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mhdiaries · 4 years

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Iris Clops SDCC 2014 Exclusive Diary

02.28

I went to the casketball game tonight. It was the district championship game, and if we won it would mean a trip to the monster state tournament. The game was against the same gargoyle team that beat us last year. The game tonight was really close with several lead changes, the gym was totes rocking. I was there to cheer for the whole team, of course, but I was also hoping that Manny would have a better game than he did last year. I know he felt responsible for us losing last year, even though I know that the team didn’t blame him for it. Manny is... well, I’m not sure what Manny is. When he first came to Monster High he acted like a real bully, and most students tried to avoid him at all costs. Something must have happened after that game last year though, because he seems like a different monster since then. Anyway, this year there was a much happier outcome - both for Manny and the team - because not only did we win, but Manny made the winning shot! Adding to the excitement - more or less - okay, less, was my epic fail or rather fall down the bleachers. Typical me, I wasn’t watching where I was going and I stepped where there wasn’t one and badly twisted my ankle. Wow, did that ever hurt! The team athletic trainer, Mr. Mummy, saw what happened and came over to check on me. He had some of the ghouls help me to the training room where he examined my ankle, pronounced it sprained and then did a pretty thorough wrap job on it. He gave me some crutches, then called my parents to let them know what had happened. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the bit victory party after the game, which was a drag because I heard that Manny asked where I was at.

03.05

I have decided in the interest of science to keep an ongoing list of my bumps, bruises, sprains, spills and breakages. Thus I have developed a clumsification scale so that each incident can be properly measured based on the approximate pain I feel at the time:

Ouch.

Just Give Me a Minute...

Oh, Hera, That Hurt!

Medic!

Don’t go into the light.

My hope is that I will eventually reach a point where in the midst of an “incident” I can just shout out a number and thus save my breath for holding against the agony. I had the chance to practice using my new scale tonight as I tried to navigate my way through the house on crutches. I called out a series of “1′s” while I bumped my way down the hall from my bedroom to the kitchen. When I got there, dad asked if I was all right, and I told him I was just trying out my new scale. “Oh, good,” he said, “I was afraid you’d finally gone binary on us.” I told him that if I didn’t think I would spend the next 15 minutes on the floor yelling “Four!” I would hit him with one of my crutches. He laughed, kissed me on the top of head and slid open the door to the back porch. He closed the door behind me and flicked on the trail of dim blue-green lights that outlined the path to the “observatory” he built for me. My dad is the kind of monster that keeps his eye more to the earth beneath his feet than to the stars above his head, but he is an amazing engineer and he built my observatory with a roof that opens and the whole thing rotates 360° so my telescope never has to move. He’s not much of a “tell you that he loves you” kind of monster, but he shows it all the time. Tonight I rotated my observatory so that I could see a star called Aldebaran. It’s an orange giant and forms one of the eyes in the constellation Taurus - the bull. As I was focusing in, two meteors crashed into each other sending glowing fragments across the night sky like fireworks. If I were the kind of ghoul that looked for omens I might think this was a sign. Hah! As if...

03.06

I was standing at my locker today, and Manny walked right by me without even acknowledging I was there. Maybe I should expand my scale to cover bumps and bruises of the heart as well. If so, today was a definite 2.

03.07

Gigi came over tonight to do some stargazing. She’s so scary sweet and just so excited to experience every little detail of unilfe outside the lantern that she’s a scream to be around. We looked at the rings of Saturn, Mars and Alpha Centaur, and then a storm moved in, and we couldn’t see anything through the cloud cover. So we sat and talked about different things. I jokingly asked her if she had any wishes left, because I was really wishing I could know what was going on inside Manny’s head. She laughed and said that sometimes wishing is more satisfying than actually having the thing for which you have wished. She says it doesn’t sound logical, but it often is true. I’m not sure I understand, but she has a lot more experience seeing the power of wishes granted than I have, so I suppose I’ll just have to trust her on this.

03.09

Today in the creepateria I was sitting at a table with Draculaura, Clawd, Abbey and Heath. Manny walked by our table with his lunch, and Heath invited him to sit with us. The only open seat was across from me, and I swear it looked as if Manny started blushing. I think he was going to say, “No”, but he ended up sitting down anyway. We were right in the middle of a conversation about a comet that only passes by earth close enough to see once every 500 years or so, and Draculaura has seen it the last two times it appeared. She was telling us how some monsters thought it was an omen of doom the last time it passed and they literally went screaming for the catacombs. We were all laughing, and I suggested we have a comet party at my house the next time it shows up. That’s when Manny said, “Who cares about stars and planets and comets and stuff like that? It’s just a dumb waste of time looking at places you can never go to anyhow.” It took me completely by surprise, and I said, “It’s only dumb if you’ve got so much muscle in your brain there’s no room for imagination.” I don’t think I could have been more hurt if he had called me an eyesore. I asked Draculaura if she would take my tray for me, and I grabbed my crutches, hobbled out of the creepateria and straight into the ghoul’s restroom. As I was sitting in a stall crying my eye out, there was a knock on the stall door. “Go away,” I said. “Is Abbey - I punched Manny in nose for you.” I jumped up and opened the door. “You did what?” I yelled. “Relax, I am only doing the teasing.” I was torn between being angry and continuing my number “4″ sized cry. Abbey told me that Manny was like her brother. “He is big like Manny and is having same problem telling Yeti ghoul how he is feeling - so he makes the large snowballs to throw at ghoul he likes. Manny does not have snowball so he throws words.” I told her that I thought it was the dumbest way possible to let a ghoul know that she is liked. Abbey nodded, “Agreed, snowballs are much better as sting is going away sooner.” I think she is right. This “4″ doesn’t act like it’s about to slide down to a three anytime soon, and I guess Gigi was right about not wishing to know what’s in another monster’s head.

03.10

This morning when I opened my locker there was a small, folded up piece of paper wedged in one of the vent slots. It was folded so tightly, I though some monster must have wrapped up a piece of gum and shoved it through my locker because he couldn’t find a trash can. I almost threw it away but I unfolded it instead. Inside in carefully printed block letters was the message,

I’m sorry.

M.T.

I looked around to see if some monster might have done this as a prank, but everything looked normal, or at least as normal as it ever looks at that time of morning with monsters scurrying around trying to get to class on time. In terms of medicine, it certainly took the sting out of my “4″, and if it didn’t take it all away at least it moved it down to a “1″.

03.12

I’m not sure if it will be possible to put what happened today into words, but I think I have to try. We had a special assembly in the creepatorium that every monster was required to attend. The speaker was a famous centaur explorer/biteologist who was going to talk about his travels and adventures. It sounded pretty exciting when Headmistress Bloodgood was making the announcement over the intercom, and by the time I was able to hobble in, all the seats were taken except one in the very middle of a top middle row. I looked around for Manny and saw him several rows about me sitting with Heath. I managed to get to my seat without doing too much damage to either myself or any other monster, but I had to leave my crutches leaning against the wall, since there was no way I could make it down the aisle holding onto them. As it turned out, the speaker was a bit of a blowhard, and after 30 minutes of telling the assembly how great he was, most of us were figuring out this wasn’t going to be as exciting as we were lead to believe. That’s when he brought out the chimera. Although our speaker assured us that he had tamed it, our biteology textbook said that it was impossible to do so. I guess every other monster in the creepatorium had read the same book, because they all started shifting in their seats and looking for the closest exit. The speaker asked for calm and told us the creature was as harmless as a kitten. Not a beat after he said this, the chimera breathed a cone of fire into one of the stage curtains and mass chaos erupted as every monster tried to leave at once. I vaguely remembered seeing my crutches being kicked down the stairs and then disappearing under the mass of students trying to get out. It seemed like it was every monster for himself, and there was no way I was going to be able to get out. That’s when I felt myself lifted out of my seat and I looked up to see Manny’s face looking down and... smiling. “Need a lift?” he asked. I just nodded and before I knew it we were standing outside the school with everyone else. I kissed him on the cheek, and he gently set me down. I think I need a new scale for how my heart feels now.

#monster high #monster high diary #iris clops #sdcc 2014

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worldwidebt7 · 4 years

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Hell(L)ing || 01

§ — Pairing: Chimera!Taehyung x Empath!Reader (with mentions of Reader x Other Members)

§ — Genre: SciFi AU, fluff, angst, smut, horror

§ — Wordcount: 3,160

§ — Rating: M

§ — Warnings: Seokjin’s ego...? This chapter is as clean as Jungkookie’s vocals.

§ — A/N: So, this was originally supposed to be for @bang-tan-bitches “Monster Mash Challenge,” but I’ve clearly failed to make deadline for that… There’s just so much more to this story than I had originally anticipated, I even decided to make it multi-chapter! I’ve been in such a writing mood the last couple of weeks. I got like this last year too around this time, which is how this blog even got started. I know you guys are waiting on the next chapter of “Black or White,” but I’ve got a couple commissions I need to get out and I really need to get some of this writing itch out of my system. I know I’m not the best writer, but I hope you enjoy it none-the-less! The first couple of chapters are kind of slow, but I’m trying to build suspense, so bear with me!

