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writtenbyrosey · 4 years

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Why I Think Steven Is Making Himself Into A Monster While Blaming It On His Gem

I’m going to start by talking a lot about Pink Diamond.

Yes, yes. We all know that-

...Right. That she’s gone.

But.. with everything that’s been happening during Steven Universe FEAR, I can’t help but think back to 3 Gems and a Baby, Change Your Mind, and the movie.

Here’s what I think’s goin on...

In Three Gems and a Baby, Garnet Amythest and Pearl each had different theories in regards to who or what Steven was.

Amythest thought Pink was simply shapeshifting into Steven, Steven merely being a disguise and Pink pretending to be Steven. Garnet thought Steven was a fusion between Greg and Pink, also assuming that Pink was aware and that she was only remaining fused as Steven as to not be rude to Greg.

But Pearl’s theory is what’s been bothering me lately...

We know that in a way, all three of them are correct.

That in order to even carry a fetus, Pink must have shape-shifted a womb inside her body so that she could properly incubate a child with Greg’s DNA. In order to mimic DNA that could ‘fuse’ with Greg’s, I speculate that she became one with the fetus upon his birth somehow. I’m guessing that once Steven no longer resided in her shapeshifted womb, where a child’s normal umbilical cord would be, that was also a shapeshifted part of herself. She used that cord to connect Steven to her gem, not to provide him with food (although she probably HAD to eat organic food so that Steven’s organic body could grow), but to provide his developing anatomy with her own ‘data’ so that the child would absorb aspects of herself.

Once Steven was born, the shapeshifted illusion of what allowed Pink to be an individual while he grew would no longer be enough to keep him alive. This explains why she had to give up her physical form. This is where Pearl’s theory takes effect. During his birth, she had to poof so that her gem would always be able to provide Steven with half of what makes him whole. I couldn’t really see properly in ‘Growing Pains’, but I don't think Steven had a heartbeat at all! That would make sense because, without Pink’s gem, he wouldn’t be able to exist in the first place.

So all that being said, I believe Pink’s gem DID hold her consciousness while Steven developed his own. Remember what Pink said in her video to Steven.

“Steven, we can’t both exist. I’m going to become half of you. And I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself, that’s me, loving you and loving being you. Because you’re going to be something extraordinary. You’re going to be a human being. Take care of them, Steven.”

(This sentence is important and I'm going to mention it for another point later on: And I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself, that’s me, loving you and loving being you.”)

If gems are computers, their ‘soul’ would be equivalent to a user’s files where their data would be stored, and the FOLDER that data is stored on would be the physical GEM. When Pink became Rose, nothing was changed in terms of her soul or her files, so it would be the equivalent of just renaming that folder something else. That is what pure shapeshifting would be in this case.

When Steven was conceived, Pink preparedly provided a shapeshifted female human reproductive system, which like the rest of her abilities, was powered by her Gem. When uh.. ermm... pink diamond’s file was edited with a sort of... ‘unrecognized genetic coding’ (I didn’t want to straight-up say Greg’s jizz lol) those files would begin to dramatically alter as Steven developed his own consciousness. So once Steven was born and began to experience life (ie: develop his first memories, learn skills like talking, develop likes and dislikes) every new development in Steven’s brain, every ORGANIC development from his human side began to OVERWRITE Pink diamonds files. It’s like when your computer begins to run out of file space, out of memory, what does it do to make space?

It deletes old files.

Going off of this logic, by the time Change Your Mind aired, Pink, or to make this simpler we’ll just say Pink’s gem, had existed as half of Steven for 14+ years. I think it would be the equivalent of two users sharing a computer. Whenever Steven was running low on memory, Pink very willingly began to purposely and consciously delete parts of what made her well... her. So that Steven could be anyone he wanted to be.

Her words in that video: “-Every moment you love being yourself, that’s me, loving you and loving being you. Because you’re going to be something extraordinary. You’re going to be a human being.”

Now I’m gonna be real with ya’ll. I believe that Pink AT THE BEGINNING wanted Steven for a selfish reason. Put down your pitch forks okay?? I said at the beginning! Originally, YEAH. She DID want an escape. She DID want to avoid taking responsibility for all her mistakes! I believe from when Steven was a newborn until he was like 7 or 8 probably, Pink was FULLY aware, she was FULLY herself and COMPLETELY feeling/seeing everything Steven could. She was literally an AUDIENCE member in Steven’s mind, watching and experiencing THROUGH him what it was like to BE him. Like a demon possessing a person, but not trying to control them in any way. Just.. squatting. Chilling in there and sharing in everything Steven felt or saw without him even realizing.

