and now, reflexively, the victim began to press his hands violently against the sides of his head. Though they remained muffled, the sounds of desperation and fear had gone and were replaced simply by screeching yelps of pain. He fell to his knees and clutched at his temple, wailing in stifled agony as the black substance flowed violently through his sinuses, optic nerves, and ear canals, cycling in and out as it seemed to be probing the boy’s brain.

After a few more moments the movement stopped, and the student’s body fell to the ground, limp. The goo moved out of and off of him, leaving behind a still body. He was certainly unconscious, and perhaps worse. There was no way to determine if the poor boy was even alive.

Screams of panic echoed from the crowd as people witnessed a scene out of some sort of horror movie, and people rightly assumed the worst. Now that the initial target of the goo had gone still, the substance began to pulse and course back into itself once again. Two separate blobs were now manifest with the one that had attacked their fellow student now practically doubled in size.

Desensitized to the helplessness of their captees, the goo began to race forward. Swirling around and sliding along, the substance set its sights on more of the students. They shrieked and began to push against one another in hopes of moving away from the substance. Their efforts only riled up their attackers even more.

The goo began to form up into pillars and shoot out, separating into smaller units and beginning to latch themselves onto the frantic Mewmans who clumped up the back of the lobby. Chaos ensued as people pushed, tripped, and fell about trying to escape, going any which way they could. Some tried to move around the goo while it was busy with their peers, others sought sanctuary in the lunchroom, where they could potentially hull themselves up, and others retreated down the halls from whence they came.

Kelly, too, violently grabbed Tad’s hands, his own four grabbing hers, and they took off back down the dark hallway that had spit them out into the lobby.

“We need to go, Tad!”

“But where do we go?”

“WE JUST NEED TO GO!”

Kelly wanted to pick a direction as much away from the goo as fellow classmates.

“Can we make it to the gym?” Tad offered.

Kelly didn’t have to be coached further. She looked around to try and get her bearings in the near darkness, heading away from the lobby, back through the panicking students in the hallways, and down another corridor that led to the gymnasium.

It was no easy task once in the hallway, outside of the range of any windows providing natural light through the dusty air. They had to slow down almost to a walking pace, Kelly releasing Tad’s hands so that she could feel her way along the lockers that lined down the hall. Her fingers stroked over the smooth doors and locks, her touch becoming her new eyes. Without the majority of her vision it seemed like the hallway might go on for an eternity, her hands touching locker after locker without end. It was a wholly different experience, and one that only compounded the terror rushing the blood through her veins. Her feet wanted to run, but she could only manage so much with her lack of sight.

It had even grown more quiet the further away from the lobby they got. She hadn’t noticed it immediately, but her remaining senses were being forced to take over. Few students were following behind her along the locker-wall. She could only really hear someone else tapping against the locks as she had done, at least several meters behind.

“I can’t see anything in here, Kell.”

“It’s not that much farther. We should be able to use the exit from the gym once we get there.”

“I sure hope so,” he coughed. “Yo, someone is following us.”

“I’m sure it’s just others trying to get to the gym too.”

“Yeah, but they aren’t sayin’ anything.”

She paused for a moment to listen. She heard the clacking of the locks against the metallic lockers, the sound getting closer.

“Almost to the gym!” she called out over her shoulder to whoever was behind her. There was no response, just the knocking locks picking up the pace.

Kelly’s heart skipped a beat as her breath caught in her throat.

“Go Kelly, GO!” Tad yelled.

After what felt like a warehouse full of lockers, Kelly’s fingers finally felt the long flattened bar that signaled the large doorway into the gymnasium. Just a push away and their escape could be secured. The rush of endorphins made her dizzy, her hands pushing down hard against the handle. The door gave way to painfully bright light as it opened, the lights of the gymnasium still somehow remaining on against the odds.

Just at that moment one of the tendrils of blackened sludge shot their way behind their backs, right before Kelly could set foot towards freedom. It had been stalking them, oozing over the residual heat of her touch against the metal. It slammed hard into the back of Tad’s head, instantly knocking him from Kelly’s own. He went sailing straight forward and onto the floor.

“TAD!”

She reached for one of his hands but the goo was beginning to envelop him, sinking down through his unruly hair. She impulsively wanted to grab him, but her self preservation won out, seeing the goo covering him in seconds like a wave, drowning him beneath his mop-top of hair.

He convulsed as he fought against it, his multiple hands ripping at the blob hopelessly.

Kelly could only look on, frozen in terror, reliving the moments she had only just witnessed happening to some other kid, except this time it was her boyfriend contorting in agony, screaming out in gurgling pain until he became silenced.

More teens had staggered down the locker hallway after seeing the light source. They pressed in hard behind her, starting to push her closer to Tad’s body and the goo in their frenzied escape. She wanted to stay, wanted to hold Tad, to wake him up, but she couldn’t move forward for fear of the ooze, leaning back into the students that were bumping against her. The room was filling with smoke, slowly choking away her meager sight of Tad and the air around her lungs.

A moment of clarity overcame her senses as pure instinct took over; she tore her eyes away from Tad’s lifeless shape and moved along with the crowd, disappearing down the hall, turning another corner and vanishing into the darkness as they all moved toward another wing of the school.

*****

Much later that afternoon, the school building was practically visible all over the city. It was plastered on hover screens in the plazas, along animated billboards, and on every television channel with round-the-clock coverage. They played and replayed the same scenes of students fleeing for their lives, being embraced by crying parents, over and over, along with footage of parents that couldn’t find their children in all of the chaos, completely lost within disoriented emotion. Reporters were buzzing about the facility that had long since been on lockdown by the Royal Task Force. Images of the school were on screens everywhere with crowds of civilians, reporters, and officials alike milling about the city and arguing with one another as they watched everything unfolding.

A black-haired reporter, now one of the main faces covering the crisis, went up on the main screen of the pavilion facing the eagerly watching audience. A new report was going live.

“We have now learned that a mysterious, bio-engineered creation had been deployed following an explosion at one of Mewni’s private higher-learning preparatory institutions, which began to drastically multiply as it assaulted students, staff, and faculty early this morning. The only good fortunate in all of this terror was that the explosion itself had alerted the authorities quickly enough. Within less than an hour the Task Force had forced their way into the school and attempted to fight back against the creature-like blobs. Though their weapons and tools were essentially useless against the biological makeup of the goo, they had finally managed to contain it by erecting aetherotech barriers along the walls in order to steer it back and box it all in the lunchroom.”

“Yes, well done! That substance hunted down the remaining people within and none could escape!” one man griped.

“At least whatever that thing was didn’t get out into the public!” another barked in response.

“It should have been handled better,” a stranger piped up.

Another voice shouted over the others. “Quiet! All of you, listen!”

The reporter was still continuing.

“There were a number of casualties. Eye witness reports from those who had survived, both civilian and members of the Task Force, detailed some of what had happened before everything could be contained.”

An image of a student with bright orange, braided hair faced the camera as the reporter turned the focus onto her. The girl’s voice was extremely high pitched.

“Those that got latched onto by the ooze thing were stuck inside the quarantine zone until… until there were none left standing. It kept attacking. Some people climbed tables, others tried to hide in the lockers. We just ran and ran, and we - every way we could we just ran.”

Her voice quickened, her eyes quickly tearing as her voice cracked. The memory of the event started to flood out of her lips with her wild train of thought.

“An-and then there was this one person we could see moving around inside the room, and - and he had taken off into the kitchen. He was really short, kinda small, could only really see his hair, and he disappeared behind the double doors. Maybe he was looking for another way out but he was still carrying some of the black goo on him.”

The television screen suddenly cut to an image of a police officer behind a podium. He talked over the eyewitness, his badge revealing his status as lieutenant.

“We are still trying to ascertain the victim’s name and unfortunately, based on the evidence, it is clear that this student probably died from injuries sustained. I want to make it absolutely clear that they would still be within the quarantine zone. We have not been informed if the body has been recovered as of yet, however.”