Summary: You moved out into the wilderness to live a calm, peaceful life. Your abilities made it impossible to live in crowded places, so even if you wanted to you couldn’t return. But when something happens outside the realm of even your normalcy, you start to think that maybe having everyone else’s emotions bearing down on you isn’t such a bad alternative to being trapped with your own.

The lake house was your sanctuary.

The little house stood within walking distance of the largest lake near your city, and while it was a man-made lake, nothing about the surrounding woodlands was artificial in anyway. Tall trees and greenery stretched as far as the eye could see to the south, east, and west of your home. The north, however, was reserved for the brilliant view of the lake.

From the large wall of windows in your modest A-frame style cottage, each morning you watched the sun flood light over the waters from the east, warming you as you sat in your plush, circular lounge chair with your morning coffee. Each night, the moon sprinkled diamonds across its surface, sending you to sleep with stars in your dreams. Yes, this place was ideal for you in every way— quiet, surrounded by the calm of nature, and, most importantly, secluded. You couldn’t be near people, not because you particularly disliked others of your species, but because it physically hurt you to be among them in large throngs. Some would ask why; why push others away, why live by yourself in the middle of the woods?

It was because you were an empath; a decidedly difficult thing to live with from your experience.

It hadn’t always been as unbearable as it has in your recent years— when you were younger you embraced your gift, loved it even. You enjoyed how special it made you feel and you wanted to share it with others. So much so, that you graduated college and opened up what some would call a ‘spiritual business.’ And, at first, it was wonderful. You were able to help and entertain people with something that came so naturally to you, and many sought you out almost like a therapist. Of course, you were far more successful giving them insights to themselves, as you could read their emotions as clearly as watching television.

Well, of course it wasn’t as simple as that— it was more like feeling an electrical current through your body that was connected to a person’s emotions, and each emotion was laced with a color that would flash across your eyes like pulse. It was honing in on other’s emotions that caused you to shut yourself away as you did. The more you did it, the stronger your gift had become and the more in tune you became with others’ emotional states. When you first began, you would have to hug a person or hold their hand in order to access your ability. Soon, anyone within close vicinity of you was enough to get a read on them.

Now, it was anyone within nearly a 500-foot radius of you would bombard you with their happiness, sorrow, anger, and affection. You had tried your best to manage it— only taking a handful of appointments a day and heading straight home when they were complete. You no longer visited your favorite cafes, went to see a film in theaters, and it had become impossible for you to even go grocery shopping. It was at this revelation, and one too many nights suffering through the spikes of passion during your neighbors’ love-making sessions, that you were forced to move out of the city and into the wilderness.

And, finally, with some peace, you were able to live semi-normally. You missed people, more often than not as it seemed, but you have come to terms with your life. You were no longer using your abilities to do readings or holding technically unlicensed therapy sessions, and instead had somehow picked up writing. You were told that the way you described human emotion was ‘far beyond what a singular-introspect should be able to accomplish’ and you supposed it was because of your once adored gift. And while you were content living in solitude, you relished in the days when you had visitors.

It may not be frequent, but you still had friends that came to visit with you, as well as your editor and a cute delivery guy who brings you your groceries every two weeks. The grocery boy, Jungkook, who’s name you finally managed to pull out of him after three months of seeing his round nervous eyes in awkward silence, was the person you saw most often. At first, you thought it was sad, seeing as he didn’t talk to you at all besides a quick “thank you, have a good day” at the end of his visits before scurrying away, making the only person you saw on a regular basis someone you didn’t even talk to, not that you didn’t try. You could tell he was nervous, uncomfortable around strangers, but there was something else more pungent beneath that kept him wary— fear.

Once he had become comfortable enough to talk to you, he had confided that there were quite a few rumors spreading around about you— the most prominent being that you were a witch. You laughed, though it was not totally far from the truth. He seemed a bit unnerved by your laughter, so you smiled at him and told him that you had once owned a spiritual business and, for the first time in months, offered to give him a reading. He accepted, suddenly less afraid and more curious of you, and the two of you have been friends ever since.

You weren’t supposed to see Jungkook for another week or so, his deliveries come on every first and third Friday of the month, and you normally impatiently wait for his company until then, however, this coming Monday, you were to see your editor, Kim Namjoon, who works for Big Hit Publishing. He was an excellent writer himself, but that never caused any imposition of his own style onto his clients’, which you appreciated greatly.

Now, as you had said before, you were supposed to be getting a visit from Namjoon on Monday, and today was currently Wednesday, so imagine your surprise when a series of emotions enter your senses just after midday, signaling the approach of another human being approaching your door. Brows furrowed, you pluck yourself out of your plush chair and set down the book you were currently engrossed in. You were expecting to have a relaxing, empty day today, but the universe seems to have other plans for you.

The first waves you pick up are timid and non-threatening, so you assumed they were a friendly stranger in need of something. You stood by the door and waited your guest to knock, as you had learned that it was quite abnormal to open the door for someone before they announced themselves. When the rapping at the door finally came, you still postponed opening the door for a beat to make it appear as if you had walked away from whatever you were doing.

Taking a deep breath to steel yourself, you opened the door, coming face-to-face with a tall stranger with plush lips and broad shoulders. You blinked, giving him a once-over. Long legs, toned, from what you could see. A slim, yet sturdy middle that branched out to his wide shoulders which were the perfect podium for the long neck that lead to his perfect face. Dark eyes, straight nose, and, oddly, appealing purple hair. Why purple? You wonder to yourself, but before you can delve any further into that thought a charming smile spreads across his lips.

“Hello!” He chirps in a light tone. You return the greeting, finally broken from the stupor the attractive man had put you in. “I’m Kim Seokjin! I just moved into a house just a-ways up the lake.” He introduced himself as he held out his hand for you to shake. You looked at it warily for a moment before taking it lightly. You have to stop yourself from flinching as another wave of electric emotions filled your senses. Nervousness— from meeting someone new? Fear— perhaps he has heard the rumors about you. And something else… something you don’t have much experience with, so you can’t pinpoint what it is. Over all, nothing too peculiar about this man besides his hair color.

“Y/N,” you managed after you pushed through his sensation of your powers. Seokjin nodded at you as if confirming that he’s learned your name and released your hand, slipping his own into the pocket of his trousers. You shifted a bit, your own discomfort becoming apparent. You weren’t used to dealing with people anymore, let alone strangers. It’s been just over a year since you separated yourself from society, so your social skills were rather impaired now.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” He said cheerfully, and you felt his nervousness fade fractionally. “I just wanted to come meet the only neighbor I have for miles and offer my services!” You gave him an incredulous look, but his enthusiasm didn’t waiver.

“Your services?” You couldn’t help the playful hint that leaked its way into your voice. The man was rather�� boisterous, to put it kindly, and he had an air of confidence around him that made you believe he knew how good-looking he was.

“Yes!” He chirped, pulling his hand out of his pocket and holding a small business card out to you. “If you ever need anything, just give me a call!” He grinned down at you and you returned with a pleasant smile, taking the card from him carefully to avoid brushing his fingers with yours. “After all, it’s not often you’ll get a neighbor as attractive as me!” At that, your smile fell and you blinked at him once more with wide eyes. His laughter filled your ears, obviously amused with himself and your reaction, and you couldn’t help the awkward chuckle that escaped you too. How were you supposed to respond to that?

“Uh, yes, well… thank you, Mr. Kim.” You held up his card, forcing a smile his way. You had no idea how to deal with such a man— he wasn’t like anyone you’ve met before. Your friends were confident, yes, but this guys just set a new standard.

“Seokjin, or Jin, please,” he corrected. “Mr. Kim is my father. Or that crazy old guy who’s constantly yelling at youths about laziness and too much PDA. Ah, no, that’s still my father….” At that you gave a sincere chuckle. Giant Narcissistic complex aside, he seemed like a relatively good guy, and with your constant loneliness perhaps it was time you became friendly with one neighbor. It doesn’t hurt that he is, unfortunately, as good looking as he implies. You fiddled with the card in your fingers.

“Seokjin, then,” You looked at the floor shyly. “Thank you.” His grin widens and he nods, putting his hand back in his pocket.

“Of course!” He tilted his head to look around your form and into your home and gave a low whistle. “Nice place! You should invite me over to dinner sometime!” Ah, that ego again. Of course, you could only be so ‘honored’ to have someone as good-looking as him come to your place for dinner. Seokjin’s personality has seemed to break through your walls as you snort at his comment.

“It’s rather impolite to invite yourself to dinner. Maybe I’ll just show up at your place next time,” you joked, giggling a bit, when the air around you turned sour. Panic— panic— panic— he was panicking. Why? It was so strong; why was he panicked? Oh, god it was everywhere, it was suffocating. But as you looked at his face, it was as calm and charming as ever, a kind smile still gracing his pillow-y lips.

“Spare me the embarrassment, please— you wouldn’t believe it with how put-together and beautiful I am, but my home is an absolute disaster!” He laughed, and it was such a stark difference from the emotions radiating off of him that it made your head spin. You schooled your expression though, making it seem as if nothing was off.

