#he’s fairly mid except when it comes to making sure people sign the entry and exit forms

[kaioken16]

Sacrificing your Freedom

Mallek Week 2021 - Day 2

Day 2: Sacrifice  Word count: 3020 Rating: Teens and Up Character(s): Mallek Adalov, original background characters

AO3 link

A/N: Set in a canon divergent AU as the previous entry but follows are darker route to rebel fighter Mallek. This will be a angst filled piece, mentions of brief torture, pain, and being enslaved.

Summary: Rebel Hacker codenamed ‘Scorist’ is captured and is then brought before a high ranking Imperial general who reveals his secret and he is forced to sacrifice the most important thing to him for his loved ones.

Mallek is led down the hallway of this vessel, a pair of heavily armored guards on each side of him, each carrying a long spear, the blades were teeming with energy which allowed them to discharge very painful bolts of energy. His head hung down, his face was bruised, with dry blood staining his lip and forehead. His uniform was torn all over, cuts and dirt, stained with his own blood. His arms are tightly restrained behind his back, and his ankles were shackled together. He made no attempt to try and fight the chains as any attempt would result in a swift, merciless reprimand from the guards, as evident by the old scorch marks on his clothing and his skin.

He had been careless, an error on his part. During a mission his role was to disable the alarm system as not to alert the imperial guards at a weapon’s warehouse that they were planning to steal supplies from for the rebels, however, he missed a secondary alert system that had recently been installed after the initial intel that had on the facility. From there, it all went downhill, and they didn't have enough time, and he had to think quickly so he provided cover, transferring a copy of the new weapon data and sending it to his friend, but in the end, only half of his team managed to get away, while the other half was caught.

They had been to a detention station located in some random quadrant of this galaxy that was Empire controlled. There he endured the usual torture and interrogation, he held out but his captured friends…

They weren’t so fortunate.

And now, after weeks of this shit, he had brought onto this ship by order of some high-ranking imperial. What did they want? Was it more questioning? If so, why take him off the detention facility? Many questions raced through Mallek’s head, he wasn’t sure what to expect. And his imagination didn’t help, he knew from first hand experience and from the stories of others just how cruel some of these highbloods officers could be. But what could they possibly do to him that was worse than the treatment he had been enduring…

A grimace look spreads on his beaten face, he didn’t wanna entertain those thoughts.

Finally, they arrive before a giant pair of metallic doors. It was decorated and given gold trimming, very expensive. In fact, everything about this ship was expensive, it was an imperial-class Devastator, part of the X-series which were the latest models and these were the next best ships after the Empress’s personal battleship. Owning a vessel like this could only be someone very high up on the imperial chain of command.

One of the guards approaches the set of doors, he then removes his glove, he had his back to Mallek, so he was unable to the symbol that had been tattooed into his palm, he presses it against the security panel, it scans the logo and then a green light pops on the panel. The doors open, slowly pulling away from each other. The guard places his glove back on and takes a seat back, Mallek’s eyes narrow as a means to get a better look at what was awaiting him on the other side.

The other guard shoves Mallek forward as he’s forced to resume walking, they enter the room. Inside was a long table that could seat 10 people, on the left side of the room was a shelf filled with books, data cards, files, and a set of strange look trinkets. On the right was a set of statues each depicting some kind of troll each carrying an actual weapon, it seemed like the statues were made for the sole purpose of advertising the object they were holding rather than the figures who inspired them.

Mallek’s eyes shifted around the room, scanning everything he could see, no escape routes of any kind except for the doors they entered through. But his eyes did stop at the far end of the room, was a massive view of the vast region of space, and admiring the view was a very tall figure, even taller than the guards who were at least 6ft each. The guards stand to attention, taps their spears on the metal floor, and salutes the figure, clearly, this was the big shot in charge of this vessel. “General Ioktex. We’ve brought the prisoner as you instructed.” One of the guards addresses him by his surname. Mallek’s right twitched, that name was familiar to him.

“Very good… You may leave us, wait outside.” Her voice is disguised but Mallek can tell that it’s a woman. The guards do as they are told and exit the room leaving Mallek alone with her.

“Welcome aboard the Devastator.” She raises her arms out gesturing towards the room, clearly referring to this ship as a whole. She turns to face him, still too far away for Mallek to get a better view but a single red glow catches his attention where one of her eyes should be.

“I must say, it is rather thrilling to meet a male blue caste. Such a rarity.”

She approaches him, her figure coming into his line of vision. He can see another troll, much older than him possibly in her mid-to-late 30s, waist-length black hair that is noticeably curled at the ends despite being otherwise relatively straight with parts of her hair covering her right eye, her left eye was completely red, as if blood and seeped through her pupil and iris, but it wasn’t blind, she could see through it.

Her mouth was covered by a mask that was the source of her altered voice. Her outfit was a long blue dress, but the shoulders were fitted with armor and a chest plate which had a pattern in the shape of crisscross with four points at each end. She wore boots that made a heavy sound each time she took a step on the floor. A high-powered blaster was strapped to her hip. From the colors that donned her attire and her previous statement, it was clear by the colors her outfit adorned, that she purple caste.

“Allow me to introduce myself properly, my name is-”

“Adrani Ioktex. General of the 20th division. Conqueror of the Andrax and Nova systems. Also known as ‘The Empress’s Spear’. I know who and what you are…” Mallek spat out in disgust knowing who she was, remembering the name and her unique features.

“Ah, I see my reputation precedes me.” Her voice is filled with glee that Mallek was aware of who she was. Though Mallek doesn’t react, his face remaining blank and neutral not wanting to show any emotion.

“The same can be said for you, the mysterious hacker and rebel operative responsible for the destruction, theft, and reprogramming of many of our imperial drones for your own cause, the genius who is known simply as the ‘SCORIST’.”

She refers to Mallek by his codename, the alias he went by after joining the rebellion, the handle he used when hacking into the systems and stealing from various targets. He had made a name for himself and used it to hide his name for safety and personal reasons as he had secrets and people to protect associated with his real name. Only his close friends and those he trusted knew his real name, he had made sure to erase any and all records of his name he could find.

“Congratulations, you’ve done your homework…” He responds to her conclusion with a sarcastic tone.

She grins at him. “But of course.  I’ve done my research and know full well about your past… Adalov.”

Mallek’s face showed a look of shock, and he immediately returned to a neutral look. How did she know his last name? That wasn’t possible. But unfortunately, the general had noticed the brief change of his expression. “Oh yes, I know your real name… Mallek Adalov.”

“Truly you were quite careful in erasing yourself from the records when you betrayed the Empire and defected. A young information spy killed in a crossfire on a mission, just another body to add to the pile of the dead… Another random troll who no one would miss or consider.”

“But you survived the skirmish, and then used your hacking abilities to erase your records… And then found yourself among the rebels. It was a brilliant move. However, you left footprints and breadcrumbs that most would overlook… So I began my investigation into you, studying your trail, your mark left on the servers and drones.” She starts to walk around Mallek.

“You kept your face hidden, rarely coming out in the open and providing support to your team. So I created a scenario that would bring you out in the open.”

Mallek looks at her, realizing that the factory mission had been a trap for him, she had orchestrated it to lure him out. Which meant his captured teammates deaths were, even more, his fault. Mallek couldn’t hide his anger, gritting his teeth, hands balled into fists.

“The final part was identifying you. You were able to remove yourself from most of the off-world servers and you were still fairly new, and you even stopped wearing your sign which would be an obvious tell.”

“But you can’t access any of the homeworld data after being shipped off… Records of you back home still exist after all.”

His eyes widened, he knew that any trace of him that still existed would still remain on Alternia but no adults could return there, it was heavily guarded and the Empress or her heiress would be alerted if an adult troll was spotted on the planet.

“Once you were captured, got a photo of you and then crossed references across the homeworld data, found your sign and then your real name.”

“What do you want?” He says in a slow, angry tone. He hated this, he hated when he wasn’t in control of a situation but she had all the cards.

“To make you a deal.” Her statement caught him off guard, confused by that.

“It must be hard having to follow the noble traditions of your people. A blue caste such as yourself serving as a mere soldier or spy within Her Imperious Condescension’s army. You would’ve preferred to be an information specialist, but your talents and skill as a genius hacker would never be utilized by her the Empress… It’s no wonder you feel so at home with traitors and rebels, allowing you to express your talents freely.”

“But even I must admit that your talents were wasted as a spy. I admire your work, it’s taken 3 years but you developed into a true specialist. So far from the timid anxious boy who feared being shipped off-world 5 years ago…”

“Shut up.” He demands, not wanting to listen to her words. He didn’t need a reminder, and she didn’t know him. She knew nothing about his struggles or his life.