What the reporters and police all failed to address was that the slime ended the attack on its own, and not due to the Task Force which took all of the credit for saving the day. The goo had run out of conscious, moving Mewmans to pursue, and eventually all of it began coming back together within the confines of the barrier the task force had set up. The separate globs of it proceeded to move around and over the debris and people lying around them as if they were no longer even cognitive of their existence, forming back into one massive clump of merged goo. All of it had apparently collected itself together, although neither the last victim nor the goo on that particular victim’s head had ever returned from behind the doors to the kitchen. Once the blobs were whole, the excited, rapid movements had declined until the goo had simply stopped moving completely and sort of just ‘died’.

Official statements about the substance remained inconclusive, the topic avoided in interviews. All attempts were made to cover up the sheer scale of the situation. Hours after the event was over, the royal scientists had managed to determine that the substance had indeed succumbed to an inanimate state, safe to remove from the building. Efforts to study the residual matter had confounded everyone. There was no special hazardous substance left at all. It was simply a brittle clump of dust and ash. It was as if the substance was a burned log or some pulverized gravel that lay dormant. Not a trace of the dangerous material had remained.

“Further reports have sadly confirmed that all of the victims of the strange goo are, in fact, deceased,” the reporter went on. “Biopsies revealed no trauma to cells or tissues within the body. The only notable change was to the victims’ body chemistry: that of a complete absence of mitochondria within the body’s neurons. According to the coroner, all brain activity had simply ceased, and the lack of energy flowing through the nervous system lead to a full body shut down. Effectually, their lives had been sucked out of their heads. What a horrific tragedy. This has been Excelsia reporting, GMM news.”

What concerned the citizens the most was that the attack, and subsequent biological weapon, simply came out of nowhere. Information was in short, distilled supply, and people felt unsafe.

It wasn’t long before more official statements had been made, claiming that security would be tightened around the city, and that there would be no cause for alarm despite the increase in police activity. As convincing as the official statements were, the events of the day would leave Mewni in a stir for some amount of time while repairs, reparations, and further research was being conducted.

Life went on in Mewni, as it must, but the paranoia and repetitive images of trauma would follow every person who bore witness to the events of that day, wondering what could have caused it all, and wondering what the future of their home may possibly look like.

*****

Once the cameras had all cut and the mics all turned off, the lieutenant that had stood at the podium for the live press conference quickly dismissed himself. He brushed aside anyone trying to fish for more answers and refused to take further questions, especially from the excessively nosey, sidling reporter Excelcia, which he couldn’t stand. He tagged two officers to follow along with him as he passed through the crowd control restraint beams, away from all prying eyes and ears.

He had brought the two men into the school with him. They had restored enough power that they could get a clear view of the school’s interior, and after what he’d heard the orange-haired teenager say, he wanted to follow up on it quietly.

“Through the kitchen she said,” the lieutenant states with determined force.

The three officers began to survey the scene. Stoves, refrigeration units, and cabinets all were opened. They moved appliances around. Pots and pans were scattered all around where students scrambled to escape through the darkness, but other than that everything was mostly in order, without a sign of any leftover blob material.

“Over here!” one of them called out. “Behind here.”

At the very back of the kitchen and behind the massive dish-washing unit was a hole broken through the floor. It was rather small, but big enough for an average-built Mewman to possibly fit through, and then some.

The lieutenant leaned over the hole, pulled a thin pen-like object from his pocket, and clicked on button at its tip. Instantly a sharp day-glow light illuminated around it even brighter than the lights already shining in the room. He lowered it partially into the hole.

“Hmmm.”

“What is it, lieutenant?”

“Here, hold onto this a second.” He passed the light stick over and reached into a drop-leg holster attached to his leg, fishing out a matchbox-sized scanner.

“I only see a lot of… uuugh, rotten food down here?”

“Appears that way, doesn’t it?” his superior said, switching on the device he held. It cast out a flat, wide beam of light as it scanned over the surrounding surfaces. He moved it slowly over and around the hole, slightly within it, then back up, until it revealed a strange marking. The symbol had a neon-like ethereal glow caused by the scanner’s beam, making it give off its own light like purple fire.

A cold, grave demeanor took over the lieutenant’s countenance. He promptly turned off the scanner and stood back up.

“What is it,” his companion asked while handing him back his light stick.

The commanding officer didn’t waste time explaining, shooting him a severe glance and pointing at the hole.

“The kitchen staff obviously found this little nook and were dumping leftovers down here out of laziness. Seal it up, and speak of this to noone.”

“But sir, it’s just food contaminants? Nothing to be worri-”

His curt retort ran over his sentence, snapping back with all seriousness. “That’s an order! And see to it that it gets done immediately. The kitchen of off limits until this gets handled, understand?”

The two officers looked at each other curiously but nodded in agreement.

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #pillars of magic #kelly #tad

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dreamsofpilots · 6 years

Text

The Lodger Pt. 2

Tyler Joseph x Reader

Additional characters: Brendon Urie, Dallon Weekes, Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Andy Hurley, Joe Trohman, Gerard Way, Josh Dun

Reader lives in a house with a bunch of fellow musicians. Everything is great, and then Tyler moves in.

Warnings: Cursing, nudity, drinking.

AN: Need a break from theorizing? You guys seem to like this story so I’m going to draw it out into several chapters. Enjoy!

“We’re going on a trip!”

“In our favorite rocket ship!”

Brendon and I joined our voices together, “Zooming through the skies! Little Einsteins!”

“The hell are you guys doing?” Pete asked as he entered the living room. He eyed the tv warily, noticing the children’s cartoon on the screen.

I lifted by head off of Brendon’s stomach from where I laid on top of him on the couch. “Living our best life, Pete.”

“We’re just living, man.” Brendon nodded in agreement.

Pete shook his head sighing, then Andy came down the stairs, his eyes also landing on the tv.

“I love this show!” he exclaimed, claiming one of the lounge chairs as the three of us continued to watch.

“Patrick!” Pete called.

After a moment Patrick came down the stairs and joined Pete by his side, his face worried. “What’s wrong?”

Pete wordlessly pointed to the screen, and Patrick huffed. “What’s the big deal? At least they’re quiet.”

“But they’re grown adults!” Pete protested.

“Debatable.”

“Shut up, Bren.”

Patrick placed a hand on Pete’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s fine. Let them enjoy themselves for a while.”

I rested my chin on Brendon’s stomach, looking at the pair. “Aw, that’s why we love you best, Mom.” I teased.

Pete rolled his eyes and Andy cracked up. “Love you too sweetie,” Patrick played along, blowing me a kiss.

Pete sighed in defeat, placing his hands on his hips. It was such a dad pose. “Patrick and I are going to meet up with Joe at the mall. Any of you want to come?”

Andy popped up wordlessly going to put on his shoes. Brendon declined and I sat up and shook my head, “Nah. I’ve got a shift today.”

Patrick nodded, “Alright, we’ll see you guys later.” The three of them left with Brendon calling out behind them, “Bye Mom! Bye Dad!”

Dallon entered the room after coming through the back door, a book in his hand. He must have been reading by the pool. “I thought I was the dad?” he grinned.

“You’ll always be my daddy,” Brendon joked, a sly grin on his face.

“Okay!” I stood from the couch quickly. “If you’re going to be like that, I’m going to get ready for work.”

I made a move to head upstairs to the bathroom, but Brendon pushed past me quickly. “I call shower dibs!” he yelled, bounding up the stairs ahead of me.

“Mother fucker!” I yelled back. I could hear Brendon’s returning cackle as he made his way to the bathroom.

I sighed and sat to continue watching the cartoon, and Dallon sat on the couch near me opening up his book. After a while, I started to get restless and looked at the clock. Brendon had been in the shower for almost 40 minutes now, I could still hear the water running upstairs. Deciding enough was enough, I marched myself upstairs, past Andy and Joe’s room, and to the bathroom.

I didn’t even bother knocking since I had seen Brendon naked so many times it wasn’t even a big deal. Plus, I was furious, I was going to be late. I just barged right in, ready to fight when I stopped dead in my tracks.