“A-ah, I see,” You cleared your throat, trying to extinguish the panic he was pouring into you. “Well, then, if I ever make too much food…” You trailed off slightly, causing him to hum.

“Give me a call! I’ll be happy to eat whatever you have extra!” He took that moment to smoothly end the conversation. “Well, I should head home! Maybe try to get my house into presentable condition.” Seokjin gave a light chuckle before stepped back away from your door and began backtracking. “It was nice to meet you Miss Y/N!” He waved, and you strained a smile before returning the gesture with a small wave of your own.

“You as well, Seokjin,” And with that, he turned on his heel and headed down your driveway to where you finally noticed his sporty little white Hyundai is parked. You watched him get into his vehicle and begin backing out of your dirt driveway before you closed your front door and leaned against it, breathing in your first lungful of unencumbered air now that Seokjin is driving away and taking his heavy emotions with him.

What was that? The moment you suggested visiting his home he put off wave after wave of terror. Was he uncomfortable with people entering his home? No, even if it were a mess, there’s no reason to get that worked up about visitors. Especially since it didn’t seem like he had anxiety. No, it seemed more like… like he had something to hide?

Ah.

You pushed away from your door and made your way back to your chair overlooking the lake, more focused now with your clarity. That ‘something else’ that you hadn’t been able to identify earlier when you first saw him standing in front of your house.

It was deception.

The next two days pass without incident. Seokjin had not stopped by again, nor did you attempt to contact him. After your first meeting, you figured rushing to get to know him may not be in your best interests considering the electric negative emotions he had bombarded you with. Panic, fear, anxiety— all leading to the revelation that he was hiding something from you. Still, he didn’t seem like a bad person.

This was one of the rare times where you were getting two very different readings and felt as if you couldn’t completely rely on your gift. Usually you were able to weed people out easily— both a blessing and a curse— which is why you only have a handful of people you actually trusted. This one, however, was quite confusing…

“Kim Seokjin…” You muttered to yourself, tapping your pen against your notepad. You had been trying to jot down notes for the next book you were planning, but all you could think about was Kim-fucking-Seokjin.

You groaned and tossed your pen onto the kitchen table. You had decided to work there today since you couldn’t seem to get anything done in your office yesterday, but as it turns out it wasn’t the setting that was bothering you, but your mind. Of all the times to have writers block, it had to be now— the weekend before your meeting with Namjoon to discuss the proposal for your next book. You had just about everything you needed, except how to start it. Endings were always your strength; your novels always started with the ending and you worked your story backwards. Beginnings were always slow and uneventful; they were so tedious to get through with character introductions and setting descriptions. Ugh. Torture.

With a huff, you gave up, pushing away from the table and standing up. Your gaze drifted over to the lake; maybe some time out of the house would help clear your head. Taking your socks off before you can have second thoughts, you tread to the glass door leading out to your backyard. You quickly make your way across your patio and on to the lush green lawn, the blades of grass tickling your feet as you strolled down, down, further down until the grass ended and sand began. Your stride didn’t stop until your toes touched the cool water and you bend over to roll the sweatpants you’re wearing up to your knees in order to take a further step into the lake.

A relieved sigh slipped through your lips as you tilted your face towards the sky and let the warm breeze caress your troubled body while you thought. You hadn’t had an issue with reading someone like you were having with Seokjin in quite some time, and it was bothering you more than a little bit. Your instincts were telling you that he was good: kind, silly, and a little [read: a fuckton] egotistical. But your readings… they were throwing you off entirely. Your gut or your abilities— which one do you rely on in this situation?

Splashing in the water to your right breaks through your thoughts and you whip your head around to see what it is. At first, you didn’t see anything; the splashing sounded a bit further away from your current location, but the serene quiet that lays over the lake like a delicate shroud allows sound to travel. You focused, straining your eyes to try and pick out any detail that doesn’t belong to the scenery, until a small figure appears in the distance.

‘It’s… a boy?’ Curious. Seokjin said he moved in just up the lake, but, to you, this doesn’t look like your new neighbor. To start, this man had dark hair, and while Seokjin’s purple hair wasn’t particularly bright, you’d still be able to differentiate the splash of color against the natural scenery. Another thing was he was staring right at you, and yet made no move to greet you in any way. You shifted under his stare— it was unnerving to say the least, and it didn’t help that he was far enough away that your empath capabilities couldn’t pick up on his intentions.

So, deciding to end the uncomfortable stare-down, you lifted a hand to wave at him silently. The boy did nothing in return; in fact, if you had to guess, he hadn’t even blinked either. You slowly retracted your hand and began chewing on your bottom lip as another revelation hit you. Seokjin didn’t mention anything about a roommate, and everything on this stretch of lakeside property was private property. You certainly hadn’t seen him before, and so begs the question: who is this man and where did he come from?

Suddenly, the man’s attention was caught by something else, his head snapping towards the trees. For a moment, he did nothing else as you continued to scrutinize his every move. However, he only looked at you once more before turning fully to the trees and striding quickly into them with purpose. You stared in unrestricted wonder at the spot he had just been standing, before turning and walking back inside your house, locking all of your doors for safe measure.

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blahblahblippyblah · 7 years

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Solangelo : Secret first date

Chapter 2 of a series I am writing. I have thought out the whole plot . I just have to write it all down. Series doesn’t have a name yet.

Chapter 1 is on my page. Called First Day at Camp. I promise lots of fluff. But I’m making Nico and Will go slow. Because honesty I think that’s how it happened. Also I am definitely sending them on a quest together soon.

Spelling mistakes because I wrote this on my phone while working in the field.

*********

Nico wasn’t sure when he had finally fallen asleep. All he knew was that soon after his head touched the pillow he was in Tartarus again. The putrid acid smell of the air. The fire of the phelgathon burning in his throat, and the voices. When Nico had first fallen into Tartarus the voices of despair and pain had begun yelling at him. It was like being 3 paranoid schizophrenics at once. It made his head ring. The voices and their feelings washed into him. Driving him close to madness. Nico had talked to Percy and Annabeth briefly about their trip to Tartarus. They didn’t hear the voice. Maybe it was because he was a child of the underworld. Then he fell into darkness.

He awoke with a yelp, and shot straight up. His sheets were soaked with sweat. His hair was drenched. That wasn’t a good sing since the Hades cabin was always cold. He stared at the wall for a few seconds. He sun hadn’t risen yet, but his alarm clock said it was 4:30 am.

Great Nico thought. He would never get back to bed. Then he remembers that he had promised will that they would spend the day together. The thought instantly gave him a heat flash. He remembered how stupid he sounded when Will asked him to spend the day with hm. Nico didn’t know if it was a date, maybe it was just a thing people did to get to know one another and become friends. He didn’t really know how this making friend’s thing worked. But what if it was a date. He got butterflies thinking about it. No it wasn’t a date, Will would have said that. But they would still be spending the day together which sent some new butterflies into his stomach. Then a flood of panic washed over him.

He got to his feet and walked into the bathroom. He took a shower, making sure to scrubs every part of his body and shampooing his hair twice. He then brushed his teeth 3 times, and put on a good amount of deodorant. He tended to sweat a lot when he was nervous. He then spent quite a while trying to comb his hair. It was curly and a little long. Eventually he gave up. It always looked the same no matter what he did.

Picking out clothes was the hardest part. Everything he owned was black. It was too hot outside to wear a sweater, and his aviator’s jacket had been destroyed. Eventually he settled on his very basic black jeans with ripped knees from his last adventure, black shoes, and the ever so creative black plain black shirt with a tiny skull on the side of the tight collar. He put on his silver skull ring.

He looked out the window. The sun was beginning to rise over the lake. Well technically its morning now so he shouldn’t get in trouble by the harpies for leaving his cabin. Hopefully he could get to the dinning pavilion early to grab a piece of fruit before he lost his appetite to nerves.

The grass was covered with dew, and the sky was a brilliant shades of pink and orange. The camp looked beautiful. As he crossed the lawn in front of the other cabins he noticed Will was leaning against the Apollo cabin. Munching on a granola bar watching the sun rise.

He was wearing some faded baby blue jeans that he had cut so that they were very long shorts. His shirt was an obnoxious yellow orange and red tye dye. They couldn’t have cashed more than this. He smiled when he saw Nico.

“I didn’t think you would be up so early” Will said and Nico approached.

“What are you doing up then?” Nico asked.

“Talking to my dad” Will said staring at the sunrise with that distant relaxed look he always had.

Nico jut nodded. Demigods tended to talk to themselves hoping their parents where listening. Nico usually did it while he stared into fires. Of course Hades never answered.

“Here” Will threw him a granola bar. “Best breakfast you will ever have.”

Nico looked down this wasn’t a typical granola bar. It looked like a large clump of dried dark mud, with bits of nuts in it. It resembled something Nico definitely didn’t want to out in his mouth.

“Ummmm ill pass.”

“Come on. It’s not poisonous. I made them myself. Super demigod food that is”

Nico sighed and took a bite. It was pretty good. It tasted like peanut butter and chocolate.