ONLY MAYBE did she make her presence known through relevant dreams now and again, when her memories were stirred by what Steven was living.

ANYWAY like I said, I think it started this way. But I believe just like Steven has done for every other damn character in this fantastic show, Pink changed because of her experience being him. And let me ask all of you this.

Would the OLD SELFISH SPINEL ABANDONING BISMUTH BUBBLING PEARL DUMPING GREG ABANDONING FALSE PROMISE INSTILLING CONDESCENDING PINK WE KNOW, WILLINGLY allow herself to slowly and completely fade away from existence, just to give this weird human gem hybrid experiment she created his own identity?

No.

But the Pink that spent almost a decade in the shoes of (thanks to Greg’s intense empathy soaked parenting) the most selfless, kind and innocent child? The Pink that FELT how good Steven felt when he helped others? Would THAT Pink just take away the life she’d given to him, just because if she didn’t she would cease to exist?

Obviously not. I mean..

GUYS. Can you IMAGINE how HORRIBLE it would be to SLOWLY, memory by fucking memory, erase yourself? Like it’d probably be painful, confusing, just day by day slowly forgetting who you are, who you knew, your friends, your memories, your IDENTITY, your CONTROL! OH MY GOD WHAT WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO PINK THAN CONTROL?? Nothing! That’s all she wanted! That’s all she was after! Control over her own life! Freedom! Being able to change! To GROW!

And yet.. she gave ALL OF THAT UP so that Steven could be who he is.

And the proof of that is 100% at this moment when White rips Pink’s gem OUT of Steven, and when it forms without him, all that’s left is the SHADOWS, the ECHO of who she used to be once upon a time. Because that gem is like 1% Pink, 99% Steven.

Without Steven, her gem is aimless, purposeless, devoid of ANY emotion or personality. It has ONE GOAL. To become Steven. The only part of Pink that may have been aware from within Pink Steven, that teeny tiny sliver of her data that might have remained. All it wanted was to be Steven.

THAT would have been an amazing place for the series to end, at least for the sake of Steven’s identity crisis. When he saw his gem half, he was so relieved to not see his mother. Because his whole life he was struggling with NOT BEING HIS MOTHER. He FINALLY FIGURED OUT that HE IS HIS OWWWWNNNNN PERSON!

YAY!

...

And then THIS shit happened.

UGH. That rejuvenation... It RUINED EVERYTHING for him.

We know from the movie that it set back all of the gems to factory settings. To their default. It completely wiped their memories!

The movie insinuated that it set Steven back to when he was a kid, and that he regained his abilities when he regained his sense of how he grew and changed from that helpless kid with no powers..

But is that all there is to it? A lot of people bring up the possibility that Pink Diamond was reset from within Steven, that she’s trying to get out from the inside of him, hence everything going on with his body in SUF. The enlarging of his body makes some people think that Pink diamond doesn’t recognize Steven, is somehow completely aware that she is trapped within him, and that she is fighting for freedom etc.

I don't think that’s it at all.

I think the rejuvenator did more than what the movie concluded, but I don’t agree with the pink diamond is corrupting steven from the inside out theories. Not at all.

If Pink Diamond and Steven were still sharing his gem, just like I had speculated before, in his early development, if they were struck with the rejuvenator THEN? Yeah. Then I’d think there was some merit to the “Pink is trying to escape Steven’s fleshy prison” theories. But what happened during Change Your Mind, that completely convinced me that if not 100%, then at least 98-99% of Pink’s data has been overwritten with Steven’s data. Resetting a computer would NOT restore data that has been overwritten.

Therefore, I think Pink Diamond has absolutely NOTHING to do with Steven’s corruption. He is 100% corrupting because of his own mentality, because of his gem reacting to puberty charged testosterone mixing with the cortisol surging through him due to his untreated PTSD.

Think about it.

What happens when you take a hormonal teenager and cross it with a shell-shocked war veteran who’s been having an identity crisis since he was ten?

Well. You get Steven.