It wasn’t Brendon that I saw in the bathroom, but Tyler. Tyler, who was completely nude, and looking like he was about to enter the shower before I rudely interrupted. His eyes widened in shock and he reached quickly to grab a towel to cover himself. I couldn’t help myself and screamed, covering my eyes, as if that would help block out what I had already seen.

I slammed the door shut and retreated down the hallway, my face aflame. Brendon came rushing out of his room in just a towel. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his face full of worry. It didn’t last though when he noticed how red my face was and saw where I was coming from. The man wasn’t stupid, and could connect the dots.

Brendon buckled over in laughter, loud peals erupting from that annoying face of his. I pushed past him and headed downstairs, deciding that I could go to work without showering today.

Work was a challenge after that harrowing experience. For the life of me, I could not get the image of Tyler out of my head. Each defined muscle under lovely tanned skin, tattoos that I hadn’t known he had, and then the ones that I did. Then there were the other parts of him…

I shook my head, trying to focus on the next customer who placed nylon strings and a snark on the counter. I began to ring her up when I felt Josh nudge my shoulder.

“Everything okay?” my coworker asked.

I looked at Josh and gave him a small smile. “Yeah,” I said, handing the customer her receipt, “Just a bit distracted today I guess.”

Josh chuckled, leaning back against the counter next to me. It was a slow day so there weren’t many people ready to check out. “I get that. I’m kinda the same today.”

I raised a brow at him, “Why? What’s going on?”

He shook his head, a smile dimpling his cheeks. “Nuh uh, you first.”

I sighed, tilting my head debating if I wanted to tell him. Josh and I had been working together for a while now and had become quite friendly, so I didn’t see the harm in opening up to him about this. “So there’s this guy,” I confessed.

“Ooooh~” Josh stooped closer, his expression excited.

I giggled and continued. “He just moved in with us a few days ago and he’s still settling in and everything.” Josh nodded, letting me know that he was following along. “And, well, me and the guys, some of the boundaries that normal people have don’t really apply to us. So I barged in to the bathroom thinking someone else was in there, but it was this new guy and I saw him completely naked.” I buried my face in my hands, feeling my cheeks heat up again.

Josh chuckled, “That doesn’t seem so bad. Things like that happen when you live with other people.”

I nodded. “But, the thing is, I can’t stop thinking about it now. Thinking about him now.”

Josh gave a slow nod, his mouth opening in a wide smile, “Ah, I see. So the issue isn’t that you saw him naked, it’s that you enjoyed it.”

“Shhh! What? No!” I couldn’t believe him.

“Oh come on!” Josh laughed. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’ve just got a crush that’s all.”

I didn’t want to think about that and if there was any truth in his statement, so I decided to change the subject. “So what’s been on your mind?”

Josh’s eyes glittered with amusement. noticing what I was doing, but chose to drop it anyway. “This friend I have wants me to join his band. It would be a totally cool experience and it’s a great band, but I’m just not sure if I’m good enough.”

“Josh, you’re a great drummer.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Every time you play in the store, nearly every customer comes over to watch. You’re talented, are great with the technical aspects of drumming, and you have this incredible energy every time you play. It’s mesmerizing.”

Josh dropped his head, a blush coloring his cheeks, but he still looked unsure.

“I think you should do it.”

He looked up at me from under his mop of brown hair. “Really?”

I shrugged. “Why not? What have you got to lose?”

A couple of customers came up to our registers and we got busy taking care of them, letting the conversation die. I peeked a glance over a the drummer, and could tell that he was still mulling it over in his mind.

After our customers left, he turned to me, eyes bright. “Okay. Okay, I’ll do it!”

I high-fived him, feeling my own energy rise with his. “That’s great dude!”

Josh couldn’t hold still now, he was practically vibrating with excitement. “I’m meeting up with him after my shift, so I’ll tell him then.”

Our work day definitely picked up after that. Josh was more bubbly than usual and it made the hours dealing with some tedious customers fly by.

I went to the food store after work, and picked up a few things that I knew we needed at home. When I got back to Gerard’s place, my arms full of groceries, I saw that most of the boys were in the living room with their instruments.

Andy was sitting on top of his cajón, listening to whatever Joe and Patrick were talking about, and Pete plucked absent mindedly on his bass. Brendon lounged on the floor, his legs up on the arm of one of the cozy chairs, a notebook in hand. Dallon popped up from his place next to him to help me carry the bags to the kitchen and put stuff away.

Dallon offered to help me cook dinner and so we both set to work washing and preparing the produce. It was too quiet for our house though, some of the others talking in hushed tones and occasionally writing in their notebooks. I didn’t like it.

“Hey Andy,” I called, pausing from chopping some peppers. He looked up at me expectantly. “Give me a beat.”

Andy smirked and began tapping away at his cajón, creating a warm beat that made my hips sway. I took Dallon’s hands and drew him closer to dance with me. It didn’t take long before the other’s wanted to be included, wide smiles on their faces.

Pete began playing a sexy bass line, and Joe quickly joined in with his guitar. Patrick hummed along with Joe’s melody and Brendon began to harmonize with him. Soon, the house was filled with loud music as the boys played harder and Patrick and Brendon rose their voices together in nonsensical lyrics. Dallon and I made our way over to them and danced with those two as well. Everyone was smiling. We were all just happy to be there together, having something in common bonding us like the family that we had become.

The song ended, some of us striking a pose before all of us burst into laughter. A sudden clapping sound drew my eyes to the front door. Tyler had a small smile on his face and was applauding us. The others grinned, we hadn’t even heard him come in.

“Welcome back!” Patrick smiled.

Tyler nodded somewhat shyly. “Thanks. That was really great; entertaining to watch.”

“Maybe you’ll join us next time,” Joe said, a warm smile on his face. Tyler nodded, seeming on the fence, but not like the idea was totally appalling. That was something at least.

Dallon clapped his hands, “Well for now, we can eat dinner and just relax.”

Everyone came up for some food, then sat either around the kitchen island or lounged in the living room. None of us ever questioned why Gerard didn’t have a dining room table in his home. We just went with the flow.

I sat at the island with Patrick next to me and Pete and Tyler right across from us. It was difficult to avoid eye contact with Tyler when he was right smack in front of me. I was still rather embarrassed about this morning and couldn’t bring myself to meet his eye. He didn’t seem to notice, he just enjoyed his food and answered some small talk that Pete and Patrick directed his way.

It was nice that he was more talkative with the others now. He had said he would try last night and it seemed that was exactly what he was doing. I watched him as Pete drew a small laugh out of him, a fluttering in my stomach occurring at the sight.

Tyler took a breath and glanced over at me. I immediately dropped his gaze and turned more to Patrick, asking him about the song he was working on. My heart hammered away in my chest and I felt my ears heat up. From my peripherals, it seemed like Tyler was still looking at me, and when I dared to sneak another glance, my suspicions were confirmed.

He lifted a brow at me in confusion and I squirmed in my seat. After everything that Josh had said today, and what I had seen this morning, I just could not face Tyler well. He didn’t seem to care too much though as the meal eventually ended and we all went our separate ways to do whatever we wanted that evening in the house.

I sat outside with some of the boys after dinner while they drank a few beers, but the air was muggy and my skin still felt gross after not showering this morning and then going through an entire work day. I excused myself to go shower even though some of the musicians complained that I was a party pooper. Or, “Shittin’ on my good time!” as Brendon put it.

When I was done showering, I wrapped myself in a towel, padding quietly down the hallway. I could hear bursts of laughter from outside, and I mentally made a note to be on hangover duty tomorrow.

I opened up the door to my bedroom, but paused when I saw Tyler sitting on his bed. He had his ukulele on his lap and was writing something in a notebook that was next to him when he looked up.

I immediately colored, “I’ll just grab some clothes real quick...”

Tyler placed his uke on his bed and stood up. “That’s okay. I’ll just step out for a sec and let you change. Just let me know when I can come back in.” He gave a small smile and stepped from the room, closing the door softly behind him.