“See I told you its good”

“So what do you usually do on your days off?” Nico asked.

Will looked away from the sunrise and at Nico. His freckled face broke into a smile.

“Well usually I sit in my cabin and study medical journals, but today I asked Chiron if we could head into NY”

Nico grinned.

“That sounds awesome. Can we stop by a McDonalds though if we are going into the city?

Will looked at him quizzically.

“Sure ill add it to the list” he said taping his temple in a joking way.

Argus the camp security guard/ part time demigod van driver dropped the off by central park.

They walked through the park. Most people were hurrying through the park as if they had somewhere to be on a Saturday morning. There were some joggers and people on bikes they moved over for. The rest of the park was filled with overexcited tourists. Will spent the walk asking Nico about himself. What he liked and more about himself. While he was in the infirmary he usually skidded these questions from Will. He didn’t like people knowing too much about him. It made him vulnerable. But Nico felt more comfortable and trusting of Will.

He spent the walk talking with Will about Mythomagic and how he wanted to get back into it. What his favourite cards where and what he use to have in his collection. Will seemed genuinely interested. He got to the talking about his figurines when he remembered the Hades figurine he still kept hidden under his bed. The last token he had from Bianca. All he had left of her was that stupid figure that got her killed and his skull ring. He trailed off and slumped his head slightly. The feeling of resentment and hurt was growing on his face.

Will noticed he stopped talking and looked over.

“What’s up?”

“nothing just thought of some stuff I’d rather not talk about”

Wills smile faded in understating. Then he smiled again.

“It’s ok. Were almost there anyway”

“Where is there?” Nico asked.

Will just smirked at him and exited a park gate.

They came out in front of the natural history museum. The building was regal. And filled with tourists.

“Ever been her before?” Will asked

“Nope” Nico replied “I haven’t really been to any museums without looking for some cursed object or a ghost”

“Well then you’re about to get your first museum tour. Led by the least knowledgeable guide, me.”

Nico smiled and followed him up the stairs. He had never been in a museum before. Scratch that, he had never been in a museum and had actually spent time enjoying it. He had once broken into the Smithsonian to talk to some spirits for some stupid quest his dad sent him on. But never mind that now.

They dodged excited children who ran around wildly while their parent walked dejectedly behind them. The first place Will wanted to go was the dinosaur exhibit. Nico was having such a great time. For once he had even stopped checking over his shoulders for monster. They stopped at a case containing a bunch of raptors claws. Nico pointed to one of the claw that was labeled as velociraptor.

“That’s not a velociraptor claw, that’s a chimera claw.”

“It says found with velociraptor bones" Will puzzled.

“I know a chimera’s claw when I see one. I almost had my guts spilled out by a chimera once” Nico said

“hhhhmmmmm, maybe a velociraptor died fighting a chimera” Will jokingly suggested.

Nico laughed. When he started laughing the tiny remains of some dinosaur arms bones began to shake.

“Hey want to see something cool?” Nico asked Will.

“Of course”

Nico led will to a corner exhibit that wasn’t so crowded. Inside was the skeleton of a micro raptor . Nico checked over his shoulder to make sure no one was around and watching then closed his eyes in concentration. The skeleton rose up and reformed the figure of the micro raptor. It looked at Nico curiously las if saying ‘Hey I was napping here’. Will laughed in amazement. The tiny dinosaur started chasing its tail.

“That’s so cool” Will said.

That was the first time anyone had called Nico reanimating the dead cool. He smiled, he had never used his powers for fun before, but will looked so impressed he wanted to show off more. He thought it was best to leave it like that. A tiny skeleton was one thing but a T Rrex coming to life probably wouldn’t work out very well in a crowded museum.

A little boy came over and pointed at the dinosaur.

“Daddy Daddy come and look. This dinosaur is alive!”

The dad was behind on his phone, not paying attention.

“Ya very cool Booby” he said not looking up.

Nico let the bones all back down.

After they explored every inch of the museum Nico started to notice he was hungry. As if on cue Will’s stomach growled. He looked at his watch.

“Wow its 5 o’clock already. I must have lost track of time” Will said.

Nico didn’t mind. He had had the best time hanging with Will and listening to the made up stories he had for each exhibit. They left the museum and started heading towards the nearest McDonalds just as Will promised. Nico order the largest burger they had and some fires. Will got a salad. Who orders a salad at McDonalds Nico thought?

As if reading his mind Will said “That stuff is going to kill you one day”

“With all the monsters we fight on a daily basis and you think I’ll die of cholesterol and high blood pressure?” Nico mused.

Will raise his eyebrow at him in challenge “Yes, yes I do” he said.

Nico rolled his eyes.

“Hey I saw that” Will said lightly punching his arm.

They sat down and Nico devoured his hamburger. Will ate his rabbit food. Once he was done he began to sneak fires out of Nico’s tray.

“You said that this stuff was practically poisonous “ Nico said as Will put another fire in his mouth.

“No I said that it was going to kill you. I however am only having a few.”

For only wanting a few Will ate almost all of Nico’s fires. He didn’t care though. He pulled the last fry out of the container.

“Do you want this death stick?” Nico asked

“Why yes thank you” Will replied mockingly.

Nico threw the fry in the air towards him. Will tried to catch it in his mouth but missed and it went sailing past him and hit the back of some annoyed looking biker with a beard. Nico quickly looked away pretending nothing had happened when the guy turned around. Will started snickering at Nico. When the big biker turned around Nico stuck his tongue out at Will who returned the gesture.

At 7 o’clock Argus pulled up to pick them up. Inside the van was Annabeth and Percy who Argus had just picked up from a visit to Percy’s moms place. When they first came in Annabeth gave him a smile.

“Hey Nico, hey Will. What were you to doing in the city today?” she asked interested.

“Nothing interesting. I just went with Nico to the museum.” Will replied calmly.

Annabeth smiled. She sat down beside Percy and gave him a knowing smile. Nico stared down at his feet trying to turn red. He felt a rise of resentment for Annabeth. What did she know what Nico was thinking. But the rest of the ride she just held Percy’s hand and her Percy and Will started talking. Nico just listened.

Sally Percy’s mom was apparently going to have a baby and Percy was really excited. He loved his step dad and was thrilled to have a baby brother or sister on the way.

When they got to camp they thanked Argus who nodded at them. They stated to head to their cabins to get ready for the campfire. Since it was the day off the campfire would go later tonight. Percy and Annabeth waved at them and ran off towards the cabins. Nico was pretty sure he saw them slip into the shadows once they reached the Poseidon cabin heading toward Canoe Lake instead. He didn’t say anything. Actually it made him smile. He was glad he was over Percy now. He was now just another friend, and he was glad he had found Annabeth to sneak away into the water with.

Him and Will sauntered towards the cabins. Will followed him all the way to the Hades cabin.

“See you at the campfire in five minutes?” Will asked.

Nico nodded and headed in his cabin. We saw Will turn around toward the Apollo cabin. He went to his closet and grabbed a black hoodie. He reached in his pocket and found that he still had the museum map. He smiled and paced it in his closet. He grabbed his stygian iron sword and strapped it to his belt. Since they were back at camp he could carry it around again. He felt naked without it.

There was a knock at his door. Nico went outside. Will was back but now was wearing a bright red Red Cross first aid instructor sweater.

“You teach first aid?” Nico asked

“Ya I got qualified last fall so I could teach campers”

“Cool, could you teach me?” Nico asked.

“Of course, ill set aside time staring tomorrow. How about after archery practice?” Will proposed

“Sounds good” Nico said trying to hide the excitement he had.

They walked in silence for a while. Will continue to stare off in the distance looking relaxed and chill like usual.

Then all of a sudden he blurt out. “So was this like our first date? Or should I take you somewhere else next day off?”

Nico stopped in his tracks and stared at Will. Will turned and smiled at him. His hand resting calmly in his jacket pockets. His freckles shone slightly in the distant campfire light. Nico didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good at this. He thought that will might be making fun of him. Then he realised from Will’s smile that he wasn’t joking. That left him more speechless. He liked will A LOT, but he didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make himself sound stupid, but also let will know that he was secretly hoping it was a date.

What came out of his mouth was more of an incoherent babble.

“I’ll take that as a yes then” he said smugly. Nico threw him a look.

“Don’t be so full of yourself” Nico said as he elbowed Will playfully.

“So it was a date then?” Will pushed.

Nico rolled his eyes a little. Then he looked down at his feet.

“Ya I guess it was”

“Good” said will” because I think you’re really great and funny and ……. Kind of cute”

Cute? Nico thought. He could feel himself blushing. Will smiled at his accomplishment at making Nico blush at this.

“I guess you’re pretty ok to” Nico joked.

“Only ok? I’m hurt” Will also joked pretending his heart was breaking.

Nico pushed his shoulder lightly. And walked off towards the fire will ran to catch up with him.

They sat beside each other at the campfire, still talking about things they had talked about earlier in the day while everyone else sang and laughed.

As the night went on Nico couldn’t help but smile. Will Solace liked him too.