“So I’m offering you an alternative.”

“You can spend the rest of your days rotting away in my detention facility. Dying in some dark, small cell or being beaten to death by some random prisoner… Or you can work for me, become my personal specialist and gather information on my enemies.” She states her offer to him which makes Mallek look at her with a confused look.

“What? Why would I work for someone like you?” Mallek snaps back, he would rather rot in that prison than work for her. Of course, she was expecting that response from him, which makes her chuckle.

“Your rebel friends. The rest of your group that escaped, and the ones you're protecting. And the reason you chose to use an alias and remove your name from the records…” She leans in close and whispers something into Mallek’s ear.

All the color fades from his face, a genuine look of fear and surprise as she pulls away smirking at him. “Your fate is in my hands Mallek Adalov, and if you want their safety to be ensured along with the safety of your own rebel cell, you will take my offer. I have no interest in small fry like your team, the rebel cells are divided, unorganized and there are more major threats, larger groups, and more important matters to deal with.”

“I will overlook your friends, and keep what’s most precious to you safe.” She informs him as a ringing noise begins to fill his ears, this wasn’t happening? This couldn’t be real? How? How could she have known about them, and how could he have been so careless…

What choice does he have now?

Mallek, with a defeated look in his eyes. Looks down, biting his lower lip.

“Good. Your silence is a reassurance that you’ve chosen wisely.” She smirks before taking the nearest seat at the table. “From this moment on, you belong to me. You are a tool and item, and a piece on my board to help me reach higher and eliminate my enemies and rivals. You will never see your comrades again, you have sacrificed your freedom in exchange for the ones you love, and for them…”

“Yes…” Mallek responds, his voice broken with acceptance.

“Very good. Welcome abroad SCORIST.” She grins, before standing up, she presses a button built into the table, and the doors open once again revealing the guards who had been waiting patiently. “Please take him to his quarters, and get him some new clothes.”

Years later…

The location was a planet in a far-off galaxy, it was the next site for the Empire’s eyes. It was full of valuable resources, from rare minerals, being the center of this galaxy, to serve as another controlled planet, and its people as slaves to help build the new facilities. The first steps of the invasion plan, first a team would be sent to infiltrate and survey the world, and general Ioktex had been dispatched to oversee this mission, and she had sent her team to go in first. A small vessel arrives over the planet and begins to break through the atmosphere. Inside the small vessel. Were four trolls, each dressed in imperial uniforms with their caste colors and general Ioktex’s sign engraved on random spots of their uniform, symbolizing that allegiance to her.

Piloting the ship, was a tall tealblood, his eyes focusing dead ahead to their destination, checking all the system and making their cloaking device was functioning. A slim blueblood and hulking purpleblood armed to the teeth with weapons and armor, both were wearing helmets to cover most of their faces. And sitting in another seat, typing away and looking at the monitor was Mallek. His expression was cold and dead, his eyes barely moving as he shifted through data, and attached to his neck was a collar device that was blinking. He has several holographic screens around his face. He waits for the virus to download into the flash drive he has plugged in, and once the bar fills and 100% appears, he removes it from the port.

“Here.” He tosses the drive to the other blueblood, who catches it.

“Once you get to a server, insert the flash drive in and we’ll access the mainframe. The virus will be uploaded and we’ll have all the information we need.”

She examines the device in her hand “Huh? It’s that simple huh? What about firewalls and security systems or-”

Mallek cuts her off “Don’t worry about it. It’s a multiagent virus, it’ll be infecting too many systems at once to mask what we’re really doing. Just get in, stay hidden, and don’t let anything happen to the drive.”

“Alright, fair enough. You’re the expert. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.” She smiles trying to make small talk but Mallek doesn’t even look at her, not interested in her or any of them.

“We’ll be landing shortly.” The pilot says as he presses some buttons. “Boosting cloaking shield.”

Suddenly a pained groan is heard at the back of the ship. In the generator room, strapped and bound into the ship, by tendrils was a gold caste troll, colorful energy surges through his eyes and then around his body as it is absorbed through the tendrils, powering the ship up. This was the norm for goldblood, but in this one’s case, it was a punishment. He was a rebel agent who had been captured and as punishment, he had been bound to his vessel as a living battery.

The rebels had adapted to using ships powered by alternative means as opposed to the living batteries on gold castes. After all exhaustion and overuse would result in the gruesome, permanent damage or painful deaths of the psionic trolls. But the empire would just replace them with another. Of course like the rebels, the empire did have ships and vessels that were also powered by other non-living energy sources. Only the older models and generation still used living batteries, as a reward by the Empress as goldbloods could last longer than fuel.

Every groan or scream he made was ignored by the crew, the purpleblood, in particular, found it to be soothing and enjoyed the cries of pain. Mallek was forced to endure this, and do nothing. The device around his neck was a precaution that the general had used to further keep him in line. Containing a powerful explosion that would activate at the push of a button or he made any attempt to remove or hack the wiring.

He had sacrificed his freedom, in order to protect what was dearest to him…

And now he was once again a servant to the Empire, an unwilling servant and this would be his life for now until the end of his life. A slave who was no different than that poor soul in the generator, no different from the inhabitants on the planet below who would soon be enslaved and lose their freedom.

He sighs before returning his view to his screen. “Let’s begin…”

#mallekweek2021 #mallekweek #mallek week 2021 #mallek adalov #fanfiction #fanfic #hiveswap fanfiction #hiveswap #hiveswap friendsim #hiveswap act 2 #hiveswap mallek #sci-fi #angst #canon divergent au #au #sacrifice #freedom #mallek week day 2 #my writing

[victorineb]

Spacedust

My entry for the 2019 Reel Hannibal Fest (@reel-hannibal)​, a Spacedogs/Stardust AU, in which stars can talk, men can fly, and true love can be found in the strangest of places...

Also on AO3.

Adam regarded the candle. It was black, about ten inches long, waxen and, well, a candle. Nothing very remarkable about it at all. And yet his father had claimed, when he brought Adam up here to the attic only a few days before he died, that if the candle was lit, and the person holding it thought of a person or place, they would instantly be transported there.

Adam was rather sceptical about this.

His father had insisted, though, telling Adam that he had stolen it while adventuring beyond the wall in his youth. Adam had become quite distressed by this revelation.

“But it’s forbidden to go beyond the wall!” he had wailed. “That’s why Harlan guards it!”

His father had simply chuckled and held Adam close until he calmed. “In fact,” he had continued, once Adam was ready, “Harlan guards the wall because he helped me sneak past the former guard. His punishment was to be apprenticed to the old man and to inherit his role.”

“Oh,” said Adam. “Was he angry at you because of that?”

“For a little while, yes. Very angry, in fact. But as it turned out, Harlan enjoys his job, and he likes me too much to stay mad at me for long.” Adam’s father grinned and waggled his eyebrows, which Adam knew meant he was being cheeky. “Besides, my punishment was far greater than his, which made up for it.”

“How were you punished?” Adam asked.

The smile faded from his father’s face and suddenly he looked once more like the dying man he was. “That’s a story for another night, perhaps,” he’d said, ruffling Adam’s hair.

But, of course, that other night had never come.

Adam hadn’t looked at the candle since that first time. He’d been far too busy learning how to go about life without his father to bother about something so trivial. But now he was in need of a means of travelling beyond the wall himself and, unlike his father, he didn’t have any friends to help him sneak through. Except Harlan, of course, but Adam didn’t think it was fair to ask him to fool himself into letting Adam pass.

So, the candle it was. And if that didn’t work – and Adam was fairly certain it would not – then… then… Well, Adam didn’t really know what he’d do then. Perhaps Beth would be happy just to know he’d tried to bring her the star.

Although, he suspected she’d be more impressed by his father’s story and would want to know why Adam hadn’t done something brave like taking advantage of his only friend in order to break the law just to please her. That was the sort of thing Frederick would do and she seemed quite happy to marry him in exchange for a plain old ring instead of requiring an entire star.

Adam sighed. He wondered briefly if Beth was actually worth all the effort. But, despite her stubborn insistence that stars weren’t all that interesting really, she was kind and understanding, and she always smiled when she saw him. She made Adam feel that he wasn’t alone in the world and that, it seemed to him, was worth quite a lot of effort, actually.

Even if she did tend to tell him off for talking about stars so much instead of attending parties.