I stood in shock for a moment, having not expected that. It seemed like an overly nice thing to do, but maybe I was just reading too much into his actions. I changed quickly and called for Tyler to come back in. He smiled at me, which caused my heart to flutter, and then went back to his ukulele.

We both fell quiet as I decided to work on my poetry. Tyler plucked away creating pleasant melodies. I felt my body relax, and my mood lift at hearing it. When he paused in his playing to write something down, I spoke up. “I’m really sorry about what happened this morning.”

Tyler looked up, and huffed a quick laugh. “It’s okay. It happens.”

“It’s just that, I thought it was Brendon in there, and him and I don't really have boundaries so-”

“It’s okay,” Tyler’s eyes glittered in amusement. “I went in the shower right after him, so it was an honest mistake. I didn’t realize you were waiting for a turn.”

I felt myself blush at remembering what happened and the surprise of Tyler being so cool about it. I know he hasn't been here long, but he must feel absolutely nothing for me if it didn’t embarrass him in even the slightest.

“You okay?” I heard him ask softly. My thoughts must have been expressed on my face because Tyler’s was giving me a slightly concerned look.

“Yeah, it’s nothing.”

Tyler studied me for a moment. I had to actively force myself not to squirm under his gaze. Eventually he shrugged and continued playing.

There wasn’t much conversation for the rest of the night, and as the clock ticked later and later, it seemed like it was time for bed. Tyler had already put his instrument away and was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. I put my notebook away and got up to turn off the light.

Crawling into bed, I let myself sigh and enjoy the softness of the blankets. I couldn’t really see Tyler because my eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark yet, but I could hear him shuffle around in his bed for a moment before falling still. Just as I was about to drift off, I heard Tyler’s voice float over quietly.

“He said yes,” he said.

It took me a moment to recall was he was referring to. “Your friend about joining?”

“Yeah.” his voice was almost a whisper. “He said he talked it out with a different friend and she convinced him to do it.”

I had a nagging sense of familiarity but ignored it. “That’s great. I’m really happy for you.” I yawned, the day was catching up with me. I began to drift off again, so I almost didn’t catch what Tyler said next as sleep overtook me. His voice was so quiet and content.

“I’m so happy,” he whispered.

Pt. 3

#tyler joseph x reader #tyler joseph #tyler joseph imagine #twenty one pilots #twenty one pilots fanfic #josh dun #brendon urie #patrick stump #pete wentz #andy hurley #joe trohman #dallon weekes #gerard way #bands #music #bandom #holy emo trinity #emo quartet