#solangelo #nico di angelo #will solace #percy jackson #heros of olympus #trials of apollo #fluff #otp

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fafnir-the-golden-dragon-blog · 7 years

Text

DotD chapter four years three and four

Warning: this chapter contains VERY GRAPHIC VIOLENCE ND MENTIONS OF EATING DISORDERS, if y’all are sensitive to this content, DO NOT read. Really, this chapter is hella gross

Chapter four years three and four- fear

Jake had gotten into the habit of calling Haruka when he ran out of space for failed clones. He had gotten so used to it in fact, that he had stopped asking Chō to comfort him as they murdered the creatures who were supposed to be Palmela. It wasn't that it didn't hurt no, it was that it hurt so much. Every time, the voices would swarm him even more than usual, screaming at him to make them stop. They were usually decently quiet, they at least usually never said anything harmful to him. Not until the clones were being killed. In those moments, Jake wondered why he ever thought he could do this. He wondered why he even bothered. It made his head hurt, and it made his chest ache right along with it. Jake had hardly slept since that one decent night during the first year. Since then it had all been nightmares. Horrible, awful nightmares of these monsters hurting him, of Palmela dying. On this particular day, Jake was curled up under his bed, hands clamped over furry, dog-like ears in a vain attempt to block out the awful voices screaming at him. They seemed especially angry on that day. He was tired. So very tired of failure. He wanted nothing but to have his friend back, and he knew that he had to succeed. His phone buzzed, and he cautiously peaked at the screen to see a text from Haruka. They were finished. He inhaled a shaky breath and crawled out from under his bed, wrapping himself in his furry comforter. It was then that he had decided: his next attempt would be a success, there were absolutely no doubts about it. With thoughts of his definite success in mind, Jake fell asleep, still laying on his floor.

The next morning he awoke to his brother-Levi-shaking him awake. Jake blinked sleepily up at him for a moment before registering what the small chimera was saying. "Jake! Wake up, your friends are here and they're saying it's urgent!" Jake shooed him away and got dressed as quickly as he could. He found the couple down in the library, only they had a new companion. Sitting in Palmela's usual seat, was a small girl. She had dark, freckled skin, wore a soft blue coat and a hijab, and had messy blue bangs covering her right eye. His brows furrowed as he examined this new person, but he approached anyway. As he approached, Haruka looked up at him, Chō smiled widely and started waving frantically for him to come closer. The girl looked startled as Jake came up next to her. He noticed her eyes didn't fully focus on him, instead appearing blurry and lost. "Um, hello!" Jake said with a smile. Even if he was slightly disconcerted by her gaze, he was determined to be kind and make her feel welcome. She jumped slightly at his voice, catching herself on the edge of the table before she could fall. "H-hello," she replied softly. Her voice was quiet and sounded nervous, almost trembling. Jake looked at his friends with a confused expression. Chō looked concerned, and Haruka had a look in their eyes that Jake couldn't quite place. The girl looked down at her lap for a moment before turning her murky eyes back to Jake. "I-I'm sorry. My name is Serice I....I can't see you." Jake's eye went wide. She was blind. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He couldn't believe himself! Being made uncomfortable by her odd eyes! He mentally slapped himself for thinking this way. She was a person just like anyone else-he reminded himself. She most likely didn't want any sort of pity, just sincere kindness.

With that thought, Jake inhaled deeply and smiled softly at Serice. "My name's Jake. It's a pleasure to meet you!" He said, in his usual excited tone. Serice smiled warmly up at where she assumed Jake to be. The odd white freckles seemed to glow against her dark skin, and Jake vaguely thought that they looked like stars. Chō made a loud noise of victory, throwing her arms into the air as Haruka raised their eyebrows in an odd expression of satisfaction. Chō gestured wildly at all of the table's occupants as Jake sat down. "So, what are we doing today?" She asked, in a very loud voice that was definitely not appropriate for a library. Haruka shrugged, and Jake tapped the table lightly with one of his short claws. Serice seemed to realize that Chō was staring at her. Her face flushed an odd whitish color, and she stuttered out a soft response. "C-can't she chose?" Serice asked, gesturing vaguely to Jake. Jake's heart stopped. The last person to have called him "she" was.......no, there was no way Serice had known. Jake had to force his palpitating heart to calm down, as memories of his first new friend flashed through his mind. He took a deep breath, steadying himself before responding. "I'm not allowed to choose, Chō says I'm too much of a nerd who chooses boring nerdy activities," Jake said, as if this were completely normal.

Chō giggled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, he totally does!" She said, flailing her arms, and earning a glare from another one of the library's occupants. Serice wore an odd expression on her face that Jake couldn't quite read as she stared at Chō with her oddly beautiful, murky eyes. "You choose then," she said, a strange fondness seeping into her soft voice as she smiled at the two strange people sitting across from her. Jake knew that expression, it was the same expression Rose had worn when looking at him, it was the same expression Palmela had donned when they were younger, and he told Jake about what it was like to see the sky. Jake was hit by the sudden realization that Serice had feelings for Chō, no matter how long she had known his friend. Chō groaned and pouted childishly, seemingly put off by the responsibility that was unceremoniously thrown at her. Haruka snorted at her childishness, and Jake found himself watching Serice intently. The way she sat was odd, it was as if she were attempting to hide something. Upon a much more thorough examination of the small girl however, Jake realized that her odd positioning was caused by her hooves for feet.

He vaguely wondered if she had a pair of horse-like ears to match. Jake was snapped out of his reverie by Chō, who had exclaimed loudly that they should go get ice cream. Haruka had quietly shushed her, and Serice giggled softly. Jake gently tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. "Y-yes?" She asked him, her soft voice trembling slightly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Jake asked, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. Serice made a soft sound of confusion before nodding. Jake smiled softly and stood, turning to Chō and Haruka. "I'm gonna steal her for a minute, is that okay?" Haruka gave him an odd look and Chō smiled widely before responding way too loudly. "Yeah, of coarse!!" Jake smiled sympathetically at the library's other occupants before gently grabbing one of Serice's dainty hands, and leading her to a small area that was a safe distance from his friends. She turned to him with an odd expression that looked very familiar. "Wh-what exactly did you w-want to talk about?" Serice spoke softly, even more quietly than was necessary for the setting. Jake almost had to double-take, as the expression she wore made her look exactly like Rose. He inhaled deeply to calm his nerves before speaking.

"You like Chō, don't you?" He asked softly, wasting no time getting to the point. Serice's colorful eyes went wide, and that strange white blush coated her dark cheeks once more. "I-I....how-how did you.." she was clearly having trouble speaking, and her face had twisted into an expression of pure shame. Jake's brow furrowed in confusion at her expression, and he gently placed his furry hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly at the contact. "Hey, there's nothing to be ashamed of! It's totally okay, I was just curious!" Jake said, his soft voice sincere. Serice stared down at her hooved feet for a moment before turning her gaze back to Jake. "But Chō...she-she's with Haruka isn't she?" She asked, a dejected look in her colorful eyes. Jake's smile widened as he gently patted her head. "You've got absolutely nothing to worry about, I know for a fact that you have a chance," he said in an oddly encouraging tone. Serice's expression perked slightly, and her fading blush returned. "But I don't-I don't want to mess anything up....I don't want to hurt Haruka...." she trailed of uncertainly. Jake laughed softly, getting the attention of the extremely pessimistic girl before him. "Trust me, you won't ruin a thing," he said with a smile.

Serice looked slightly hopeful, and she smiled warmly at Jake. "Th-thank you," she said quietly. Jake smiled and lightly patted her shoulder. "It's nothing! I'm glad I could be of use," he said with a smile. Serice nodded and the two walked back to their table, where Chō was-very loudly-explaining why exactly they should get ice cream. Jake smiled fondly at his friends. Chō was most definitely not conventionally attractive. From her chubby body to her overly loud and boisterous personality, most would be put off by her. But she was very passionate about everything she did, and Jake realized that this was what made her so appealing to somebody like Haruka, who was quiet and reserved. It only made sense that it would be the same for Serice as well. With that thought, he sat down beside his new friend. "Maybe we could go to that new place by our school? They have ice cream and actual food," Jake suggested with a smile. Chō thought it over for a moment and was about to shout out her answer when Serice spoke. "Y-yes, I think that is a wonderful idea." Chō's eyes went wide and Jake saw a wide smile forming on Haruka's expressionless face.

Even though she was a bit odd, this new girl was most definitely a positive new addition to their bizarre little family, and Jake couldn't help but be grateful for her presence. Her being there would without a doubt raise his friends' dampened spirits, and for that he was grateful. Of coarse, he couldn't help but miss Palmela, but he knew that Serice would help all of them. With that thought and a smile, the four friends headed out to eat.

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Chō had known from the start that something was off about Serice. Her ability to feel others' emotions could be a bit of a bother at times, but with Serice, her ability just confused her. Serice was hard to read, almost as much so as Haruka, and she had never encountered somebody like that before. She could read Jake like a book, and when Palmela had been alive he practically radiated emotion, but Serice was different. Chō would occasionally feel something from her, but it was always indecipherable, foreign, almost alien. But of course, there were physical things she had noticed about the new girl too. At first Chō had thought that Serice was just an especially petite woman, as she was very short as well as thin. But after a while she'd noticed things that made it all make sense. She had noticed that Serice hardly ate. Chō had only seen her eat once since they'd met roughly two months ago, and never again since. Even that one time she hadn't eaten much, and slowly Chō had managed to piece together what her new friend's problem was.