I think the rejuvenator erased everything he was able to realize at the end of Change Your Mind. It took away his sense of self. At the end of that episode, after he fused with his gem half, he said “It’s me. I’ve always been... me.”

I find it very suspicious that each gem struggled with memory loss, not only as Steven acknowledged in the movie, that he forgot ‘how much he’d changed’ and that he ‘was capable’. He also forgot AND HAS YET TO REMEMBER that he is himself. He may have inherited his gem from his mother, and with that comes her IMMENSE powers and abilities. But that’s all. Maybe that, and a tiny teeny ghost of a sliver of how much she loves him.

BUT REMEMBER THAT LINE I SAID I’D BRING BACK FROM HER TAPE??

“every moment you love being yourself, that’s me, loving you and loving being you.”

Hey, guys? Does Steven still love being himself?

Or did he forget the very reason why he once did?

That’s why he’s physically beginning to look like his mother. Because that is who he is blaming for all of his self-hate. Because he looks at his gem and these stress-related painful changes and BLAMES his mother, as if she is somehow currently punishing him, trying to force him to become her.

But it’s ALL in his head.

He hates himself because, thanks to the rejuvenator, he’s forgotten the reason why he loves himself. He hasn’t remembered because he doesn’t realize that’s what his problem is! He was sent back to thinking he still is his mom.

He gets these flashbacks, these moments where his gem is struggling to remember why he is allowed to love being himself, only remembering the pain of his gem being ripped out and the fear it causes prevents him from remembering anything after that. I’d be shocked if he remembered what his gem turned into once he was separated. It’s not like anyone ever mentioned it again? Or brought it up to him. He hasn't been ASKED.

So because he forgot, he’s just left with this emptiness. With this horrible gaping question of “Who am I?”

And he tried all the unhealthy ways of coping. #relatable

-Controlling others lives so he could feel a sense of control over himself (Little Homeschool/Guidance)

-Replacing the idea of his mother with something new / forcing himself to be okay with the idea of his mother and faking a normal family context around her (Rosebuds)

-Fixing unfixable problems so he could feel like he doesn’t need to be fixed (Volleyball)

-Justifying his own paranoia by projecting it onto other unrelated situations, only to second guess his originally correct intuition about a malicious individual, and then figure out he was right in the first place. Instead of confirming to himself that he has decent intuition, he doubles down on deciding not to trust the advice of others. Also begins focusing on the constant presence of threats, as if he will never be safe.(Bluebird)

-Burns himself out from throwing himself into activities that keep him busy, even though he doesn't really feel passionate about those activities anymore, because instead of doing little homeschool cuz he enjoys it, all he wants is the resulting approval from others. he does. whatever anyone asks him to resulting in exhaustion and feeling like a failure, all in an attempt to feel like he is needed in order to emulate a form of love he cannot give himself. (very special episode/In Dreams)

-Misinterprets the gems concern and nostalgia cravings because of insecurities in which he feels like the others want him to be someone he's not and becomes resentful for not being respected for ‘who he is’, even though he won't admit that he doesn't actually even know who he is (because he doesn't fucking remember!!) (Snow Day)

-Feels like he’s being personally victimized and abandoned when his friends begin to move on without him to pursue their own dreams and ambitions, and allows that resentment to build while lying and saying he doesn’t blame them for leaving him behind. (Little Graduation/Prickly Pair)

-He focuses on what he can’t relate to when it comes to the human side of life that he feels he's been robbed of. Proceeds to try to solve this and everything mentioned before by running away and becoming someone else (Stevonnie) with no regard for how Connie would feel as an individual (Kinda sounds like what his mom and Greg did - the thing he was super pissed at them for. Ahhh projection and lack of self-awareness in teenagers is staggering) (Bismuth casual / together forever / growing pains / Mr. universe)

-Completely gives into his rage as an outlet, but allows it to overtake him. Having immense power + PTSD induced cortisol + Rage + Puberty charged testosterone = a very dead cheeto puff. Steven does something horrible that he himself said was something “a crystal gem would never do” and as far as we know, is something his own supposedly HORRIBLE mother didn’t even do. So he forces himself to believe he's not only done something a diamond would do, but by seeing the diamonds, he realizes that the diamonds are actually bettering themselves and trying to make up for the crimes they committed, while Steven thinks there's no way he could ever make up for what he did, even if he was able to bring Jasper back. Hits rock bottom. (Fragments / Homeworld Bound)

Shattering a gem betrays who Steven is at his core, and even if he remembers who he is and that he IS his own person, now he has no choice but to believe, at least according to his own morals, that he’s an even worse person than every single individual he had been resenting/judging.