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mama-m1na · 5 years

Text

Journey of the Chaos Trio: Chapter 1

~~~I~~~

A lone scout trudged through the mud as he went on his patrol everything was normal until he heard a twig snap.

“Halt!” he called aiming his crossbow in the direction the noise came from, “Who goes there?! In the name of King Harrow, reveal yourselves!”

With a flash of lightning the human male could see several shadows and knew he was outnumbered.

Being smart he ran but not before one decided to follow him.

He was easily disarmed once the figure had caught up.

“Please!” he pleaded looking up at the hooded figure who stood over him.

Before his life could be taken they locked eyes for a moment and in that moment his attacker hesitated allowing him to escape with his life and news to be brought back with him.

It was an early morning in the Kingdom of Katolis as a seventeen-year-old female rose from her bed in the maid’s chambers.

She brushed out her long raven hair which reached just past her lower back and washed her face to reveal clear tan skin as well as bright brown irises with flecks of gold scattered about.

With a yawn she took out a necklace from under her pillow and put it around her neck. It was a purple pendant with white moons on it and hung from a leather cord.

After braiding her hair she slipped into a white dress and a black surcoat with a corset design on the torso part.

“Morning, Mina! Hoot!” a younger female chirped, donned in apprentice knight clothing as she ran up to the maid who was starting her chores.

“Morning, Chloe,” the ravenette greeted back as she pat the girl’s head with her left hand, her right holding some books which she was delivering to Lord Viren.

“Mina, can you help me today?” the fourteen-year-old asked.

“I can’t I’m assisting Lord Viren and Lady Claudia today,” the female replied gesturing to the numerous books she held, “Plus you’re training with Sir Soren and Prince Callum today, aren’t you?”

“That’s why we need your help,” the brunette said as the fourteen-year-old prince was tossed in their direction.

“Hi, Rhamina, Chloe,” he greeted with a groan as the shorter female helped him to his feet.

“Sir Soren!” the ravenette called earning the attention of the blonde teen, “You’re supposed to be teaching him the skills of combat, not show off by throwing him around.”

“I’m doing my best here, Rhamina!” the blonde replied, “Little step prince here just doesn’t have any skill.”

Rhamina shook her head in disappointment at the treatment of the royal and walked towards the dejected boy.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness, you’ll get the hang of it,” the ravenette sighed as she gave the boy a pat on the shoulder before going off to complete her chore.

Upon entering the room where Lord Viren spent most of his time, Rhamina was immediately hit with the scent of sage and sandalwood.

“Lord Viren, the books you requested,” the ravenette said as she set them on a table across from where he stared at a floor length mirror.

“Ah, thank you, Rhamina,” he said not looking back at the female.

“Is there something wrong, Lord Viren?”

“This mirror was found in the Lair of the Dragon King,” he explained moving aside to reveal the glass, “Right next to his bed. This has to be of some importance.”

The female frowned at seeing the bright colored aura around it which other humans couldn’t see.

“You never know, Lord Viren,” the maid commented, “It could just be a piece of decor, dragons do have an attraction to shiny treasures.”

Before the male could speak a knock came at the door before a female knight with short brown hair appeared and said, “Lord Viren, King Harrow wishes to have a word with you.”

“Yes, thank you Lady Samantha,” the male said before turning to the ravenette, “Rhamina, wait here for Claudia.”

“Of course, Lord Viren,” the ravenette answered bowing her head slightly.

As the male walked out of the room the brunette looked towards her sister and fisted pumped while mouthing, ‘Fuck yeah!’

In response the ravenette shook her head while flipping off the knight earning a wink before she too left the room, leaving Rhamina alone in Lord Viren’s study in the reflection of the mirror.

Curiosity conquering her anxiety, Rhamina stepped forward and place both of her palms on the glass before closing her eyes.

She felt her own aura flooding it and moving past the glass searching for something, anything to give reason for it’s strange being.

She stopped when she felt something wrap around her waist and snapped her eyes open before backing away from the mirror.

“I fucking hate mirrors,” she muttered as she tried to shake off the feeling before covering the mirror back up.

About twenty minutes later both Prince Callum and Prince Ezran were called into a meeting with the king, their father accompanied by their personal maid, Tijarah.

“Ah, boys,” the King greeted, “You’ll be going on a trip to the Banther Lodge!”

“But it’s spring,” Callum retorted, “The Banther Lodge is the winter lodge.”

“Yeah,” added the younger Prince Ezran, “all the fun things there have to do with snow.”

“Well, I’m sure you can do the same things with… dirt,” the King chirped, “Try building a dirt man!”

The dark skinned maid only scoffed and tried to hide her laughter at the King’s slightly cringey behavior as the meeting continued.

“Why is he sending us to the Banther Lodge?” Ezran asked with his glow toad companion in his arms, “Something’s wrong.”

“Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong,” Callum smiled, “We’ll be fine.”

“But-” “If you’re that worried about it I’ll ask my sisters,” Tijarah spoke, “I’m sure one of them knows about it. Now get packing squirts.”

Afterwards, Lord Viren gathered his children into his study where the ravenette sat reading one of the tomes.

“Rhamina, come forth, this matter concerns you as well,” the mage stated causing the teen to put her book down and walk closer.

“It appears we have some visitors from Xadia,” he started with a frown, “Unwanted visitors.”

“What are they, minstrels or something?” Soren joked.

“Assassins,” clarified his sister, Claudia.

“I know,” the male shot back, “Who do you think I am? An idiot?”

“Do you want that question answered?” the ravenette scoffed high fiving Claudia.

“They’ve set up a secret camp somewhere near the base of the cliffs,” Viren continued ignoring their comments, “Soren, you will lead an attack.”

“Right,” Soren replied, “Their ‘secret camp’ how am I supposed to find them?”

“These assassins are Moonshadow Elves. They draw power from the moon.” he explained while picking up a small, white chest with the crest of the moon on it, “Inside this box is and Archangel Lunaris… a giant moon moth. It will be drawn to their energy. Follow it, and you will find them.”

“And what if it doesn’t work?” the blonde asked taking the chest from his father.

“Rhamina will accompany you,” Viren said as the teen’s eyes widened, “She is known for sensing auras. If the moths fails you, she will not.”

“What happens if he can’t find them at all?” Claudia asked.

“Then we may be on the brink of changing times.”

“Are you saying they’ll kill the king-” “Shh!” Viren hushed as he looked out the open window to see the princes in the courtyard before closing it, “Discretion, Boy! Do you want to cause a panic?!”

“I’m sorry-” “Just get out there and find them. Before sundown!” Viren said cutting off the male once again.

“So, if these are really Moonshadow elves, then once the full moon rises tonight,” Claudia started.

“They’ll be unstoppable,” finished her father.

“Well, I’m going to find a way to stop them,” Claudia said with determination.

Once Soren had assembled a team they met right before the gates with their horses.

“Wow, Mina gets to come on a mission!” a female with dark brown hair and black armor squealed.

“Yes, Kerstin, but I’m going to have a lot to catch up on with chores when I get back,” sighed the ravenette as she sat on her horse side saddle to make her her dress wouldn’t need to be pulled up.

“Don’t worry about it,” her sibling smiled, “Just get Tijarah to handle it.”

“Bitch, both you and I know she doesn’t even do her own chores,” chuckled the ravenette just as Callum stumbled in with ceremonial armor.

“Callum, get your ass back here!” Sam exclaimed as she watched him struggle to get to the group.

“Wait!” Callum called to Soren, “I’m coming with you.”

Rhamina sighed as all Soren did was tease the prince.

“I don’t care,” Callum stated as he attempted to mount one of the horses, “I know what’s going on and I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not,” Sam said as she pulled him back by the collar, “You are packing your shit.”

“But even Rhamina gets to go!”

Snap!

The fourteen-year-old male blinked as a millimeter away from his face were blades connected to an open, black war fan held by the ravenette.

“I can handle myself, Your Highness, and if you want to keep your father safe I think it’s best to stay here where he is,” Rhamina stated folding her fan and setting it in her lap, “You can keep a better eye on him that way.”

The prince could only watch dejectedly as the two lines of horses made their way out the gates as the brunette kept a grip on him.

In Callum’s bedroom the young Prince Ezran took a bite of a jelly tart he had taken from the baker as he looked for his pet, Bait.

Seeing a glow from under a pile of clothes he saw a glow and lifted it while saying, “Oh, Bait, you’re terrible at hide and seek.”

Just then Callum stormed in, still frustrated from what happened outside.

In his rage he upset his younger brother who locked himself in his room. Callum only looked at the door with guilt filled eyes as he continued to pack for their trip.

Meanwhile in the forest Soren began to follow the moon moth with his team covering good amounts of ground in a day.

They followed it to a clearing with a tree in the center surrounded with bushes where the moth had perched.

“Egnarts t’nsi ti?” Kerstin whispered as they dismounted.

“Haey, ti t’nsi larutan ta lla,” Rhamina replied in the same hushed tone.

“Nothing!” Soren scoffed as the moth fluttered around him before he turned to the ravenette, “Rhamina, do you sense anything?”

The ravenette closed her eyes and let her aura radiate and sweep the area. She definitely felt other presences and even turned her head towards them knowingly but opened her eyes and shook her head.

“I don’t feel anything at all,” she spoke, “It’s just us, the trees, and the moth.”

“Then we’re going to have to wait for the elves to come to us,” Soren spoke as he gestured for his team to get back on the horses.

As the others began to move back towards the castle Rhamina turned her head back once more and gave a sad smile before following.

When the team returned Rhamina, Kerstin, Tijarah, Chloe, and Sam were all called up to have an audience with the king.

“King Harrow,” two of the girls greeted before bowing.

The other three greeted, “Hi, Dad,” as they bowed.

“Girls, girls, you don’t need to do that,” he chuckled before letting out a sigh.

“I’m sure you are all aware of the situation we are in.”

“Yes, Sir,” the girls answered together.

“Then here are my last orders for you five,” he said turning to face them, “You are to stay with my sons and keep them safe.”

“Yes, King Harrow,” the girls replied going down onto one knee.

“I’m glad you five haven’t really changed in all these years,” the male sighed with a smile, “Your personalities have really brightened up this castle.”

“King Harrow, with all due respect please stop,” Rhamina said not looking up at the one who found the five girls on the streets five years ago, “If you continue then I’m sure I’ll start sobbing.”

“I’m sorry,” he chuckled with a sad smile.

Before he could continue the girls immediately tackled the king in a large hug.

The Crown Guard merely sighed at the group’s antics.

“I love you, Dad,” the ravenette said with a sniffle trying to keep her tears from falling.

“Mina, cut that shit out,” Kerstin said obviously crying as well.

“Hoot!” Chloe looked up at the male with tears streaming down her face as well.

“Girls, come on it’s okay,” the male said patting their heads.

“I am never okay!”

“Rhamina, I’m sorry!”

“Hoot! Mama Mina!”

“I am the epitome of depression!”

“Mina, calm the fuck down.”

“I hope you are rained on by Kerstin’s diarrhea.”

“Why would you wish that upon anyone?!”

“Stop making jokes about my shit!”

At this point in time the only sounds that could be heard outside of the meeting room were the wails of despair from five females and the frantic sounds of their king trying to get them to stop crying.

Ah, yes just another day in the castle of Katolis.