Of course, she knew it was best to say something, but she was so afraid of scaring the sheepish girl away that she stayed silent. She would however, try and make Serice eat, which usually ended in failure. She knew eventually she would have to say something, especially since she and Serice were steadily becoming closer and closer. She knew Jake had noticed, as he was especially observant. Haruka had as well, and seemed to be rather indifferent about it as they were with everything else, but Chō had noticed that they took an interest in Serice as well. She saw how their emotionless face would change minutely when she was around. Most would not have noticed, but Chō noticed everything. She would always feel a small rush of emotion from them when the small girl was around, just as she did when she and Haruka were together. Chō knew that this girl was good, and so she had to say something, to reach out and help her in some way. If only she knew how. She knew that she didn't know how to go about this, since no matter how much of an extrovert she was, she could never find the correct words to approach someone with. She decided that she would say something the next time she encountered the small girl, directly after she checked up on Jake to make sure he was staying safe. Chō could feel that something was wrong with the chimera boy, and she needed to know what. Serice would likely be fine until she finished this simple task.

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Serice's cloudy eyes gazed longingly up at the night sky as she sat, motionless in a large field. This field was located relatively close to the place in which she currently inhabited, by the edge of the city. While one edge was surrounded by thick forest, another held a cliff, which led off to an ocean, and another, a long and seemingly endless field of grass and wildflowers. The grass gently rippled around her with the soft night breeze as Serice stared, just vaguely feeling the light of the stars on her face. This was her element, the closest she'd get to being home. That is, until she inevitably died. Silent tears rolled down her freckled cheeks, accompanied by a gentle exhale of breath from the girl. The breeze picked up, as if the one she wished to see had heard her soft sound of sorrow. Her eyes fluttered shut as she tried to see this person. Of course, she saw nothing but darkness, just as she always had. Her brows furrowed in distress as she balled her fists into her long skirt.

A soft sound escaped her lips as more tears fell. Then more. And even more. She doubled over in emotional agony, sobbing loudly as her hands gripped the fabric that adorned her head. "I just want to go home, please just let me come home," Serice whispered softly into her hands before tossing her head back to face the vibrant sky. "Please, just let me come home! I just want to go home!" She cried, accompanied by much louder sobs and wails of turmoil. The breeze picked up and developed into a strong wind, causing Serice's frail body to shiver, and the grass to fall flat. She heard a soft voice in the wind. "You can't my dear, not yet," it said. Serice felt a slight twinge of emotion that she couldn't quite place. "Why not? Why couldn't somembody else be here? Why me?" She asked, a slight edge seeping into her soft voice. "It had to be you," the voice started. "You are the only one suitable for this." Serice's eyes watered once more, tears of anguish slipping out and rolling down her cheeks.

She knew the voice was correct, she was the only one who could do this. At least, she was one of the only ones who hadn't yet, it was her turn. "Please," she whispered softly, the wind softened, causing the grass to gently caress her, like a soft embrace. "Mother......" she whispered, and the presence she had felt was gone. The grass went back to its gentle swaying with the soft breeze, and Serice knew that her time with her mother was up. With a soft sniffle, she stood, and walked slowly back to her residence.

A small boy stared up at the large shadowy figure of a man, whom he assumed to be the one who called him here. "What is it you called me for?" The boy asked, his voice soft-almost feminine-and trembling. The figure stared down at him with menacing eyes, his snakelike fangs bared in a wicked smile. "I'm here to make a deal," he said, his voice deep and raspy, like the embodiment of evil itself. The boy looked up at him, meeting those terrifying bloodred eyes. "What is it?" He asked, stepping away in preparation to run if need be. The figure laughed, a deep menacing sound, much like sandpaper scraping against stone. The boy stepped away once more, his scaly legs tense in preparation for a speedy getaway. "I heard you lost your family," the mysterious man stated, red eyes boring into the small boy's own. The boy's eyes went wide. "Y-yes I did," he stuttered, seemingly confused. "Well," the man started, leaning down to be eye-level with the boy.

"While I cannot bring them back, I can make you a single member. They would be more like a sibling than anything else, but I'm sure that's better than nothing?" He said. The boy's jaw dropped, and he whipped around to stare at the freakishly tall man before him. "Wh-what do I have to do?" He asked, trembling, eyes watering at the thought of regaining even the slightest semblance of family. The man's slitted nostrils flared in an attempt to not burst into laughter. "It's simple," he started, leaning down closer to the boy, his red eyes were only inches away from the boy's own blue. "Promise me your service for all of eternity." The boy's eyes went wide with fear of the snakelike man, but he quickly steeled himself, standing upright and holding his head high. "I'll do it," he said, his soft voice stronger than before. The man's disturbing smile widened, splitting his face in two, the divide full of sharp teeth. "Very well." A figure emerged from the darkness, its face was obscured by the hood of a cloak. All that could be seen of its body was a glowing white eye, and a single hand, drenched in a gooey black liquid. It's hand stretched out towards the boy. He shrieked in agony mere moments later, feeling an icy heat spreading through his body, searing through his veins. The man laughed. "Welcome to the family-Jordan."

Jake woke on a chilly Monday morning to his alarm blaring. He groaned, rolling over to shut it off before stretching. He shivered before looking at the thermostat. Twenty degrees today-no wonder he was so cold. With a yawn he stood, trudging off to shower with heavy feet, grabbing clothes to wear on the way. After showering, he dried off and got dressed before running a brush through his messy hair. He took a moment to inspect his reflection. He wore a simple black turtleneck with a deep blue skirt that went down to his ankles. He wore leggings under that along with a simple pair of black flats. His hair was somewhat calmer than it has been, albeit still quite messy. With a sigh, he gave up on taming his messy hair, instead exiting the bathroom to gather his school supplies. Upon entering the main room of his small apartment, he saw his younger brother sitting on the floor, watching the news.

Jake grabbed a piece of bread and popped it in the toaster, pushing down the little lever to make it heat up. While he was focused on intently watching the toaster until it dinged, Levi turned to face him and spoke: "Yo Jake, come check this out." Jake walked over to where Levi sat to view the TV screen. On the small screen was a headline about a kidnapping. He read it aloud. "Local boy Jordan Johnson gone missing last night. Police believe he was kidnapped." Jake's eye went wide. A kidnapping? He hadn't heard of anyone going missing since-....this was a bad train of thought to follow. Just a moment later his toast popped up with a soft "ding!" He retrieved it, grabbing his bag and saying goodbye to Levi before heading downstairs and outside.

Once outside, Jake immediately realized he'd forgotten a coat, and decided against going back inside to get it. Instead, he chose to sprint as fast as he could all the way to school. It took about fifteen minutes for him to arrive, and once he got inside he was completely out of breath. Chō, Haruka and Serice greeted him at the entrance. "You forgot a coat," Haruka said dryly. Chō looked at him with an odd look, and Serice donned a look of concern. "But it's so cold! I hope you don't get sick," Serice said softly. Chō gave a wide smile. "It's ok Jake, we can walk home together, I'll protect you from the cold!" She shouted with a triumphant thrust of her arm. Jake laughed softly. "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Haruka gave him a sideways glance. "Just a heads up, your professor is out today," they said calmly. Jake smiled. "Nice! No morning classes!" He said victoriously. Haruka shook their head. "No, he may be out, but there's somebody there taking his place," they said. Jake's brow furrowed. When his professors were out, that usually meant that he didn't have class, so why was there a substitute?

Something felt strange about this. He thanked Haruka and said goodbye to his friends before heading off to his first class. He took a seat towards the back and was immediately shocked by the person he saw at the front of the room. There really was a sub, but something felt wrong about her. She was tall, with long auburn hair and long legs, wide hips, and massive breasts. She gave him an odd look before starting that day's lecture. Jake couldn't focus. This felt so strange, so wrong. Once class was over, the sub pulled Jake over for a second. "Excuse me, do you happen to know where your one classmate is? I believe Palmela is his name," she asked. Her voice sounded sweet, almost hypnotic. Jake was taken aback. Why would she care about Palmela's location-oh. His eye went wide and he backed away as the realization hit him. The sub eyed him suspiciously; a glance at the blackboard confirmed his suspicion. On the blackboard was her name, written in large, screwed up letters. "Ms. CaTHerINE." She seemed to realize that Jake had figured her out, because her face donned a sad expression.