Maybe if the candle didn’t work, he would talk to Harlan. Maybe he would see that bringing the star back for Beth was important enough to make an exception to the law. Maybe he would remember that he’d loved Adam’s dad enough to forgive him and would forgive Adam too.

But first he would try the candle.

He reached for the pack of matches and drew one out, hands shaking only slightly. Adam didn’t like matches, especially not up here with so many dry and easily flammable bits of paper. But it seemed only right to do this amongst his father’s treasured possessions and so, after one last trip downstairs to check that the note he had left for Harlan in case of disaster was set clearly on the kitchen table, and that he had extra matches in his pocket for the journey home, Adam struck the match, thought of the star, and lit the candle.

Immediately he was engulfed by golden-white flames and, before he had even the chance to panic, there was an odd tugging sensation behind his navel and he was being dragged, faster than his mind could comprehend, out into the night and across the countryside. Adam had sometimes wondered what it would be like to fly but he had always pictured it as a leisurely, gentle activity. Not this breakneck, fiery, uncontrolled rush towards an unknown destination and, presumably, a rather messy death on impact.

He rather preferred his version.

The journey seemed, to Adam, to last both a lifetime and the blink of an eye but, either way, before he could muster his strength to graduate from shocked whimpers to really proper screaming, he was deposited, flat on his back, on something hard and unforgiving. After a moment’s thought, Adam determined that it was the ground.

He gazed up at the night sky, dazed and sore and oddly… exhilarated? He was pretty certain he should be feeling terrified just now – he certainly had while in the air – but somehow, upon landing the terror had transmuted into a thrill of excitement. Adam lay on the cold ground and felt it shiver all through his body, little electric curls of pleasure and adrenaline.

“Can I do that again?” he found himself musing out loud.

“Can you appear out of thin air like a fucking comet and nearly flatten an innocent bystander again?” came a deep, lilting voice, apparently from out of the sky itself. “I’d rather you fucking didn’t.”

Adam jolted, his brain still foggy and slow from the impact. “God?” he asked, tentatively.

“Not quite, darling, but that’s very much to your advantage,” said the voice. Without warning, a figure loomed over Adam’s prone body, peering down at him with a smile – no, a smirk – tugging at its mouth. “That old bastard would smite you soon as look at you, if you tried to knock them over like that.”

Adam stared up at the figure, mouth flapping, trying desperately to find his bearings. His eyes darted away from the man’s – for it was a man, or man-shaped being, at least – taking in the details of his clothing and person. He curled in a little on himself when he realised the man was tall and rather brutish looking, with a broad chest and strong arms exposed by the short sleeves of his shirt.

Adam made a small, frightened noise and immediately hated himself for it. Harlan had always told him never to show weakness, bullies could smell weakness and this man looked very much like a bully to Adam. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the blows to start.

After a minute, he opened them back up again to see the man still watching him from above. His eyebrows – what there was of them – had climbed very high up on his forehead, suggesting he had been surprised by something. Adam wondered dully what could possibly be more surprising than his appearance from out of mid-air?

“Darling, I’m not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’d be like kicking a puppy and Sirius’d have my fucking guts if I did such a thing.” The man crouched down next to Adam and offered his hand. “Name’s Nigel. Well, technically it’s Intercrus but that’s a mouthful and not the fun kind. What’s yours, gorgeous?”

Adam regarded the hand dubiously but decided it was probably better to play along for the moment. He took it and was about to shake when Nigel smoothly turned it over, palm down, and deposited a kiss just below the knuckles. Adam sucked in a breath of surprise and, his voice shaking slightly, said, “I’m Adam and that was quite rude of you.”

Nigel grinned and his teeth seemed to sparkle in the moonlight, little points of light bouncing off the sharp points of his canines. “My apologies, darling, I forgot myself for a moment. I simply didn’t expect to find something so pretty all the way down here on the ground.”

“Oh.” Adam wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He’d never been called pretty before and he wasn’t entirely sure it was warranted. Nigel must be making fun of him, he decided, that was far more in line with his experience of how people spoke to him. Although, it must be quite a strange, subtle sort of making fun, because the other thing no one had ever done was address him in such a purring, smooth voice before, nor looked at him like he might be something delicious to eat. It was making Adam’s stomach flutter in a very strange way. Perhaps the effects of magical travelling were catching up to him.

“Um, is it all right if I get up?” he asked.

In lieu of an answer, Nigel – still smiling brightly at Adam – rose smoothly from his crouch, bringing Adam’s hand with him so that he was pulled into a seated position, before offering his other hand and hauling Adam to his feet. As they rose, Adam realised that they were standing in the centre of a crater, in a wide hole surrounded by slate-grey rock that rose into the sky like cathedral pillars. Adam gazed around himself, noting the way the rock looked as though it had been pushed out and up by force, as if something heavy had landed where he stood and… oh. This must have been where the star landed, this was exactly the kind of damage it would have done on impact. But there was absolutely no sign of any star, nothing to suggest that a huge piece of space rock had landed here.

Adam looked back at Nigel, intending to ask him if he’d seen the star land and perhaps… bounce? No, that was stupid, but Adam couldn’t understand how it could possibly have just vanished. And then the question was knocked completely out of Adam’s mind by the way he caught Nigel looking at him, his smile seeming to curl even higher as his eyes ranged the length of Adam’s body. When he raised them, eventually, to Adam’s face, he winked and his gaze glittered.

For his part, despite his slight daze, Adam had to admit he had judged Nigel rather harshly. Yes, he was certainly imposing, tall and broad across the shoulders, with hands that looked made to throw punches and a scar across his nose that suggested some experience with head-butting. But there was also something oddly delicate about him, in the slender taper of his waist and his long, fine legs that put Adam in mind of the ballerinas Beth had so admired when they were young. He was also clearly no ruffian, his clothes casual but finely-made, both shirt and pants fashioned from cloth of so deep a blue they could have been cut from the night sky itself, a colour that set off the silver-gold of Nigel’s hair to excellent effect. It seemed to sparkle in the light of the still-smouldering trails left by Adam’s journey, an effect even Beth’s pretty hair had never shown any sign of.

He was just wondering what such a man was doing in the middle of nowhere when he realised their hands were still clasped together and snatched his back with a gasp. Then he immediately panicked that he might have offended Nigel and looked, for the first time, into his eyes. They were… strange, initially a perfectly ordinary brown but, as Adam looked deeper, he realised that they seemed to glow, as if lit from within, lending them a warmth and richness that turned their brown to amber and trapped Adam there like an insect, to be suspended for millennia in their depths.

Then Nigel snorted with laughter and the spell was broken. “Darling, had I known someone like you was walking around down here, I’d have made the trip much sooner.”

“You’re on a journey?” Adam asked, brightening with the revelation. “I’m on one too! Perhaps you can help me, one traveller to another?”

“It would be my pleasure, gorgeous. I can think of few things I’d enjoy better than giving you a hand.” Nigel’s voice seemed to undulate as he spoke, and Adam watched, his stomach rather undulating too, as Nigel’s tongue flicked out to wet his lips. “Just what is it I can help you out with?”

“I'm searching for a fallen star.”

Nigel raised an eyebrow. “Really? Well, don't know about fallen, dropped like a fucking stone might be more accurate, gorgeous.”

Adam looked behind himself, wondering if Nigel had already spotted the star and was offering an oblique commentary on it. When he saw no obvious signs of it, he said, “I'm sorry, I don't…”

“You're looking for a star.” Nigel grinned and gestured to himself. “You found one.”

Adam stared at him, wondering if he’d misheard somehow. Surely Nigel couldn’t believe he himself was… “Excuse me but you're not a star,” Adam stated, just to make certain. “Stars are composed of gas – mostly hydrogen and helium – whereas you are very clearly a solid. Besides which, falling stars are misnamed, they are not stars at all but meteors, or meteorites if they reach the Earth's surface without disintegrating. And you can’t be a meteorite either because those are made of stone or iron and while you are rather craggy looking, you’re still made of flesh.”

Nigel blinked at Adam, with the raised eyebrows and downturned mouth Adam recognised as bemusement, a typical reaction of new people upon meeting him. Adam drew in his shoulders a little and awaited the usual laughter or enquiry as to whether he was some kind of freak.

Instead, the man gave him a sharp-toothed smile and said, “Maybe in the sky where you live, sweetheart. Where I come from, we've got a little more style.”