As the girls exited the meeting room Rhamina’s head snapped up in alarm.

“Mina, what’s wrong?” Chloe asked seeing the female react this way when someone was in danger.

“Go get packed. Ezran found something,” the ravenette said before bolting down a hall.

“What about your stuff?” Tijarah asked.

“I’ll take care of it later!” she called back before disappearing around a corner.

About half an hour later Callum was wandering the castle halls searching for his brother when he felt a presence trying to sneak up on him.

“You know you can’t sneak up on me Ez-” he was cut off by the sight of a hooded figure who wielded two blades, “You- you’re one of those with the pointy-.”

“Oh, you don’t like my ears?” the figure asked revealing themselves to be female.

“Uh, n- no. I mean yeah. Yes, I do, I guess. I mean- I meant the pointy swords.”

Before the figure could say anything Callum pulled a nearby tapestry over them and ran.

Using their blades, the figure shredded the large fabric over them and began to chase down the prince.

Upon making it into Viren’s study Callum called, “Claudia! Soren! Rhamina! Anyone!”

He was about to run out of the room but the figure was already in the doorway blocking his exit.

“You don’t have to die,” the assassin spoke, “There are only two targets tonight.”

“Wait, two? What do you mean?” Callum asked as he slowly stood up.

“I’m here for the King,” she explained, “and I’m also here for his son, Prince Ezran.”

“You can’t,” Callum uttered in disbelief, “That’s not fair. Why would you hurt someone who’s done nothing wrong?”

“Humans cut down the King of Dragons and destroyed his only egg, the Dragon Prince,” the female continued, “Justice will not be denied.”

“I see,” Callum sighed, “Well, then you’ve found me. I am Prince Ezran.”

“I have to do this,” the female said getting closer with her blades, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to but I have to.”

“Why? You know this is wrong.”

“An assassin doesn’t decide right and wrong, only life and death.”

“That’s clever but come on, really? How does this solve anything?”

“This is justice. Humans attacked us unprovoked.”

“So it’s okay for you to do the same thing?”

“Well no. This is different because we’re attacking you provoked.”

“Then it’s a cycle. You hurt me, someone else will get revenge on the elves. It won’t end.”

“Psst, Callum!” a younger voice whispered.

“Shh, go away,” the brunet hushed still looking at the female.

“I found something,” the voice continued.

“Callum, listen to your brother,” a female voice hissed.

“Are you talking to that painting?” the assassin asked with suspicion lacing her voice.

“Uh, why would I do that? Cause it’s not a good time!” Callum replied emphasizing his last phrase.

“You mean because you’re with a girl?” Ezran asked as the painting swung open to reveal the young prince standing next to Rhamina, “Uh, jelly tart?”

“Guys get out of here!”

“Callum, what’s going on?” the raven haired maid asked standing in front of Ezran protectively.

“Callum? I thought you were Prince Ezran,” the female elf said glaring at the fourteen-year-old, “You lied to me.”

“Callum, get in the painting,” Rhamina whispered as she stood aside for Ezran who was holding his glow toad.

“Have you met Bait?” he asked holding up the yellow creature, “Say hello to my little friend.”

With the last phrase Bait let out a strong glow, blinding the female allowing the three humans to escape through a tunnel behind the painting.

When they reached the end of a corridor the young prince began pressing a series of rocks on the wall in a specific combination.

“Ezran, Hun, she’s getting closer,” Rhamina said as she spread out her aura to find the elf getting closer to them.

“Done,” chirped the boy as a spiral staircase was revealed.

The ravenette ushered the boys down before she followed them down.

“Are you sure she won’t be able to follow us?” Callum asked as the staircase retracted once all three were in the room.

“No way,” Ezran said with confidence, “It took me a month to figure out that combination.”

Right after he said that the staircase opened up again revealing the female elf.

“But how did you-” “I just pressed all the stones with jelly handprints.”

“What is this place?” the elf asked looking around at the various ingredients for dark magic stored in the room, “Runann is right.”

At the name Rhamina tensed as the elf continued, “There’s nothing in humans worth saving. Humans destroyed the egg of the Dragon Prince. There must be justice.”

“You’ll have to go through me,” the maid said standing in front of the two males defensively as she snapped open her fan.

“Wait, you need to see something,” Ezran said stepping out from behind the ravenette.

“I’m not falling for that flashing frog trick again.” “He’s a glow toad.”

“But there’s no trick this time,” Ezran continued, “Please look.”

Rhamina stepped to the side to reveal something under a curtain and nodded at the young prince before looking up at the elf.

“Fine,” the female said putting her swords to the side as the ravenette closed her fan, “You uncover it. Slowly.”

The prince did as told revealing a glowing, blue egg with flecks of gold scattered about.

“It feels like there’s something alive,” Ezran explained as Callum and the elf stood in shock.

“It can’t be,” Callum gasped as Ezran picked it up.

“The egg,” commented the elf, “It wasn’t destroyed.”

As the group began discussing the egg they were interrupted by another voice.

“The egg wasn’t destroyed,” the elf said again, “But how?”

“Because my father saved it,” a female said as she descended the stairs.

“Lady Claudia?” “Callum, Ezran, Rhamina, get behind me I can protect you from the elf,” the emerald eyed mage said, primal stone in hand.

“Your father didn’t save it,” the elf spoke, “He stole it.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Then, Claudia, why is it here?” Callum asked.

“My father took it to protect us Callum, so the elves and dragons couldn’t use it against us!”

“What are you talking about?” the elf asked, “How can we use it?”

“Don’t play dumb!” Claudia snapped, “You know it’s a powerful weapon.”

“Weapon? It’s an egg!”

“Ezran, don’t be afraid,” the female said, “walk towards me and if she moves an inch.”

The primal stone fizzled as small bolts of energy sparked.

“It’s not a thing! It has a mother and it needs to go back to her,” the elf growled.

“You’re right,” Ezran spoke looking up at the female elf, “It wants its mother.”

As Ezran led the female elf down a corridor Callum interrupted Claudia’s spell and chained her to a wall leaving the ravenette to make her choice.

“Rhamina, help me!” the mage spoke as the ravenette entered the corridor and turned around.

“Claudia, I’m sorry but if this ends this stupid war then I’ll support it!” the seventeen-year-old said as she brought up her fists bringing up a wall of earth to block most of the doorway as her pendant began to glow.

As the group followed Ezran two smoke wolves began to chase them.

‘That smart ass!’ Rhamina hissed in her head as the female elf stayed behind to fight them.

When the other three hit a dead end the elf returned saying, “I can’t hit them, they’re just smoke.”

Callum then looked down at the primal stone he took from Claudia and remembered something.

“Guys I think I have something but I don’t know if it’ll work,” Callum said.

“Just do it!”

As Callum began drawing a rune in the air, Rhamina smirked and said, “I’ll help out,” before drawing the same rune as her necklace began to glow purple.

“Aspiro!” the pair said together as two columns of wind blew away the smoke wolves.

“You did it!” cheered the elf before turning to the male, “You never said you were mages.”

“A mage?” Callum asked.

“Someone who does magic, Callum,” Rhamina explained with a chuckle before turning to the elf, “What’s your name by the way?”

“Rayla, and you,” the elf said turning to the female who’s necklace just stopped its glow, “How did you get that necklace?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s the exact same one as Runaan’s and he said it was given to him by-” “We should get the egg to the roof,” Rhamina said cutting off the female, “If we show it to the assassins then maybe they’ll stop the mission.”

“That’s a good idea,” the elf said glancing warily at the ravenette.

“Yeah, I’ll try to inform the king of the news and you two stay together alright?” Rhamina said glancing at the two boys, “You’ll be safe with her and find my sisters they’ll understand what’s happenin and protect you.”

“And how do you know that?” Callum asked, “She just tried to kill me ten minutes ago.”

The ravenette looked back to the elf with a smile and replied, “She has a kind soul. You’d be an idiot not to trust her.”

With that the female bolted down the stone hallways and allowed her aura to spread as far as it could to reach her sisters plus Chloe.

‘Guys,’ she thought, her connection allowing the other girls to hear her, ‘We have a problem.’

‘What is it?’ Tijarah’s voice replied, ‘Isn’t it dangerous to talk to us like this?’

‘The egg lives and the princes have it,’ the ravenette continued as she made her way out of the tunnels to end up at one of the far gates, ‘You need to find them and stay with them at all times. Use your powers if you need to. Getting figured out is the least of our problems right now.’

‘On it,’ Sam said as she let her aura spread as well, ‘What about you?’

‘I’m going to tell King Harrow.’

Before anyone else could speak Rhamina cut off her aura and turned to one of the darkened corners of the outside.

“Who’s there?” she asked glaring at where she felt someone before attempting to bolt off to the tower with one goal in her mind.

Under the moonlight the two princes and elf made it to the gates of the castle.

“Guys, wait the fuck up!” a familiar female voice called to them.

“Kerstin, Sam, Chloe, Tijarah!” Callum said, “We can explain.”

“We know already,” Sam said, “Mina told us.”

“And it is by orders of the king we are to follow you wherever you go and protect you both,” Chloe said.

“Then where is the other one?” Rayla asked.

“Mina, is informing the king of what happened,” Tijarah replied, “But she can catch up to us easily we just need to keep going.”

In the King’s tower Rhamina stood before King Harrow, explaining what had been found.

“Please, King Harrow, all this bloodshed can be avoided,” the ravenette pleaded, “we can do something!”

“Yes, you, your sisters and my sons,” the king sighed, “My time is up, Rhamina. You’re a smart and kind hearted girl. I appreciate you but this cannot be avoided.”

“King Harrow-” “Rhamina, once they come through that door you are not to interfere, do you understand?” the king said sternly as tears began to fall once again from the ravenette’s eyes while the sounds of battle started right outside the door.

“It’ll be alright, you know what you have to do,” the male said embracing the teenager as her sobs grew louder, “You’ll be alright, you have your sisters with you.”

‘This isn’t fair,’ she thought burying her face in the clothes of her father figure, ‘Life continues to do this to us.’

Suddenly the door was broken down and the two pulled away with tears still falling down the female’s face.

“Your target is me,” Harrow spoke to the barely visible silhouette, “The girl has nothing to do with this.”

“I am aware,” a male voice spoke as she rushed forward, blades drawn.

Throughout the fight Rhamina slammed the doors shut and charmed them to keep anyone else from getting in to keep the fight fair for both parties as well as distract herself from what would happen.

As the fight dragged on the ravenette kept her eyes wrenched shut and hands over her ears to keep herself away from the violence she hated.

When the sounds of fighting stopped she turned around to see the lifeless body of the king on the ground and the elf on the balcony firing a black and red arrow into the sky.

Shakily she made her way to the body of the king and grabbed one of his hands while praying, “Yam ruoy luos tser ni ecaep dna dluohs ouy esoohc ot yats, hctaw revo su.”

Upon hearing what the human said the elf turned from his spot, panting and injuries everywhere, with wide eyes.

“You, how do you-” he cut himself off as he saw the pendant that hung from a leather cord around the female’s neck, sparkle in the moonlight that reached into the room.

It was the same one that rested over his heart.

“You-”

He was cut off by the door finally opening to reveal other knights who immediately made their way to the elf.

As a knight raised his sword Claudia stepped forward and said, “Wait, we may have use for this one.”

Rhamina raised her eyes up to meet the turquoise eyes of the elf across the room and she whispered two words.

“M’i yrros.”