"Oh, what a shame," she said softly. "I was hoping to keep you alive. You're very important," she finished, her voice morphing from the soft honeyed version to something grotesque, like the sound of a throaty being clogged with tar. She looked at Jake for a moment before he turned and sprinted out of the room. He ran as fast as he could down the halls and out into the courtyard, frantically sending messages to Chō and Haruka on the way. Of course, the gates leading to the city were closed, so Jake was trapped in the massive courtyard with the substitute. He vaguely thought of how he was essentially locked in a pen with a monster. It didn't take long for the sub to reach him. She stood a few feet in front of him for a moment before a massive smile crossed her face, and her body started to morph. Her pretty face split in half with a massive grin, her hair turned into that which was matted and black from being caked with dirt and blood. Her-no-it's thin waist split in two, only a disgusting black tar holding it together. One of its arms fell off as another half-grown arm grew out of its remaining arm, the wrist dripping a black substance. It's legs morphed into those of a goat, one being cut off halfway with that same gross substance dripping from the stub. And finally, a long, bulbous tail grew out of its backside. It had snaking markings twisting around the tail, cutting it into sections. The markings looked vaguely like sealed wounds.

Jake was horrified, and had to cover his mouth and nose to prevent himself from vomiting. The smell was horrible, like a corpse who had been incinerated and left out to rot for millions of years. It's dripping, amorphous body looked so grotesquely deformed, he was amazed that it was able to hold a solid form for an entire class period. Jake summoned his weapon, feeling slightly more secure with the weight of the hammer in his hand. Catherine took a swing at him with its tail, which he dodged with relative ease. It smiled, revealing many rows of long, sharp teeth. Jake wondered what it was smiling at, until a moment later, Haruka ran towards it-weapon in their hands-they kicked its face, causing its jaw to dislocate from its face. It stared at its lost jaw for a moment, before it reattached, only being held there by black goop. Haruka' eyes went wide with horror. Catherine seemed to be trying to make sure its jaw still functioned, so Jake took this opportunity to take a swing at its head. It moved, causing Jake's hammer to collide with its tail. He whacked it a few more times before using the bulbous base to leap up and hit it in the head. He succeeded. The hammer collided with Catherine's head, smashing it into the grass. It had little to no give, as it seemed to be completely boneless. Little chunks of its gooey flesh splattered Jake's hand with a sickening "sploosh!" Sound.

It took Jake a moment, but he soon realized that his hand hurt where the chunks of flesh had landed. The burning turned into a full-on searing agony, to the point where he dropped his weapon and screamed. His flesh was being eaten away by Catherine's acidic tar-like blood. He could see his flesh being eaten away, soon there was a decently sized hole in Jake's hand. He doubled over and vomited. The pain was so extreme, it smelled awful. The sight of his green internal flesh being removed was too much for him. He barely registered the sounds of Haruka fighting, as he was mesmerized by the sight of his green, chlorophyll-laden blood dripping slowly onto the grass. Meanwhile, Haruka was watching as Catherine's head slowly reformed, the little chunks gluing themselves back together to make its head whole once more. It was sickening to watch. It's tail had fully reformed as well, and where the scab-like markings had been, the tail was split, with many large vertebrae holding the massive chunks of flesh together.

It's black, tar-like blood dripped onto the grass, and Haruka could see that the grass was burning where it landed. They dodged Catherine's swings of its tail, and slashed at its dripping body when they saw an opening. It took a swing at Jake, who couldn't move, so Haruka sprinted over and tackled him to the ground, just narrowly avoiding the attack. Due to just narrowly missing being hit, some of the blood from Catherine!s tail dripped onto Haruka's back. They made a soft noise of pain before leaping up, ignoring the searing pain in order to keep fighting. Jake sat up, his brain still foggy with pain, was starting to realize that he was still in battle. Seemingly out of nowhere, an arrow with a heart-shaped tip impaled Catherine's head, going directly through its eye. Jake looked in the direction it had come from, only to see Chō leap down from a nearby tree. She sprinted over to Catherine and kicked it in the chest, causing the upper half of its body to detach and go flying. It made a sickening screeching noise before the lower half of its body walked over and reattached the top half. It then swung at Chō with its tail.

She hadn't anticipated the attack, which caused a divide in Catherine's tail to hit Chō directly on her upper thighs. Chō's eyes went wide and she immediately collapsed, shrieking in agony as the acid destroyed her legs, her muscle and fat being eaten away slowly. She screamed loud and piercing, clawing frantically at the ground, her face, anything to keep her grounded in reality, to help her ignore the searing pain. Haruka froze, eyes wide in horror at what was happening to their girlfriend. Jake wanted to run over, to heal her, but he knew that it wouldn't work. The acid would destroy his flowers in a matter of seconds. Jake looked up upon hearing a noise behind him. It was Serice, who had tucked her bangs into her hijab, and held a large spear. It appeared to be made of silver, with a diamond-shaped tip and intricate cravings all over the spearhead and base. She had a look of determination on her face as she closed her eyes and carefully took aim. A white aura surrounded the spear as she threw it, causing it to hit Catherine directly in the chest. Catherine shrieked in pain as its flesh parted around the weapon. Something about Serice's weapon hurt Catherine, Jake realized. Once Catherine was completely down, Haruka whirled around and ran frantically towards Chō. She had long since fallen unconscious from blood loss, and Haruka quickly fell to their knees at her side.

Their eyes were wide and they eventually settled on Jake. Their expression looked like that of desperation. Jake hobbled over to them to the best of his ability, and sat in front of Chō. Haruka was shaking, with a hand over their mouth as if they were trying to not be sick. Jake didn't blame them. The sight of Chō's legs being detached from her body by the acid was a gruesome one, her blood splattered all over her lower half and the grass around her. "Please, you have to help her," Haruka said. Their voice trembled and they grabbed Jake by the shoulders, tears forming in all eight of their wide eyes. "Jake, you have to save her!" Jake gave them a look of helplessness as they released him and clung tightly to their sides. All six of their arms were digging into their side as tears started to roll down their face. Jake's eye went wide. Haruka was crying. Their face twisted in anguish as they shrieked at Jake. "What the fuck are you waiting for? You have to save her! You have to save her!" They shrieked, their voice sounding completely hysteric as sobs mingled with their frantic words. Jake didn't know what to do. He was too weak to fully heal Chō, both he and Haruka knew it. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to do he didn't he couldn't do anything he was useless he was useless he was-Serice walked over, affectively cutting off Jake's internal mantra of self-hatred. She sat between Jake and Haruka, who was still crying loudly. She felt around Chō's legs for a moment before locating the wounds and gently touching them, stopping the flow of the acid and blood.

"There," she said softly, her sightless eyes staring blankly at Chō. Catherine stirred behind them, snapping all three of them out of their little trance. Haruka wiped off their face and stood. "We need to get out of here," they said, their voice hoarse from the crying. Jake's eye was glasses over, his mind foggy from pain and blood loss. "I'll get Jake, you can carry Chō," Serice said softly to Haruka. They nodded wordlessly before scooping Chō's unconscious body up in their arms. Jake did his best to stand and immediately ended up leaning on Serice. "It's okay, I've got you," she said softly. Jake felt oddly reassured by this. Haruka kicked open the campus gates, not caring if the lock broke. "I'm taking her to a hospital. You take Jake to Elaine," Haruka said before heading on their way. Serice adjusted her hold on Jake. "Can-can you give me directions?" She asked Jake. Jake tried to make his mouth work but it wouldn't, God he was so weak. Such a little wound had him in such a state. "Y-yeah," he managed to give her halfway decent directions. As they stood outside of Elaine's house, Jake was suddenly struck with how hot he felt despite the freezing weather. This couldn't be good, he thought vaguely. Serice knocked on the door, and Elaine opened it a moment later with a gasp.

"What on earth happened to you?" She asked but quickly helped him inside and laid him on the couch in her living room. "Where are the others? Are they alright?" She asked, sounding legitimately worried. Serice looked worriedly at the floor. She seemed unable to speak. Her face was twisted in an expression of distress and she made an odd noise that sounded somewhere between a sob and a squawk. Elaine's brows furrowed in concern as she silently watched tears fall from Serice's eyes. She knelt down to be eyelevel with Serice. "It'll be okay sweetie, I'm going to heal Jake and then I'll make you some tea alright?" She asked, her tone gentle. Serice didn't respond, but Elaine smiled softly, seeming to understand Serice's silent communication. She turned around and knelt by Jake, gently taking his hand as she used her sun-based magic to slowly knit the muscle back together in his hand. Jake threw his other arm over his face to hide the tears falling from his eye. He felt so weak. He hadn't been able to save Palmela all those years ago, he was incapacitated by such a small wound, god, Haruka had the skin burned off of their back but was up and moving like it was nothing.