This isn’t Human Steven VS Gem Steven.

This isn’t Pink Diamond trying to take back her gem.

This is Steven hating himself and making himself suffer. This is Steven never asking for help out of fear that he might somehow destroy the happy ending that he helped everyone else achieve. This is Steven forgetting who he is and failing to realize that he can’t do everything on his own, that he can’t fix everything, and that he can’t make it through life without letting people help him when he needs it.

This is Steven believing that he doesn’t deserve to be happy.

I anxiously anticipate this Friday, and I hope that all the people who love him can save him before he destroys himself.

This is and will always be one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

#steven universe future #steven universe future spoilers #spoilers #steven universe #steven universe spoilers #steven universe theory #spinel #pink diamond #steven universe movie #steven universe change your mind #steven universe movie spoilers

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groovygladiatorsuit · 3 years

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bookmania2020 · 4 years

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The Essential Elements For Improving Focus in Life

Everything in life has an opportunity cost. The opportunity cost of distraction is time, energy, and effort; otherwise, this time, energy and energy will be spent on activities that could improve your life. Poor attention management can reduce the quality of almost every part of your life: it can cause anxiety and depression, reduce your productivity, and make your relationships and conversations meaningless.

Everyone wants more focus, but most of us struggle every day. If we wish to focus on work tasks, prevent interruption in the modern world, or stick to our long-term goals, we need to pay attention to achieve these tasks. Besides, research shows that people who can stay focused often perform better when dealing with various cognitive challenges. In his book “Life is Like a Fast Car,” Scott Patrick Erwin writes, we need focused attention and consciousness if we want to control our lives.

To re-establish attention and learn how to focus, we need to adjust both. This leads to the five essential elements of improving focus:

1) Limit Technology Usage

The inevitable fact is that smartphones, email, IM, news, Netflix, and 24/7 access to world information are destroying our attention span. Technology is designed to serve you, not the other way around.

The default settings of the device and apps are designed to get your attention. You need to change them immediately and get rid of the useless notifications. Also, remove the “infinity pool” on your phone and block distracting websites, mainly when you focus on something. Furthermore, as long as you don’t need it, you can make your technology stand out.

2) Create focus-friendly environment

Your work environment plays an essential role in your concentration. But most of us don’t think much about it. First, clear out as much confusion as possible (a neuroscientist team has discovered that confusion can compete for your attention and reduce performance while increasing stress). Then, try to avoid office noise by using headphones or listening to the right music to improve work efficiency. Even try to use “interference lights” to signal others that you are focusing on something and don’t want to be disturbed.

3) Say ‘No’ to multitasking.

If you haven’t heard it yet, multitasking is a myth. When we attempt to complete more than one task at a time, we actually switch back and forth quickly between them. This is not very effective (I’m sure, as you can imagine), and will ultimately destroy our productivity and put more pressure on us.

Besides, the worse thing is, the more tasks you perform, the more your brain looks for more things to do. On the other hand, single tasks can reset your focus, reduce stress, and even make you more creative.

4) Open Conversations

One of the most significant internal factors that impede our ability to concentrate on is the expectation of communication. The study found that 84% of people open emails all day, and 70% of them open emails within 6 seconds of receiving it. Even if we didn’t receive emails, we found that ordinary information workers check emails every 6 minutes every day.

To re-establish focus, you need to have an open conversation about communication. When do people expect a response? Can you set registration time throughout the day so that everyone is on the same page without waiting for you? If you assume you can move your attention away at any time, you can’t concentrate.

5) Short Breaks

Checking Facebook or checking your email is not a real cut. Real rest means leaving the computer, standing up, or even walking outside or in the work area.

A real break will allow you to focus on what you are doing, allowing you to reset before touching your desk again. Studies have shown that the free, focused thinking we do at rest can help the brain regenerate and work faster. Besides, if you find it difficult to adjust to real breaks, try to arrange a short meeting with yourself throughout the day.