Adam wasn’t quite sure what style had to do with it – style couldn’t make a rock into a man. Style could win you the hand of certain beautiful women, he considered, thinking of Frederick swinging his sword around and Beth giggling at his showmanship. He pushed the thought away and opened his mouth to argue with the clearly crazy man who thought he was a star. But something was tickling at the back of his brain, a memory insistently making itself known. A memory of a story his dad used to tell him, about a boy named Tristan who had lived in their village many years ago. A boy who had become king beyond the wall, and whose queen had been a beautiful woman who had once been the North Star. And when they were old and tired of ruling, he had returned with her to the heavens where they still lived, happily watching as the people below went on without them.

It was just a story, of course, and yet… Adam was looking at Nigel, whose hair twinkled and teeth sparkled, and whose eyes seemed to glow in a way no human’s should. And he was remembering how in the story Yvaine – the name of the star when she was a woman – seemed to glow whenever she was especially happy and how she had saved Tristan’s life with the force of her light. And, for the first time in his life, Adam found himself considering that science might not be able to explain everything in the universe.

“H-how can it be possible, though, to be a star in one place and a person in another?”

Nigel shrugged. “Just makes sense, doesn’t it? Man needs a proper body to survive down here, wouldn’t get very far if I was just dissipating into the atmosphere, would I?”

Adam thought about this. It sounded logical but Adam was certain there was a difference between a fact and some total nonsense spoken with confidence. Still, he found his heartbeat had picked up a little – he wanted to believe in this, wanted to be, right now, talking to an actual star, one that could talk back to him for the first time, instead of simply listening as he told his secrets into the dark.

“Y-you’re really, actually a star. A proper one?”

“Really and truly, darling. Not sure I’m all that proper though, especially with a sweet thing like you in front of me.”

Adam ignored the commentary and instead flapped his hands as he tried to line up all the questions he wanted to ask. If this man really was a star, he would know all about them and be able to answer all of Adam’s questions. And if he wasn’t, well, at least he seemed to be happy to talk about astronomy, a rare enough event in Adam’s life to be worth enduring a little delusion.

“What constellation are you part of?”

“The Great Bear. Or Ursa Major, if you want to be poncy about it.”

“Do you have any planets orbiting you?”

“Just the one, darling. Named Arkas, though she prefers Gabi. Cute little thing with a temper – nowhere near as cute as you, though.”  

“Have you ever seen a star go supernova?”

“Saw my buddy Darko turn into a black hole. Fucking intense trip, he says he wouldn’t recommend it, felt like he was being turned inside out.”

Adam gave him a dubious look. “That sounds made up, Nigel.”

Nigel ducked his head, as if he was ashamed of himself, but Adam could see his smile glowing brightly in the gloom and doubted it was true. Sure enough, a moment later he looked back up and winked at Adam.

“You caught me, gorgeous, I couldn’t resist. Do I fail your test now?”

“O-oh, you knew what I was doing?”

“Might just have landed on earth today, darling, but I’m not lacking for wiles. Although, if you wanted proof, you could’ve just asked.”

“Um, all right. Could you prove that you’re a star, please?”

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” Nigel said, and then stepped back a little way from Adam. “You might want to shield your eyes for this, sweetheart.”

Adam obediently raised his hand to above his brow, and only just in time, for a second later the entire crater filled with blinding, searing light, the clean, white kind, of cold winter mornings when the sun seems to have fleetingly regained its summer strength. Adam recoiled, moving both hands in front of his face and squeezing his eyes tight shut. Even then, his vision blared bright red and the blood seemed to rush in his ears as Adam wondered if the star – for now there could be no doubt – had only been playing with him and now was going to blast him into nothingness with the force of his light.

He flinched when he felt hands grab him and began to struggle a little. But the star was much stronger than he, and easily pulled Adam against his chest, placing an unexpectedly gentle hand against the back of his head to push it down against his shoulder. Stunned, Adam wondered if this was perhaps to put him at the centre of the light, where it was strongest and therefore would kill him the quickest. Then again, he didn’t feel as if he was burning and, he noticed, with his face pressed deep against Nigel’s shoulder his eyelids were no longer glowing red but merely a dim pink, and getting darker by the second.

“Sorry, gorgeous, didn’t realise I was packing as much power as that. Shouldn’t be, really, after such a fall.” Nigel sounded a little thoughtful as he said that but quickly recovered his usual bravado. “Never mind though, it’ll be ok for you to look in another minute, just stay where you are until I say it’s all right.”

Adam could only nod, half terrified, half desperately curious about what Nigel looked like all aglow. He felt the hand on the back of his head push down a little more firmly, the one around his waist tighten minutely.

“No peeking, kid,” Nigel admonished him, as if he knew how Adam was feeling.

“I promise,” Adam told him, voice muffled against the star’s shoulder. It was, all things considered, not the worst way to be trapped. Nigel smelled quite nice, like fresh rain and the edge of a cold wind, and he was very solid, easy to cling on to, warm and steady and strong. Admittedly, Adam’s back was aching a bit from his landing and he should probably have someone check him for concussion – probably not Nigel, because stars probably didn’t have much medical knowledge to hand – but it was all overridden by that fluttering, thrilling feeling returning to his stomach. He was, right now, wrapped in the light – not to mention the arms – of a star. Nothing in his life so far could possibly compare, not even the time Beth had got squiffy on champagne and kissed him.

By this time, his vision had drained completely of light and Adam felt Nigel’s hand lift from his head, petting through his hair a couple of times as if gentling a skittish animal. “Should be all right to take a look now, gorgeous, if you want to,” he said.

“Yes, I-I would like that, please.”

The hand lifted fully away from his hair and the grip around his waist loosened. “All right then darling, in your own time.”

Adam took a deep breath, then another, trying to get the swooping feeling in his stomach to stop. Then he raised his head, took a step back, and opened his eyes.

“Oh.”

Adam had thought Nigel thuggish at first glance but he had been wrong. He wasn’t thuggish, he was regal, beautiful, like a wild mountainside touched by the morning’s first light. Except this light wasn’t drawn from the heavens but from within Nigel himself, expanding outwards from his being in shimmering, shifting waves. And at the centre of it all, Nigel smiled his strange, sparkling smile at Adam and Adam returned it, feeling as if he too might start glowing with happiness.

“Believe me now, gorgeous?”

Adam blinked, surprised Nigel even had to ask, before exploding into enthusiastic babbling. “Oh, oh yes! I think there must be magic involved, because a human body can’t do that, and I’m quite new to magic because we don’t have it on my side of the wall and so I tried to understand you with science, which meant you had to be lying to me, or making fun of me which seemed to be the most believable option and…”

“You thought I was making fun of you?”

“Well, logically-”

“People often make fun of you, do they?” Nigel’s voice had taken on a funny, growling edge and Adam wondered if the change in atmosphere had hurt his throat.

“Oh yes, I’m very odd,” Adam said, making a note to get Nigel a cup of tea with honey as soon as they were back at his house. “Beth says it’s because they don’t understand me and people don’t cope well with… but that doesn’t matter. We shouldn’t waste any more time.”

Nigel blinked and set his head to one side. “I thought we were having a nice moment.”

Adam looked at the star blankly and then dismissed the comment as irrelevant. “Ok, well, come on. I've got to take you back to my town now.”

Nigel crossed his arms across his chest and asked, “Oh you do, huh? And why is that?”

“I need to give you to Beth. Or, well, probably just show you to her, since it would be inappropriate to give a person, well, someone shaped like a person anyway, as a gift.”

“Right. And what does this Beth character want with me? She’s not a witch, is she?”

“No, just a girl. A girl I am going to marry. Probably.”

“Probably.”

Nigel didn’t sound terribly encouraged by Adam’s words and so he tried to explain more clearly. “Well, she’s engaged to someone else at the moment. But when we saw the star – um, saw you – falling, I vowed to her that I would find it, er, you, and bring you back to her and then she would see that I’m worthy of her hand.”

“Right. Likes stars too, does she?”

Adam thought about it. He hadn’t really considered that when he was setting out on this adventure. “Oh, well, no, not really,” he admitted, eventually. “She says she doesn’t understand why anyone would want to spend all their time staring at the sky when there’s so many interesting things down here on earth.”

“Says all that, does she?” Nigel’s eyebrow had curved upwards again.

“In fact what she usually says is, ‘Stop staring at the bloody stars, Adam, and take me to this party.’”

Nigel laughed at this, but it didn’t sound like a very nice laugh to Adam, it was too short and rough. “She sounds delightful. So, let me get this straight – this girl doesn’t understand your interests and you don’t understand hers, she’s engaged to some other guy, and she let you go off on what probably sounded to her like a foolhardy quest to bring back a piece of rock that she doesn’t even find that interesting.”

“I… that’s… I think I must have explained it wrong.” Adam was feeling a bit confused himself at this point, he had to admit.