Elaine finished and gave him a gentle look. She brushed the grass-like hair from his face, causing him to lower his arm and let the tears flow freely. He sat up and Elaine hugged him gently. "It's okay Jake, it's okay." Jake clung to her and cried. He felt so pathetic but damn it if she wasn't damn comforting. She was so gentle, she treated all of them like her own children. It was just what he needed. Elaine pulled away and quickly walked into the kitchen to start making tea for the two young adults. Serice sat herself down next to Jake, tears still falling slowly from her eyes. Elaine placed three mugs of tea on the kitchen table a moment later, and Jake lead Serice into the kitchen to drink her tea. "Thank you Elaine," Jake said softly. Elaine smiled softly at him. For the next few hours, Jake and Serice waited in anxious anticipation for some sort of news from Haruka. It took about three and a half hours of waiting before Jake’s phone rang. Serice, who had been asleep on the couch started with a loud squawking noise before staring in the direction of the noise with desperation. Jake quickly answered the call and set his phone down on the coffee table in front of the couch. Haruka’s voice rang through the speaker, they sounded tired. “She’s alive, both of you, come quick,” they said before promptly hanging up. Jake looked over at Serice for a moment, she was trembling and looking around wildly. Jake walked up to her and gently took one of her dainty hands in his own. “It’ll be okay Serice, they said she’s okay,” Serice’s expression morphed to that of sheer terror. “They-they said she’s alive, not-not okay-“ Jake put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “They said to come quick we should-we should go.” Serice nodded, and in a matter of minutes, the two were on their way.

A/N: wow if you thought this cheater was ad wait till chapter five lmao

#original story #original characters #lgbt characters #graphic depictions of violence #tw for eating disorders #Serice is such a good bby ok #Jake is a little bit of a shit in the next chapter but he does his best #hoooooo boy Haruka abt to get sum good character development

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ryjelsum · 7 years

Text

Chimera

In a nondescript Chicago condo, a young man’s speech and typing filled a tiny home office. There was only one man in the room, but whenever he was impassioned about something, he always felt it necessary to speak it out, even if no one was around to hear him. He was finishing the letter that he was writing to his current employer, a private genetic engineering firm in Chicago who called themselves Chimera INC. This firm offered to splice people’s genetics with animal genetics, for those who desired to look more like an animal. However, this man had been keeping track of the first few clients who had received this treatment, and found as their physical animal characteristics developed, so did mental ones. These were mostly violent crimes, as those who were wealthy enough to afford the procedure usually preferred a more predatory look, and thus developed predatory instincts. However, those who had their genetics spliced with prey animals were also documented to develop anxiety disorders. With this evidence in hand, the man could see no other ethical thing to do other than to write a letter to his employer and figure out to what degree, if any, they were aware of these unintended effects.

“These effects are not only dangerous, the fact that the consumers involved were not made aware of them is wildly illegal. The fact that these side effects were not caught in testing presents a number of ethical issues that the public should be informed about before they decide to have the procedures offered by our company, especially because they are completely elective. If the company refuses to rectify these shortfallings, you should decide in short order and consider this as my two weeks’ notice. Morgan Bright.”

Morgan brushed his hands against each other and slumped in his chair, almost unconsciously emitting a sigh. Then, he heard his office’s door click. His girlfriend must have came home while he was typing.

“Hello, honey! Are you chewing your workplace out?” she said, and then laughed brightly.

Morgan sat up, very slowly and carefully, and pushed his rolling office chair aside. “Yeah, babe. I was just finishing up my letter notifying them that I am… well aware of the risks that they’re omitting. I really don’t want to take the position of having to be a whistleblower here, because any controversy could slow the progress of this whole field, since people would start to not trust genetic modification firms. I really don’t want that to happen, because…” Morgan trailed off, but his girlfriend picked up where his sentence left off.

“..your hemophilia, right?”

“Yeah.” Morgan sat back down in his office chair, hard, winced and quickly checked himself for wounds, then sighed and put his head in his hands. “I don’t want to live with it my whole life. I don’t get to experience the outdoors, hell, I can’t even fathom living somewhere rurally just in case I need to go to the ER because of an injury.”

Morgan’s girlfriend kneeled beside the chair and held one of Morgan’s hands. “I know how hard it is for you. And I definitely agree with you, I want this field to advance quickly for your sake.”

Both were silent for a minute, then Morgan spoke. “I’m going to finish this e-mail. Could you get dinner ready for me?”

“Sure, babe!” Morgan’s girlfriend responded almost immediately. Morgan smiled. He could always depend on her for help and support.

- - -

In a high-reaching Chicago skyscraper, the booming voice of something not quite human filled a large meeting room full of nervous executives.

“‘If the company refuses to rectify these shortfallings, you should decide in short order and consider this as my two weeks’ notice. Morgan Bright.’ WHO. IS. MORGAN. BRIGHT! Where in this company does he work?” The booming voice in question was from the head of the room, where a humanoid chimera sat in a high backed chair, reading an e-mail from a tablet computer. It had barely finished speaking when one of the many figures in the room spoke.

“H-he works in my department in R&D, Mr. Baron. One of our genetic experts.”

“Great. He’s fired. Put all of his stuff in a box and don’t even let him step in the research wing when he comes back on Monday.” Baron snapped back.

The department manager paused briefly, then spoke up a little. “He’s one of our brightest minds, sir, and he has a vested interest in--” Baron cut him off by stabbing its scorpion tail mere inches from the manager’s hand. He yelped, then withdrew his hand, shaking. Baron stood up and strode over to the department manager’s seat.

“Listen. This kid is young, right?” The manager nodded, still scared speechless. “He thinks that he can bully us into doing what he thinks is right. Let’s send him a message.” Baron’s pawed hand suddenly sprouted claws, which it raked across the department manager’s neck slowly. As the claws dragged in his skin, Baron hissed in his ear. “Never speak out of turn again. I can replace people like you in an instant, and there are much better ways your body could be used.”

As blood ran down the manager’s neck, Baron sheathed its claws, wiped its hands with a handkerchief, and walked towards the door of the meeting room as if nothing had happened. The entire room was in shock. The manager was in shock quite literally; he passed out as Baron strolled past him. It stopped as it reached the door. “Lay off a couple of others so that it doesn’t look like a retaliatory firing. I have a list in my office.” It then glanced at Morgan’s former manager as one would stare at a particularly annoying puppy. “Keep him alive, too. I think I’m going to need him later.”

- - -

When Morgan went to enter the research wing, he always scanned his card, which would automatically open the door for him. Today, however, when he tried to scan his card and walk in, he ran headlong into the door. After briefly making sure he hadn’t been cut anywhere, he looked around and tried to scan his card, yet again. The door still didn’t open, but this time his manager had noticed him, and opened the doors for him so they could speak.

“Hey Morgan! Did you not check your e-mail before coming here? You’re let go, effective today. Layoffs, sorry. Here’s the box of stuff that I pulled from your desk. Can’t let you back here to collect it yourself, you know. Security clearance and all that.”

Morgan knew that there was something wrong with this. “Aren’t you supposed to give notice before layoffs?” As he said this, Morgan’s manager immediately started to get nervous.

“Ha, well, you know how these things are, maybe the notification hadn’t made its way through. You’ll have to work that out with management. Well, it’s too bad I have to get back to work, I would love to stay and chat, bye!” He shut the door in Morgan’s face and sprinted back to his usual place of work.

Morgan went home and immediately started to draft the letter he vowed to send if he was fired for trying to hold his now former employer accountable. He was up well into the night drafting it, seeing as he had nothing better to do for the next few days anyway. At 4am that night, he sent a copy of the letter, along with a photo of his badge for verification, to as many news publications as he could find e-mails for. Then, being exhausted from a night full of passionate letter writing, he went to bed.

He was awoken not four hours later by extremely loud, intermittent pounding on his door, as if someone were trying to break it down. Morgan jolted awake, feeling very annoyed. He went to the door, looked into the peephole, and discovered that someone -- no, something was trying to break down his door. It was difficult to tell the size due to the distortion of the peephole, but he could tell that it had large claws, and was wearing a lab coat. As soon as he saw this creature, he felt adrenaline surge through his body. He immediately made a plan in his mind - step one, barricade the door, step two, run, step three, call… the police? Animal control? He would decide once he actually got a phone.

Morgan sprang into action. He propped a chair against the front door to jam the door knob, tossed a couple of stools in front of that, and then ran to his landline. He picked it up, quickly jammed nine-one-one into it, and barricaded himself behind his office’s door as he heard the front door start to snap. Once the line finally connected, Morgan very nearly shouted into the handset: “There’s someone--something--some kind of beast breaking into my house, please send somebody, and quickly!” He gave his address and apartment number, then hung up so he could focus at the matter at hand.

The door broke and the monster forced its way inside, mangling the doorframe in the process. Morgan held his back to the door to his office and squeezed, praying that the monster’s claws didn’t pierce through the door and into his back before help arrived. After five tantalizing minutes, where Morgan couldn’t tell if the thumping he was feeling was his own heart or the monster’s claws against the door, Morgan heard a scuffle beginning outside. There were two men shouting -- “Get on the ground!” -- “It’s going to charge!”, then a large crash, the sound of some glassware breaking -- he’d have to be careful to clean that all up so he didn’t step on it -- then Morgan heard a large thud. The house went silent, and Morgan spent a minute catching his breath before opening the door very slowly. After opening the door, he saw a police officer and an animal control officer -- they weren’t sure which to send, Morgan assumed -- and the laid down body of the monster that had been trying to kill him. He got a good look at it, and noticed a nametag on the labcoat. The name was too mangled to read, but the rest was visible:

Genetics Department Head

Chimera INC.

(picture of baron courtesy of @pawheld)

#stories #baron

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