Focus is a valuable resource; the surrounding environment and our cultural expectations have always invaded this environment. But when we learn to use our attention and get into a state of flow, amazing things happen. We will not only be doing more work than usual, but we also feel energized, not exhausted, and can remember that we achieved some worthwhile things that day.

Author’s Bio:

Scott Patrick Erwin lives a simple life in the U.S.A with an accomplishing education and degree. In his book, “Life is like a Fast Car,” he expressed how he discovered the strategies of surviving and maintaining a sense of happiness in life.

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agentsphilinda · 7 years

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A/N: What if Phil was with Melinda when she was under the influence of the Darkhold in 4x03? This has been written for like... months, I just never published it because I’m a nut. I hope the Philinda Angst Squad is happy. Nevermind y’all are never happy. Unbeta’d, I make no apologies.

“Stay away from me!”

Not going to happen. Phil kept to May’s side as he and Jemma wheeled her in on a stretcher, stroking her hair attempting to be soothing even as she jerked and twisted away, terrified. Seeing her like this felt worse than having his hand cut off, worse than watching Rosalind die in his arms, worse even than having Loki’s staff plunged through his chest. May was the strong one of the two of them - she always managed to hold him together, to put the pieces back in place when he fell apart. She was his lifeline in the storm that was life in SHIELD, and he wouldn’t survive losing her.

“Hold her down.”

“No! I know what you are!” She shouted, twisting. Phil did his best to help them hold her down, feeling her panicking beneath his hands as Simmons administered a sedative. He stroked her hair as she relaxed, twitching but mostly still and relatively calm. Radcliffe and Simmons began to discuss all the science behind what had happened to her - he wouldn’t get involved. Hearing about all that was wrong, her chances of survival, would just make him more terrified to lose her and unable to help. He simply kept whispering reassuring words to her, unsure if they were getting through, and stroking her hair, fingertips brushing her cheek.

“Any idea how much time we have?” Radcliffe asked, pulling Phil out of his thoughts.

Simmons looked down at May, and even though he was sure she couldn’t understand how terrified he was of losing her, Simmons was family. They never spoke about it, but he knew all of the younger agents saw her as a mother figure - and they were right to, she would have been one hell of a mother if Bahrain hadn’t happened the way it did - and he, in turn, as a father. “Based on the other cases we’ve observed, I’d say… Less than six hours until certain death.”

His shoulders tensed at that word. Phil couldn’t truly comprehend the idea of Melinda May, a woman who had survived so much, even coming close to death. She was too strong for that. “She’s not dying.” He said through gritted teeth, and even though he was sure Radcliffe and Simmons knew he was in denial of the possibility, he didn’t care. Fitz had spent months searching for Simmons in denial she could be gone - surely he was allowed this.

Radcliffe set her up with one of his virtual reality devices to find out what was happening, and he half listened as they discussed her brain chemistry and what was wrong. “How do you cure fear?” Radcliffe asked. That felt impossible. He’d known her over twenty years, and had only seen her truly afraid once - when Andrew first was exposed as Lash. He took her hand, squeezing it tight, hoping if he held on enough he could take in her fear and somehow relieve her of it. She didn’t deserve this.

She started fighting the bonds holding her down, her hand holding his like a vice, and he didn’t know if that was her or just a side effect of whatever was happening. She was screaming and he was terrified having no idea what to do but just wanting to make it stop. Simmons removed the helmet, as it wasn’t doing much good and she was only going to hurt herself with it on, and Radcliffe closed the program and turned to them.

“I think I know how to solve all our problems.” Radcliffe said.

“How? What is it?” Simmons asked.

“We’re gonna have to kill her.”

At Radcliffe’s words, Phil stood completely still, trying to make sense of him and finding a way not to throw Radcliffe up against the nearest wall and bash his head in. They needed him to save May. He repeated this like a mantra as he breathed in deeply, trying to channel the calmness May so often had, and asked, “What are you suggesting?”

“Think of her brain as a computer, that has been compromised by… by bugs and glitches. If we shut it down and reboot it, then the parts of her brain that have been hyperactivated should reset back to default.” Radcliffe explained. Admittedly, Phil didn’t understand every word of that, but he had enough of a grasp of technology to know what he meant.

“This is crazy.” Simmons said. “I don’t know if we should risk it. We may not be able to bring her back.” She said.