~~~Fin. Chapter 1~~~

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Warnings: None

Songs used: None

Pic: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/155303887174296270/

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#Dragon Prince #Chapter 1 #Rhamina Miyu #Kerstin Vera #Samantha Fatimah #Tijarah Charlize #Chloe Rayer #Fanfic #Kitsami Verum Princeps Ibadora #Sora Byvrirth #Rozen Nylraevni #Journey of the Chaos Trio

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joonies-gf · 7 years

Text

Attention | Pt.2

Part.1 | Part.2

A/N: I thought I would continue the chapter even though it’s not that good. If you are having issues reading it from my blog, copy and paste it into a notepad, just don’t steal :) (although who would want to, its really bad.)

Inspired by the Charlie Puth song “Attention”

Genre: Drama, School, romance

Summary : "What caught my attention was his bad boy attitude. Always having sass in his voice, the way his amber eyes pierced through me. His voice always seemed to hum in a deep growl. But my favorite part about him, was the way he made me feel safe."

Word count: 3089

The lunch hall smelled spicy and sweet. The sound of chatter could be heard from down the hall. Tables were lined with trays of golden curry. You licked your lips as a growl erupted from your stomach. Grabbing your tray from the lunch bar, you hastily made your way to an empty table away from the crowd. You take a spoonful of the golden substance and shovel it into your mouth. The savory flavor spreads a smile across your face. If you had to choose one thing to live on, it would be curry. It brings back happy childhood memories. Happy memories are few and far between with your family, so when one is remembered, you do your best to cherish it. Lost in your thoughts of innocence; a familiar face sits down across from you. His orange hair looked neon from the rays of sun shining into the window. A square smile painted on his face, eyes arched and wrinkled. You noticed a small freckle on his nose and just how sharp his jawline was. His facial features seemed to soften as he spoke."Jimin, I see you're enjoying the curry! Curry is my favorite thing to eat. Especially on a day as cold as today." You lick your bottom lip, lapping up the little bit of curry that had managed to not make it into your mouth. Taehyung eyed your lips for a good second before breaking the silence again. "Now is as good a time as ever to get to know each other since we don't have any classes together yet. You seem like a cool person to hang out with so I'll break the ice first. What do your parents do?" Your heart drops to the pit of your stomach. Reluctant to answer the question, you begin to think of a lie." I can't tell him about my actual home life. I don't want to be pitied." Lying the spoon down on your tray, you part your mouth to speak. "Um, well." His eyes stared at you in anticipation. "My dad is a chef at a 4 star restaurant in New York. My mom teaches at Harvard in the States, that's why I study so well. And my sister is studying at a medical school in Japan to become a doctor." Your voice trails into a small crack towards the end of your sentence. Biting your plump bottom lip from anxiety, you can only hope he believes you. "Wow! That's so cool! My family isn't that elite. My dad owns a convenience store, my mom helps out there a lot. My little brother has just started Elementary school. You know, I always wanted to study-" The sound of static becomes audible. It almost sounds like a walkie-talkie when you push the button to speak into the receiver. "Students, I encourage you to be careful this evening as you head back to your dorms. There have been reports of an assault that took place near hear, the assaulter is rumored to be around this area. Please don't stay out past curfew and be sure to walk in a well lit area." The intercom cuts off and the lunch hall falls silent. Everybody is anxious and students are turning and looking to other students in confusion. Taehyung averts his attention back to you, you begin to feel that nauseous feeling creep into the back of your throat. Your mouth is watering, but not from the curry. You fiddle your thumbs and look down at the ground, too anxious to continue eating. "What if he's in this campus." You shake your head to snap yourself back into the present. "Don't worry Jimin, I'm sure he's not around the campus. Besides, our security is top-notch." You feel a bit at ease from hearing the encouraging words. The ear-splitting sound of the class bell goes off again. It's finally time for the last lecture of the day. Taking your tray up to the wash station, you leave it and trail off down the hall to your homeroom. The teacher pushes his thick, squared frames back onto the bridge of his nose. His eyes looked fierce, almost like he had bad news to tell everyone. "Students, now I know we have only just started, but I feel as if this week would be a good time to have a mock exam." The harrowing sighs of students fill the air. In your peripheral vision you can see Hoseok shift in his seat, he seemed to be nervous. "I will be handing out study materials, they aren't exactly notes so don't think you can get away without taking any. History is an important subject, so I ask you all treat this importantly." Taking a stack of paper, he placed it onto the teaching podium. "Please take a packet before you leave." He continues with his lecture, but all you can think about is Hoseok. He looks agitated and you want to know why. Minutes go by and the bell sounds off one final time for the end of the day. Frustrated students grabbing packets and complaining along the way, you Notice Hoseok leaving, and not grabbing a packet.

The sun has begun to go down; orange, pink and peach hues paint the watercolor sky. The mock exam is going to be held this Friday, you don't want to fail it, so you decide it would be a good idea to stay behind and study some notes. The headmaster's warning completely slips your mind, and before you know it, you had studied for two extra hours. Now the sky is black, save for a few stars. Not many stars are visible because you live in a city where the lights never go out. Or so you thought. Before you exit the class, you take two packets. Hoseok never grabbed one, and all you can think about now is helping him out. Soon you're dashing out the door. It's a Tuesday night and the air is bitter and cold. Winter will be here soon. You're walking on a narrow sidewalk that leads back to the dorms, there aren't any shortcuts or you'd have taken them already to escape the harsh cold. Green bushes line the sidewalk you are walking on. They are starting to turn brown and die out. You come to an area on the path where the lights are out and the ground is littered with dead leaves. There is no wind, surprisingly despite it being close to winter. But you can still hear rustling coming from a bush. "There's no wind. How can the bush shake like that if there's no wind?" It's all coming back to you now. The headmaster had warned everyone to not be out at night. But here you are, all because you wanted to hang back and study. Park Jimin, you should have studied in your room. You've outdone yourself this time. Gulping back your anxiety, you begin to quicken your pace to get back to your room faster. You fumble with the front pocket of your school blazer to make sure the key is there. You can't feel it. The panic within you begins to escalate even more as you realize you had left it in your room. Unfortunately it's still a 15 minute walk because the campus is huge. The rustling becomes even more audible. You are already walking pretty fast, but now you are breaking out into a sprint. Clenching your chest to catch your heart if it ever decides to try and beat out of your chest. Your breathing becomes labored and all you can think about is just making it back alive. And Soyou. If you die right now, Soyou will be lost. Then it happens. A person jumps from behind a bush and lands in front of you. Screaming and cowering in fear, hand still on your chest because now you are sure your heart will try to escape. Tears stain your cheeks and all that your brain processes is the fact it is dark, cold, and that you are about to die. "Hey! Jimin. It's me, Hoseok." You're still crying hysterically as Hoseok places a hand on your shoulder. "Jimin, stop crying. It was only a joke. It's just me." His voice is finally able to reach you. Sniffling and wiping away the tears, you look up to find concerned eyes staring down at you. "It wasn't funny." You say in between sniffles. "Today at l-lunch, the headmaster said an assault happened near here and that the assaulter was rumored to still be around this area. H-He warned us to not go out after d-dark. But I forgot and stayed behind to study." Clear beads begin to roll down your face again, they sting as the cold air hits them. "I didn't know. I was tired so I skipped lunch and went to find somewhere to sleep instead. I never heard anything from the headmaster, and nobody seemed to be talking about it either. I'm sorry Jimin, I didn't mean to scare you." He stretched his hand out to you so he could help you up off of the ground. You grab his outstretched hand and he began to pull you up with one swift motion. "I thought I was going to die." Hoseok furrowed his brows, his eyes seemed apologetic. "It's okay, I won't let anything happen to you." The words sent a warm feeling throughout your body. You're not cold anymore, and your irregular heart beat seemed to regulate itself again. "Please don't make me walk back alone. Please stay next to me, for now." Your whisper perplexed Hoseok. He didn't know that you'd be that upset, or that terrified to ask him to stay with you.