“Uh-huh.” Nigel paused for a moment, staring hard at Adam as if trying to see straight into his mind. “Got to be honest, Adam, I’m not sure I really fancy trekking all the way to some dingy little town to excite some dingy little bint. I’ve got a better idea to put to you. How about, instead, you and me take a trip back up to my home, sweetheart?”

Adam stared at him. And stared at him. And continued to stare at him until Nigel said it was making him “a little bit fucking worried, gorgeous.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Adam blurted, finally managing to fumble some words together. “It’s just that I’m not sure if you’re teasing me again. You must be, though, because it’s not actually possible for me-”

“Not teasing, Adam,” Nigel insisted, “not even a little bit. I’m not one of those assholes you grew up with, I’ve got no desire to make fun of you.”

“But, physically-”

“Told you, didn’t I? It’s a matter of logic – your body doesn’t want you to die, so while you’re down here on the ground it makes the very sensible decision to be human-shaped. And vice-versa when you’re up there.” He pointed to the sky. “Stands to reason.”

“I think,” Adam said slowly, “that may actually be the exact opposite of logic and reason.”

Nigel threw his hands up. “All right, fine, it’s magic and it’ll work just as well on you as me if I ask it. I just thought you’d like the scientific explanation better.”

“I think perhaps you should leave science alone before you do it any permanent damage,” Adam said, but he accompanied it with a smile so Nigel wouldn’t think he was really angry.

“Good idea, gorgeous. So, now we’ve got that cleared up,” Nigel went on, offering his arm to Adam, just like Frederick always did for Beth whenever he wanted to make it clear to Adam just who Beth belonged to. “How’s about it?”

“I, uh,” Adam hesitated. He was, he found, sorely tempted. There were two things he dreamed of in his life: marrying Beth, and exploring the stars. And, if he was honest, and – more importantly – proportionate, the ratio of dreaming was probably in favour of the stars. But it wasn’t really possible, was it? None of this was really real. None of it was grown up. None of it was normal. It was just stupid Adam, with stupid stars in his stupid eyes again.

Apparently Nigel noticed his inner turmoil, because he then asked gently, “Look, kid, lemme ask you: what is it you've got to go back there for?”

Adam thought about this, a stream of images of life with his father rising in his mind. But that was before, that life didn't exist anymore.

“There's my job,” he said, eventually.

“Like it, do you?”

“No.”

Nigel grinned. “Gonna have to do better than that, then, gorgeous.”

“Well…” Adam dipped his head, making sure there was no way Nigel could catch his eye. “There's Beth. I promised-”

“So you're gonna choose this girl who doesn't give a shit about the stuff you love, over the chance to float amongst the stars with a devastatingly handsome tour guide?”

“You?”

“Yeah me, darling, who else?”

“Well…” Adam was about to protest that it wasn't Beth's fault that she didn't understand the stars, that it was hard for people to care about his interests because he spoke too much and got too intense… And then suddenly Nigel was standing right in front of him, tipping Adam's chin towards the sky and Adam forgot what he'd been going to say.

“Look up, gorgeous.”

Adam did as instructed, staring up at the familiar wash of sparkling light, his eyes tracing the beloved shapes of his favourite constellations. Trying to find the space where Nigel would normally be, wondering how often he’d looked straight at him and never known someone was looking back.

“Is there anything better than that, Adam?” Nigel murmured.

“No.” The answer came out on Adam's next breath, no time necessary to consider it, since it came straight from his soul.

“No. Or…” Nigel tilted Adam's chin back down.  “…maybe one thing better,” he finished, and pressed his mouth softly to Adam's.

It startled Adam a little but not enough to make him pull away. Instead, he let Nigel kiss him, full of gentle but clear intent, and quickly found himself kissing back, making no protest as Nigel’s arms wound round him and pulled him closer. The only other person who had kissed Adam was Beth, and it had been quite messy and uncoordinated, and it was over almost as soon as it started because Beth broke out in giggles, apologising for getting carried away. This kiss, this one that Nigel was giving him, was nothing like that. For one thing, it had already gone on for quite a lot longer than Beth’s had, and showed very little sign of stopping. And for another, Adam was quite sure that Nigel would have no intention of apologising for it, given the way he had coaxed Adam’s mouth open and slid his tongue inside, stroking it against Adam’s own in a way Adam couldn’t resist responding to. Actually, he really hoped Nigel wouldn’t apologise for it, didn’t want him to apologise for it, wanted him to do it again and again…

Adam wasn’t sure if stars needed to breathe but he was aware – eventually – that he did, and would need to, quite soon. He made a little urgent noise and Nigel immediately broke the kiss, though he kept returning for smaller ones in between words, as though he couldn’t quite bear to stop completely.

“All right, darling?”

“Yes, just a bit breathless.”

“Ok now though?”

“Oh yes,” Adam replied brightly. “I didn't know stars could kiss like that. Or at all, actually.”

Nigel's smile was wide and dazzling. “We can do lots of other things too, darling. All you have to do is come with me and I'll show you all of them.”

“And the stars, too.”

“Of course, love, the stars too.”

Adam took a deep breath. “Ok.”

“Sure?”

“Can I… can I come back if I don’t like it, or if I miss Harlan, o-or just if I want to?”

“Of course you can, I’m no kidnapper. But, beautiful, I guarantee you’re gonna like it.”

Adam looked into Nigel’s eyes, into the glow that emanated from deep within them, and though he never normally could read anything from a person’s face, knew beyond doubt that the star’s words were truth. Perhaps it was because he wasn’t actually a person.

He nodded, never taking his eyes from Nigel’s, the usual compulsion to avoid eye contact muted just enough to ignore. “Take me with you.”

Nigel’s grin should have been bright enough to blind him but Adam found he didn’t need to turn away. Perhaps his eyes had adjusted, or perhaps Nigel’s magic was already taking hold. The star put an arm around Adam’s waist and asked, “Still got that candle handy?”

“Yes, it’s…” Adam slipped his hand into his pocket and drew it out. “It’s here.”

Nigel rewarded him with a soft kiss to the temple and the tightening of his embrace.  “Then light us up, darling.”

Adam smiled and struck the match. 

Epilogue

Adam did return to the village, just once*, little more than a month after he left. He had come to see Harlan, or so he told the old man, striding out of the darkness with such confidence in his gait that, for just a second, Harlan thought he was Adam’s father, somehow returned to youth and life and come to speak with his old friend. As he came closer, though, Harlan shook off this fanciful notion, seeing that it was indeed Adam, though changed in so many subtle little ways that he was more like a polished-up reflection of his old self. His hair had grown out somewhat from its old, scrupulously neat style and now soft curls fell across his forehead and around his ears in strikingly flattering fashion. Even his clothes were subtly changed. Adam had always habitually dressed in comfortable sweaters and carefully pressed pants, his idea of smartening up to put a plain jacket on top of his standard ensemble. Now, though the basic silhouette remained the same in generalities, in details everything was new and unfamiliar. His pants were perfectly cut, fitted yet not constricting, and topped by a soft, fine sweater in a shade of deep blue that looked almost black in the moonlight. And, strangest of all, he wore a long, flowing coat that streamed out behind him and looked as though it was a little big on Adam’s small frame, its sleeves only ending at the tips of his fingers and its hem trailing against the ground as if it were the train of a comet.

Harlan was still staring as Adam came to stand in front of him and they regarded each other for a moment (eyes carefully averted in Adam’s case, and huge as dinner plates in Harlan’s) before Harlan remembered himself and jolted into action.

“Adam!” he cried, gathering the boy into his arms. “Where the hell have you been, I’ve been frantic trying to find you, boy!”

From within Harlan’s embrace, Adam’s slightly muffled voice said, “Hello Harlan, I’ve been in space, how have you been?”

Same old Adam, then, thank goodness.

Harlan released the boy from his embrace and held him at arm’s length, both hands on his shoulders to ensure he didn’t vanish again. “In space, is it, kid? And how did you manage that?”

“With the magic candle Dad brought back from beyond the wall.”

Harlan was once again struck dumb. He knew Michael had almost undoubtedly brought back some souvenir from that damn-fool trip of his way back when. He didn’t realise Adam knew about it, though, much less that he’d think to use anything his dad gave him. And, now he came to think of it, the boy had come from the other side of the wall, from the so-called magical side, where witches and fairies dwelled. It was, he had to allow, just possible that Adam had stumbled across some way to visit his beloved stars.