Phil looked at her. She was seizing up, vitals spiking, and she wasn’t going to hold out much longer. They had to at least try. “Do it.” He said simply. “Whatever it takes.”

Radcliffe and Simmons both looked at him, and he could see in them that they knew exactly what he was thinking - that he would tear the world apart if it meant her coming out of this alive. “Okay. Well, once her heart stops, we'll have approximately seven minutes before she has irreparable brain damage and can't be brought back at all.” Simmons said, her accent clipped and hiding the shaking in her voice. She might not be as terrified as he was, but he could feel fear radiating off of her.

“During which time we monitor her brain activity, and once it reaches minimum threshold…”

“We'll shock her back to life and hope that your theory is correct.” Simmons finished, getting a lethal dose ready. He stood up, almost whimpering as he let go of Melinda’s hand.

“Simmons. Let me do it.” He said softly. Radcliffe and Jemma turned to look at him. “I can’t let either of you be blamed for this. If we lose her, I need to be the one to do it.” He said. Radcliffe looked like he wanted to protest, but Simmons nodded, prepping a syringe and giving it to him.

He went to her, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead, even as she fought. He didn’t say it out loud, knowing that Radcliffe and Simmons were listening, but he mouthed the words he’d always felt against her skin before pulling back and, pushing her hair to the side, sliding the needle into her neck and pushing the plunger, administering the drug that would kill her. Phil removed the needle, pulling away to allow Simmons room to watch her heart rate and wait until the last moment to revive her.

As she flatlined, he felt his own heart stop with it. He’d already died once. But now she was taking him with her.

Simmons prepped the defibrillator as seconds turned into minutes and she approached minimal brain activity. Just as Simmons pressed the paddles onto her chest, the power went out.

“No!” He immediately shouted. It was the power outages, whoever had sent them through, and they were hitting D.C. now. They needed power, needed it to bring her back. He wasn’t losing her. Simmons started giving her chest compressions, but it only made Melinda’s limp body shake with the movement, and he was sure he was imagining it but it was like he could feel her growing colder, life leaving her body. “You can’t leave me Melinda.” He whispered under his breath. “Not now. Please.” He said, trying to fight the tears brimming at the edges of his eyes.

“We need ice, we need to keep her cold!” Simmons insisted to Radcliffe. Phil didn’t want to leave her side but he was immediately ready to follow her instructions if it meant keeping her alive.

“That’s really not… I mean, at this point…” Radcliffe began before Phil fixed him with an ice cold stare.

“Don’t, Holden.” He said. “We’re bringing her back.”

“I don’t know if we can!” The man replied. “If we could only jump-start a battery or…” Radcliffe stopped speaking as if realizing something and went to the back, as Simmons stopped.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

Simmons sniffled wiping at her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” She said, her voice barely more than a rasp.

He refused. He’d learned CPR, he could keep her alive. He began copying Simmons’s motions, unwilling to give up or lose her. “Come on Melinda. You have to come back. I need you to come back.” He said, feeling his own tears dropping onto her lifeless chest.

Radcliffe returned with something bright green and Phil didn’t pull away until he heard the words ‘energy device’. He looked up, seeing Radcliffe plugging whatever it was into the defibrillator to use as a power source. He immediately pulled away as the machine attempted to shock her back to life. Melinda’s body, unable to pump blood or control her muscles, lifted but didn’t react. “Please.” He whimpered as Simmons used it a second time. “Melinda… Please come back to me.” He said softly as, for the third time, electricity ran through her chest.

Only this time it was different. This time she was coughing, moving, looking around in confusion and she was alive. “Where am I?” She asked, seeing them, seeing him.

Phil immediately rushed forward to hold her, to feel her warmth and reassure himself that she was really there, that she had made it through. He pulled away to cup her cheek and Simmons copied him, hugging her. “Get this crap off of me!” Melinda insisted. He laughed, taking her hand.

“Welcome back, Agent May.” Simmons said. Phil smiled as he met her eyes and squeezed her hand smiling not sure what else to say. There was time for all he wanted to say later. For now, she was alive, and that was more than enough.

#philinda #philinda fic #aos fic #philinda fanfic #philinda fanfiction

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romanssippycup · 7 years

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Undeniably Important Chapter 5: Necessary Information?