The 15 minute walk back to the dorms seemed like an eternity. Neither of you spoke, but you made sure to trudge beside him closely. You can almost touch his arm with yours. But you didn't care, you wanted to know that you were going to be safe, and Hoseok makes you feel safe. He didn't seem to care either, as he never mentioned you being too close. That or he pitied you to the point where he didn't want to say anything. He's making sure his steps match yours, he isn't walking too fast or too slow. You and Hoseok finally approach the doors to the dorm. Your eyes beam at the sight of the doors. You scramble into the entrance and walk up to the third floor, then you make your way to the room. Your thoughts are clouded, but that doesn't stop you from remembering that you forgot your key. Tears well up again and start to slide down your face once more. "I don't have my key." Your voice cracking as you look over to Hoseok. He pulls his out of his right pant pocket. "It's okay, I have mine." Hoseok unlocks the door and holds it open for you to walk through. You know you should shower, but you're too exhausted. Your eyes already feel heavy and your legs don't want to hold your weight. Hoseok watches as you absentmindedly wander into bed and cover yourself so that not even an inch of you is visible. "I royally messed up this time." He set the alarm at an early enough time so that you could get up to shower and left a note on the snooze button. "Don't forget your key this time, crybaby." Hoseok turned out the lights and headed into bed himself. The thought of you being scared to death made him restless. The boy is constantly tossing and turning. In between your spouts of waking up you could hear him shifting.

The shrill sound of the alarm going off makes you rise out of bed. You hit the snooze button and notice it has a film over it. Unlike how it felt when you first touched it; it didn't feel like hard plastic. You crane your head to the side and peel the paper off. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes so that they focus, the brazen note is the last thing you wanted to see this morning. "He scared me to death last night, treated me kindly after he did so. And now that it's a new day he starts again." Huffing and puffing in frustration, you gather your clothes and head to the shower; thinking of ways to win arguments when you see him. Your thoughts soon drift towards other thoughts, and you remember Hoseok looked distraught yesterday. You can't help but worry about him, even after all that has happened within the last 13 hours. Thoughts of Hoseok and only Hoseok are swarming your mind.

Your feet lead you to class, where you take your respected seat next to Hoseok. He smirks a little bit before asking "did you read the note I left you?" Hissing in distaste "Yes, I read it." You take a packet out of your backpack and slam it onto his desk. "You didn't take one of these yesterday." He didn't say much after that. He only clicked his tongue in annoyance and crammed the packet into his desk. Teacher Yang walked through the door and began class mentioning the exam. "Students, I've prepared some possible questions that may be on the exam for you all to look over." The intercom hums before a voice begins to speak through it. "Teacher Yang, please report to the Headmaster's office." Teacher Yang looked impatient. He let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "Okay everyone, as you all heard I have to leave. Please pass back the question pamphlets and look over them." The sound of paper rustling and voices clutter the air as teacher Yang made his exit. You turned your gaze to Hoseok. "Hey, yesterday when teacher Yang mentioned the exam, you looked uneasy. What's that about?" Hoseok gave you a sour look. "It's none of your business." He averts his gaze and places his elbow on the desk then rests his cheek on his open palm. It makes you uneasy and you wished he would say something. It didn't matter if it was sarcastic or not at this point. The thought of Hoseok not looking at you or speaking to you made your heart ache. And you didn't know why.

Class ends and it's time to go back to your rooms. This time you make sure to leave before it gets dark. You still don't know if the assaulter is still on the run or not, they didn't exactly update anybody on the situation. Your room is cold because neither you nor Hoseok turned the heating unit on before you left. Speaking of Hoseok, he isn't here. Upon noticing this, you're beginning to get antsy. I might as well wait on him. I have nothing better to do. Your side of the room is clean, not even a speck of dirt is on the floor; whereas Hoseok's side is cluttered with clean clothes he refused to put away. School papers litter the ground and the sight of the mess kicks your instincts into gear. "What a slob." Deciding to be nice despite him ignoring your existence, you pick up the papers and stack them neatly onto his bedside table. You're folding his clothes and stacking them onto his bed. The scent from one of the shirts catches your attention. It smells like Hoseok. Sweet. Vanilla with hints of sandalwood. The scent is inviting, it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. You've become completely distracted with the enticing scent, and soon you're drifting to sleep. Hoseok opens the door and is taken aback by the image. You're curled up and cuddling with his shirt on the floor. Your face buried into the neck of it. Your chest rising and falling slowly but steadily, he's marveling at how peaceful your face is. The sight of it is enough to make Hoseok melt. The corners of his mouth turning upwards; he was lost in admiration from the sight. "I can't just let him sleep on the ground like that." The sound of his feet sliding across the floor brings you back into consciousness. Your eyes open slowly to look up to the boy standing above you. You're still drunken from sleep and have completely forgotten you're cuddling the shirt. You bring yourself into an upright position, still staring up at Hoseok as his eyes sparkle with contentment. "What time is it." Confused, you think it's early morning from how long you think you have slept. "It's 12:30." You jump to your feet with worriment, still tightly gripping onto the shirt you once cuddled with. Your head is spinning now because you stood up too quickly. Hoseok reached an arm out to help you steady yourself. "Why were you out so late? Don't you know that guy could still be wandering around?!" Hoseok's eyes lose the sparkling effect from before, instead his features hardened with disappointment. The corners of his mouth had lost the smile and was now replaced with a frown. His eyes slightly glared at you and his voice turned into a low growl. "Don't worry about it. I'm back now aren't I." He spun on his heels and began to walk in the opposite direction. But before he could get too far away you clasped onto his wrist. "I was worried. I didn't know if you were safe, or if you were coming back tonight at all." Your voice was nothing but a croak. He didn't try to break your grasp. He didn't vent frustrations either; instead he said something completely different. With no attitude or sarcasm in his voice at all. "I'm not going anywhere." You released your hand from his wrist and dropped it at your side. You felt better after hearing those words. Eased of worry, full of reassurance instead. Those words were enough. You watched him with the eyes of a hawk as he made his way into bed. "I'm back now Jimin, you can go back to sleep. I won't go anywhere, I'm too tired." You still worry he'll leave your side. Instead of sleeping on the bed, where it would be comfortable and warm, you slide your blanket and pillow onto the floor next to his mattress. Your eyes are stinging from drowsiness. You can hear the soft and gentle snores leaving his mouth. It's a lullaby to your ears, shortly you yourself had fallen asleep from listening to his breathing.

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