Besides which, Harlan had never known Adam to lie a day in his life – indeed, he seemed to be vehemently against even the idea of lying – and so it might be fair to give even the most outlandish statement the benefit of the doubt when it came from the kid’s mouth.

“Well, come on then, tell me all about it. Did you find a falling star for that Beth?” Harlan hoped not – Beth was a sweet girl in many ways but she had let Adam trail after her like a puppy for years now and Harlan knew she had no intention of actually entering into a relationship with him. The idea that she’d throw off that fop Chilton and marry Adam if only he brought her some lump of space rock was absurd, not to mention cruel. He wished the girl would just be straight with Adam, then at least Harlan could pick up the pieces.

“Oh yes, I did find the star,” Adam told him, grinning happily.

Damn, thought Harlan. Now there would be trouble.

“Except,” Adam continued, blithely unaware of Harlan’s concerns, “when I found it, it wasn’t a star but a human – or, a star in the shape of a human – and he was very attractive and very interested in what I had to say about space and so when he asked me to go back up into the sky with him I said yes. He’s called Nigel and he’s a much better kisser than Beth so I think I made the right choice.”

Harlan blinked.

“You met a star… and he’s called Nigel? And he kissed you?!”

“Well, in fact his true name is Intercrus but he says that’s too long for everyday use so he prefers Nigel. And I think it is more accurate to say we kissed each other, although I suppose technically he did instigate it the first time.”

“Kid,” Harlan said, rubbing his temples, “I think you’d better start from the beginning.”

And so Adam did, telling the whole story in meticulous detail, from the first lighting of the match to the last, and everything that he’d seen and experienced since then (some of which Harlan had to request he skim over, since the sex lives of stars – or of Adam, for that matter – wasn’t something he was ready or willing to think about). And when he was done, Harlan had to concede that either Adam’s capacity for imaginative storytelling had miraculously increased from zero in the month he’d been away, which seemed unlikely, or the boy really was living in bliss with his beloved stars – and one more beloved than the rest.

And how could Harlan possibly object to that?

“Will I see you again, kid?” he asked, a little later, when the sky was slipping from black to indigo and they had exchanged all the words that seemed most important.

“You can see me any time you want to, so long as the stars are out,” Adam reassured him. “You just have to look up and I’ll be there, looking down on you.”

Harlan did just that, despite himself, turning his face up to the heavens and wondering which of the multitudinous points of light Adam fancied himself in love with.

He turned to Adam, minded to ask, only to find Adam gone, vanished again, no trace that he had been there at all.

Harlan thought that was unnecessarily flashy, not to mention that a goodbye might have been nice. Still, when he tipped his face back up to look at the stars, he thought one – or was it two? – twinkled at him particularly brightly, and he smiled to himself in the dark.

 *As it turned out, Adam had neglected to mention that he could come back to earth pretty much any time he wanted, so long as he stocked up on Babylon candles from time to time. So Harlan got the second fright of his life when Adam turned up on his next birthday, “Because you shouldn’t have to spend it alone, Harlan,” even though Adam knew full well that Harlan was spending it with his new friend Eleanor and didn’t need any company just at the moment, thank you very much Adam.

This became a yearly tradition (Adam’s birthday visit, not the appearing in Harlan’s bedroom at inappropriate moments) and, after a couple of years, he brought Nigel with him. Harlan immediately and vehemently disapproved of the starman, as was expected of him, but privately noted the way Nigel gazed at Adam, orbiting him like Adam was his very own sun, and concluded that if he still looked at Adam like that after three years of living with him, he probably knew just how lucky he was. Though Harlan still made sure to remind him of it at regular intervals, just to make sure.

#reel hannibal #reel hannibal 2019 #spacedogs #spacedogs fic #stardust #stardust au #adam/nigel #adam raki #nigel #star!nigel #hannibal extended universe #heu fic #my fic #tw: parental death

[rydenstories]

I found a journal in my hotel room

REDDIT

My girlfriend and I are just finishing up road tripping around the US, seeing concerts, attending festivals, visiting landmarks, etc. As you can imagine, we've seen a ton. It's been great, but by the time we started our long journey back to our home state, the trip had taken a lot out of us. Not just physical exhaustion, we'd nearly drained our savings for the trip as well. The plan had always been to drive straight through, taking turns at the wheel while the other slept. With tension rising as time passed, the plan quickly changed and we looked for the cheapest (but still nicest) hotel we could find.

Later, we found ourselves pulling up to the building directly next to the highway that would be our haven for the night; a cheap chain hotel with a bright sign that read "NIGHTLY $4O, WEEKLY $200" and a giant parking lot nearly packed full of semi-trucks. There are two more hotels on the same side of the highway underpass similar to this, two gas stations, and a fast food restaurant. The crowning feature of this small area, however, is a goliath stone cross that almost looms from the other side of the highway. It towers over everything, including the church that stands behind it and is illuminated by two bright white spotlights. To be truthful with you, this SOUNDS very odd when typed out but after weeks of driving past countless places like this, it's all just something I've come to shrug off as very mid-west.

The lobby wasn't packed like the parking lot, but there were more people wandering around the main floor than I'm used to seeing in near any hotel. Mostly gentlemen, reading books, eating cup noodle, watching the news, and chatting joyfully. It actually kind of reminded me of living in the dorms during college. Very friendly environment. I found myself surprised at how just... nice everything was for how not nice you'd expect it to be, you know? Still, we didn't really pause to reflect on that before checking in and quickly rushing to our room. My girlfriend did a quick check of her side of the bed and was asleep within minutes, but even with how tired I felt, I couldn't bring myself to go to bed so early and decided to check over the entire room.

Fairly clean. Carpet was really new, too. Not bad for the price. I sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling satisfied enough. Still, I pulled out the nightstand drawer, more-so to satisfy my curiosity about hotel bibles than anything else. Instead, there is this dark blue composition notebook. I've been reading it for a little while now.

It seems to be a journal, with many of the entries summing up the mostly uneventful days of the writer, a truck driver with a wife named Lynae. The writing itself is really messy and although I can tell that the author is deeply thought and well spoken, many of the larger words are spelled phonetically; smart, just not book smart. The journal is really full and some of the earlier entries are really interesting, detailing run-ins with hitchhikers and feuds with other drivers. The entries stop very abruptly and the last few are particularly unsettling. I can't be entirely sure, but I think those were written in this room. These are the last few entries. I've copied them down and done corrections to make it overall more legible, but otherwise I haven't changed anything.

___________________________________________

July 27th The money is in and it is good! I knew Bone would come through for me on that last haul. Now I just gotta get the rig back home! I'm glad I finally have the money to stop and rest in a real bed, too. The old cabin just ain't as comfortable as it used to be. Maybe that's what I'll be fixing next! I called Lynae and let her know I was coming home and she near squealed over the phone. I'm thinking now's the time to get her that pretty ring. Anyway, I saw Monty again today and asked if he was gonna return my MP3 player but he just kind of shrugged me off. It was pretty damn rude, actually. Knew his parents didn't teach him manners. He just got up in his truck, wasn't even gonna stick around. Weird actually, he almost always sacks up for the night, doesn't like driving after dark. Oh well, hope he enjoys a nice night drive! All over nothing!

Anyway, seems time to hit the hay! I'll be headed out tomorrow morning and I'll hopefully be home for supper!

July 28th Woke up this morning with the worst kind of headache. You know the kind that stings behind the eyes, burns your nose? Awful. Soon as I got out of the bed, the nausea hits. Damn it! Happens after every long haul; I get some bug off some dirty oldie who ain't never heard of antibacterial soap and I have to sleep it off in some crummy hotel. Fucking figures. Anyway. Seems like this place is much less crowded than last night and near all of the fellas that are here are total strangers to me. I wandered around a little bit, went to the lobby and grabbed some good stuff from the snack machines. Hung out for a few minutes, too, but instead of the normal circulation of news and talk TV, the counter girl was watching some weird black and white film. I ended up just going back to my room, throwing up a little, and getting some sleep. I napped until now, which it's pretty late. I'm getting 1 AM on my room's alarm clock.

I went downstairs to grab some clean clothes from my rig and smoke a cigarette but the front and side doors of the building were locked. I didn't see any employees around though, so I figure they're on their late night break. I hung out down there for a while and waited for someone to come open it but gave up eventually. If I'm being honest, I was feeling a little uncomfortable. It was too damn quiet. Plus, that church changed the lights shining on that giant cross. They're red. What a weird color for a church to pick. I don't know, maybe the fever is just making me loopy and paranoid. I better try to get some more sleep.

July 29th When I woke up this morning, the alarm clock said it was already well past noon. I thought it couldn't have been right because it was still pitch black in my room, no light shining through the open curtains at all. I got up and sure enough, it was still pitch black outside. So I figured my clock was broken. I guess the fever's got me feeling more and more irritable since I got here, otherwise I don't think I would've even brought it up let alone complained, but I yanked the cord from the wall and left my room.

The lobby was still empty, door still locked, and no employees in sight. I rang the little bell on the counter but nobody came. Hell, I waited in that lobby for a damn hour and nobody came! I'm starting to feel worse, too. My head is pounding so hard and I can't get any damn medicine since I've searched high and low for an unlocked exit and found not a single one. I don't really have any choice except to lay down and rest. Tried to watch TV, but all it's pulling is the weather channel and black & white movies, so I guess I've been watching the weather channel for a couple hours now. I'm going to try to rest more.

Oh. By the time I turned on the weather channel, it was saying it was 2 PM. The clock for sure was not wrong, but I have yet to see any sign of the sun.

August 2nd It's still dark outside and according to the weather channel's date, I'm missing some days. My head is so foggy that if I didn't remember at least a little from the other day, I don't think I'd question the initial notion that I just... slept through it from being so damn sick! I'm not sure that's what this is anymore. I'm not sure what this is at all anymore and frankly, I'm scared as shit.

The bit I can remember is only a small sliver of time. I got up and near shit my pants when I saw that not only was the alarm clock plugged back in, the damn thing was set again. I remember checking the door to find that the privacy lock was sure enough in place. Unlocked it and I swung open the door but then it all goes blank after that. Now I'm here and it's more than a day later and there's some kind of music coming from somewhere. Searched for it but found nothing.

As for the cross, they turned the lights off all together. I went up to the fourth floor to get a good look outside. Seems like everyone just left... All the haulers.... Gas station attendants.... Highway drivers.... Everyone. My rig is the only one in the parking lot. I'm beyond scared... I could break out but I'm so weak.

Aug 3rd My door was open when I woke up. All the doors to all the rooms are open. People's things are sitting around but there are no people. I've stopped pretending that this is normal. Something is so fucking wrong here and I can't even find a single clue as to what's happening or why it's just me. I've slammed my whole body weight into doors, searched high and low for keys or any damn thing that might help me get out of here. Nothing. It doesn't even seem like there's a world out there anymore. Like something just picked the hotel up, emptied all the people out besides me, and let darkness swallow the rest of it up. I can't see anything beyond the parking lot. Somewhere out in the vastness, though, I can hear that music from yesterday. It's something low, with a lady's voice singing over a very slow and out of key piano. She sounds sad but I can't make out what she's actually saying. I think I would be more concerned if the noise itself didn't make my headache so much worse. Instead, I just feel angry.

[[The entries no longer have dates after this and I can only assume they are each separated by at least a day just due to the previous writing pattern, but who knows.]]

xxxx I've spent a lot of time wandering around the hotel. At first, I tried closing all the tenant doors again. It made me uncomfortable to see them that way, but as soon as I'd hear the latch and I'd turn away, they'd loudly swing open again. Scared me shitless, as you can imagine. Then, after a couple more times, pissed me off. Even despite my fucking throbbing headache, all of the rage within my chest spilled out of my throat in a torrent of screams. As you probably could guess. My screams haven't received a response beyond that same sad song that only gets closer. Or louder. I don't know.

I've started searching through the rooms. Going through people's things. I wonder where they are. Did they get to leave? Or did they go somewhere else? I'm still not sure. Does it even matter? Things are getting worse for me regardless what happened to them. 

xxxxx The parking lot is gone. It seems like the closer the darkness creeps towards this place, the worse my headaches get. I've tried to move to a higher room to get away from the darkness, but then I wake up back in my original room again. The weather doesn't play anymore, but the black and white film channel does. I've tried to sit down and watch it, but after a couple minutes, it ends up being far too painful. I can't... describe the pain. It's everywhere. It's in everything, god damn it.

xxxxxx First floor is gone. The cross is back though. It's illuminated in that same strange red light, taunting me from out in the darkness.

I've been through every inch of this damn place, trying to find some kind of haven away from this madness. I tried to go downstairs at one point. Into the darkness. My ears are bleeding now but I made it back to my room in one piece. 

xxxxxxx Oh god. Dear Jesus Christ. Her singing is now screaming. The piano is grating. I wanna go home.

xxxxxxxxx I think this very well might be it. If you'd believe it, the higher floors went before this one, making it damn clear that this has always been coming down to me. It's been coming for me since I got here. I think even Monty could sense it.

Despite having every light in the room on, as well as every single one I could steal from this floor, it just keeps on growing dimmer. The girl. She's not screaming anymore. She doesn't need to scream. She knows I hear her. It's like she's right over my fucking shoulder, whispering right in my ear. And just like that, someone is knocking on the door. Darkness is seeping underneath like black smoke and I know I don't need to answer. It's creeping over the pages, up my arms, shoulders, face, and into my mouth.

Lynae, I'll miss you. ___________________________________________

I'm really.... shocked. It could easily be.... anything..... but something between the too comfortable vibe in the lobby, the handwriting, and the overall feeling I've had since picking the journal up absolutely tells me that there's something to this. Now that I've got it all copied down, I'm getting my girlfriend up. We're taking this journal down to the front desk. God fucking willing, we're leaving as soon as we can.

#my story #mine #creepypasta #nosleep #spooky #creepy

[yehosera]

Earth Decks!

This blog will go over two Earth decks. Earth is a colour I usually avoid, but due to it’s recent strength it is not a colour I intend on ignoring. What better way to learn about a colour than to build and play some decks involving said colour!

5 Forwards

Earth has a grand total of 5 premium forwards.

Dadaluma

Raubahn

Ingus

WoL

Cecil

The foundations of any mono Earth + splash another colour should start with looking at how these 5 forwards can be put to use in conjunction with the other colour.

Dadaluma, provides the groundwork for Earth in any deck that can utilise ping damage easily on the Dadaluma. Strong supporting cards, like Miner and Tama, allow the Dadaluma to rip holes into established boards in matchups where the opponent simply cannot handle multiple instances of Dadaluma.

Raubahn, essentially says kill any problem forward. Cards like The Emperor or Kam’La that other colours might struggle to remove, Raubahn provides an easy answer to. Synergy cards like Ingus propel the removal card from a simple removal card to a forward that can straight up remove another forward on entry and stick around to fight more.

Ingus, makes your dudes bigger. Earth isn’t a very good archetype if it does not have the strongest dudes. In addition, pushing cards like Vanille/Calbrena up to power levels whereby they can trade with opposing forwards without any assistance is very strong during the middle stages of the game.

WoL, lets you attack every turn.

Cecil, provides some comeback mechanics if you fall behind early and a powerful EX Burst from 3 damage onwards. In addition, he is a very strong Tama target.

Other noteworthy forwards

Vanille, due to her near infinite presence she is a formidable card, however, she requires at least 8 deck slots to be that strong. If the deck has space for the 8 slots required for her, (2 copies of herself and 6 copies of Hecatoncheir) she is a very potent card

Guy/Yang, both cards cannot be dulled. This makes them strong if the deck you build is weak to Ice cards AND has a way to protect them from the popular Mateus, the Corrupt

Rydia, if your deck is not playing a backup Rydia, she provides some insurance against FFVI and mono Lightning decks by being able to break most of the forwards with Gaea’s Wrath (although the assistance of Hecatoncheir is needed if they are playing Duke Larg). Decks that play Vanille can also play Rydia, as they will have the high number of Earth summons required for Gaea’s Wrath.

Delita, very strong when played with Star Sibyl after playing Shantotto. The card is only really strong because it is an extremely high value target for both Star Sibyl and Tama.

Earth/Wind

https://ffdecks.com/deck/5167947089707008

--Generated By FF Decks (www.ffdecks.com)--

Deck Name: Earth/Wind v1

Created by: yehosera

Forwards (20):

1 Kam'lanaut (5-148)

1 Kefka (4-147)

3 Ingus (5-074)

3 Dadaluma (4-085)

3 Raubahn (4-096)

2 Wol (5-075)

1 Cecil (5-086)

2 Y'shtola (5-068)

1 Zidane (3-056)

3 Barbariccia (3-066) 

Monsters (6):

1 Calbrena (5-079)

3 Cactuar (4-058)

2 Leyak (5-071)

Summons (6):

3 Hecatoncheir (4-093)

3 Diabolos (5-062)

Backups (18):

1 Chaos (1-184)

3 Enna Kros (1-095)

3 Miner (5-082)

3 Star Sibyl (5-091)

1 Shantotto (1-107)

1 Tama (4-086)

3 Archer (1-088)

1 Semih Lafihna (5-059)

2 Maria (1-083)

The deck is very simple, survive until Dadaluma can clean up house.

The card choices are relatively, however, still deserve some explanation.

The earth forwards are all of the strong ones outlined earlier. There’s a lower Cecil count, because the deck already has comeback mechanics with the Dadaluma and Dadaluma is a higher priority target for the Tama and Miners than Cecil is. Also, a lower priority on WoL, as the opponent shouldn’t really have forwards to block with, so the pushing power that WoL provides isn’t too useful, in addition, your cards can be up to triple buffed so the +2,000 power modification should be almost useless.

There are 6 wind forwards. While Barbariccia normally is useless vs mono coloured decks, the additional Cactuar searcher and the existence of Semih makes dealing 2,000 damage to a forward an easy feat most of the time. Y’shtola and Zidane are the strongest stand alone Wind cards, so the leftover space was dedicated to them.

The two Dark forwards are good for demanding an immediate response from he opponent during the early game, and decent ways of spending CP in the late game. During the early game Kam’La is strong as it searches a 2 CP backup to help make reaching 5 backups an easy feat, and during the later stages Kam’La can get Kefka to provide the player with 2 Forwards over 2 turns. Kefka being an EX Burst is a nice thing, but the real strength is being able to find Cactuar as the deck cannot function without 2 of them on the field.

The summons are the best summons in each colour. 1 Diabolos can come out for a singleton of Asura to help vs Ice decks and Al-Cid decks.

The backups are fairly standard, except Tama takes a spot away from a Shantotto. During the very early phases the Shantotto is better as it clears a board without any conditions, however, during the mid-late stages (whenever 2 Cactuar hit the field), Tama can create a similar effect over 2 turns with the Dadaluma. 2 slots went to Maria over the Semih. The double buffs mean that Raubahn can survive his own effect without assistance from Ingus. The downside to this is that there are only 3 targets for Star Sibyl. This drastically reduces the power level of the card as the game goes on, but Star is mostly there just for securing Kam’La during the early phases or providing the player with a copy of Shantotto for defensive purposes during the early game.

Nothing fancy in the monster section. Just 1 copy of Calbrena over the 3rd Leyak. This lets Kefka fetch Earth CP while also providing a means of prolonging games. A lot of the time, you’ll just have Dadaluma and the Calbrena on the field. Once this happens, you don’t really have anything you need to spend CP on, so the expensive activation cost of the Calbrena is mitigated, also at up to 10,000 power, the revival effect is a joke.

This deck is well rounded and a pain for other decks to handle. If you see a lot of Water decks, remove Calbrena and 2 Maria for Paine and 2 Rikku to mill them out. Vs Ice, there’s Guy + Black Mage as potential additions to make sure that you’re able to survive their really strong onslaught of Dull + Freeze cards during the mid-game, however, as long as a Leyak is drawn, Ice can’t really interact with the forwards in this deck while they’re dull and cannot interact with the Leyak. There aren’t any bad matchups other than Water for this deck, it’s an all round decent deck, you just need them a bit of draw luck as there’s no Dadaluma searchers.

Earth/Water

https://ffdecks.com/deck/5136615571718144

--Generated By FF Decks (www.ffdecks.com)--

Deck Name: Earth/Water v1

Created by: yehosera

Forwards (21):

2 Warrior of Light (2-145)

3 Ingus (5-074)

2 Dadaluma (4-085)

3 Raubahn (4-096)

3 Wol (5-075)

2 Cecil (5-086)

1 Porom (2-136)

1 Refia (5-141)

3 Porom (5-135)

1 Gau (4-123)

Monsters (5):

1 Bangaa Thief (4-088)

3 Adamantoise (4-121)

1 Green Dragon (4-124)

Summons (5):

3 Hecatoncheir (4-093)

2 Bismarck (5-133)

Backups (19):

1 Monk (2-089)

2 Pellinore (3-094)

3 Enna Kros (1-095)

2 Miner (5-082)

3 Shantotto (1-107)

1 Tama (4-086)

1 Leonora (3-143)

3 Aria (III) (5-123)

3 Yuna (1-176)

Fall behind early, clear their forwards cheaply and efficiently for a couple turns, then snowball the field with Warriors of Light.

Again, for earth forwards the strong ones. A priority this time on the WoL, as Water has natural Warrior of Light synergies, there’s an extra Cecil over a Dadaluma. This time because Water has no innate ways of dealing damage to it’s own cards, the Dadaluma is likely to have it’s effects wasted without the copy of Pellinore being drawn. Also, Water just has more EX Bursts, so it’s more friendly towards taking damage making Cecil a stronger card.

Warriors of Light. The board becomes basically unbreakable if an Ingus/Refia + Warrior of Light is drawn. Any additional cards with the job Warrior of Light turn them into unstoppable behemoths, hell bent on attacking you each turn. WoL, Warrior of Light, Ingus, Refia are basically interchangeable with the While, Red, Black and Pale riders respectively.

Porom is in the deck, mostly because Porom allows the deck to play 4 additional EX Bursts, while also providing a means of filtering towards Adamantoise + Raubahn. It’s really important to play those two cards onto the field at the same time, as that tends to be what starts the snowball, so Porom helping to filter towards the snowballing effects while also providing a strong early game defence is key for not simply dying in the first few turns vs Ice decks. There’s a copy of Gau in the deck as Adamantoise is a REALLY key card for the deck.

There are 5 monsters, all of which can be summoned via Gau. The real reason to play Water with Earth is access to the Adamantoise, turning Raubahn into a monster. 5 CP break their forward, draw a card. Sign me up please. The Tonberries is to help prevent people pushing through your defences before the board is set up with the Warriors of Light of the Apocalypse or WoLotA for short. Bangaa Thief is more of an exploit that currently exists in FFTCG, whereby nobody has nice ways of killing monsters, so by playing the Bangaa Thief it’ll just kind of exist as a 7k phantom forward until the game ends.

The summons can be swapped around. Keep 3 Hecaton, as again with Adamantoise you’ll be clearing away forwards like it’s nothing. The Bismark though, they aren’t particularly potent in this deck, they’ll let you recycle Raubahn, or even save him from his own effect (if you return the Raubahn to your hand, the 9,000 damage is still dealt to their forward). Other than that, it’s a nifty combat trick to keep the Poroms/early forwards from dying too easily in combat. The Bismarks could even become Moogle in this deck. Due to how basically every card costs 4 CP, it’s very likely that on 5 backups 1 will go to waste, so the Moogle filtering towards WoLotA/Raubahn+Adamantoise isn’t something to be discredited.

The backups are very clunky, they can be smoothened out a bit. Only 3 2 CP backups is very low, however, there really aren’t any others that are worth playing in the deck, maybe a Doga to help save the WoLotA during the later stages from some lightning cards. That being said, there are still 3 Aria and 2 Miners that can be played on turn 1. So it’s not too hard to find a backup to start the game on. Even if you don’t find a backup, most of the time Warrior of Light + WoL can just sort of get there without any backups. There are a grand total of 6 reactive backups though, so don’t expect to hit 5 without playing Shantotto+Yuna. They should be a part of your gameplan. Accept losing the board early to two forwards and playing Shantotto off of 3 backups to remove just two forwards as a good play. Sure it’s not the Shantotto clearing 5 forwards it could be, but the deck isn’t very strong at combat during the early phases and doesn’t want to bleed-out to a Setzar + Celes for example. Yuna is exceptional at buying time, as long as she exists in the top 10 or so cards you become incredible difficult to kill. If a player is trying to aggro you out, she can be EX Burst to buy an additional turn (2 cards closer to Shantotto), and if she can be played on a card that has a high initial investment, e.g. Setzar, she’s basically removal. In summary, expect to start shaky, with a single backup, then try to reach 3 backups, then you can start looking to steer your opponent towards a board state whereby Shantotto is good/Yuna is good. Then you can start playing FFTCG/WoLotA simulator.

Overall, this deck is actually a really strong deck. It’s biggest weakness is how binary in function basically every card is. However, they’re all REALLY good at their single functions. So yeah, reach 3 backups, get some cheap stuff down like the baby Warriors of Light/Porom, try to rob them of Tempo with Yuna/Shantotto then start playing WoLotA simulator!

TL;DR Dadaluma, Raubahn, Ingus, Cecil, WoL are the reasons to play Earth

#FFTCG #yehosera