This is where the science and more setting comes into play. I hope you all understand what is going on. This is one of those chapters that I just had to get right or everyone was gonna go... “wha?” Time for dimensions and powers and what not. Hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4

"We are mental projections of your personality, but there is so much more information about us than we let on." Logan began. "We definitely do not have all the answers, but I will tell you what we do know about ourselves."

Everyone in the Mind Palace made sure they were comfy as they continued to listened to Logan's explanation.

"Every human in the world has an imagination based on their experiences, thoughts, beliefs, etc. But, It's through that imagination that ideas are produced to manipulate the real world in many different and unique ways."

"In other words, dreams can come true in the real world, but only if you have the motivation and the mind to pursue them?" Thomas asked wondering if he was correct.

"I guess that is one way to put it, but yes. Everything that happens in the physical world starts with an idea. An idea that is not tangible at first, but with hard work, can end up changing the world for better or for worse. Now in the case of regular imagination, little children might play make believe to pretend that the world worked in completely different way than what reality suggests. They might imagine a unicorn or a dragon, both of which are creatures that do not exist in the real world, but they do exist in the child's mind." Logan stopped for a second allowing Thomas to rest his brain.

Thomas took a deep breath. "Okay...so though all four of you do not exist in the real world, you exist in my mind. That makes sense."

"Because humans can create alternate realities for themselves psychologically, question their existence, and problem solve, their brains function on a higher level of thinking than what the physical world entails. The alternate realities are actually pocket dimensions that you have unlocked and they reside on a completely different plane of existence."

"My imagination is a pocket dimension?" Thomas looked at him slightly dumbfounded. "Does that mean the mind palace itself is a pocket dimension?"

Roman cut in as he knew this bit of information. "It did not used to be, it was just a part of your imagination," He gestured to himself dramatically. "It grew to be that way because you personified the different aspects of your personality: Logic, Creativity, Anxiety, and Morality. By personifying your creativity, you gave me control over your imagination, thus giving me control over the mind palace and everything in it. Basically I expanded the mind palace outside of your creativity, so that these three can have their fun. The bad thing is I don't have complete control over the mind palace anymore."

"Who said that was a bad thing? At least it doesn't look like a castle anymore." Anxiety interjected.

"Again. Who asked for your opinion Tim Burton? Because I certainly didn't."

Thomas silenced their banter. "Okay. So...this personifying thing, do you all have consciousness of your own then?"

"No. Thats too weird and creepy. We are still you." Roman shook his head.

"The point that we are all trying to get at is you have split yourself neatly into four different parts. Your mind: Logan, Your heart: me, Your spirit: Roman, Your body: Anxiety. In doing so, you allowed each part to work separately. So often, people use all 4 parts of themselves together, not allowing each side to grow individually." Morality steered the conversation back on track.

"We believe that the effect of this is you are unlocking different parts of brain, since you have been able to single us all out in your mind. I'm not sure how correct it is, but that is just my theory. After all, humans only use 10% of their brain so it very well could be true." Logan adjusted his glasses.

Thomas thought. "Wow. So if I'm getting this right, I could compare this whole situation to a computer. So like, if a bunch of files are saved on a computer, they are all just meshed together, but if I organized those files into 4 different folders, thats basically you guys. Did I get that right?"

"Correct Thomas." Logan beamed. "Now what exactly is in those folders is what we are trying to figure out. Sure I contain your facts and knowledge, but because I'm half of your left brain I am beginning to learn more about what I can do. All of us in the mind palace have the ability to teleport objects and ourselves, but I've recently found out I can control the laws of "nature" in the mind palace. For instance, I could change the course of gravity if I really wanted to." He made his note pad hover above his hands as a demonstration and then grabbed it out of the air.

"Isn't it Princey's job to change things that happen in the mind palace?" Thomas scratched his head.

"That's the thing. I do not have complete control over the Mind Palace anymore, because it houses the other three aspects of you as well, not just your imagination. It's almost as if the mind palace has become your brain itself. Figuratively speaking of course. If you took an X-ray, it would still look like your brain." Roman took a sip of his tea proud of what he said.

"Then what do you have control over in the mind palace Princey?" Thomas looked back at him.

"I can personify and summon objects. I also can decorate and shapeshift rooms to a degree. And that's about it. For now at least. We seem to be discovering more and more each day." Roman took another sip of tea.

"I can control the other three aspects and make sure balance is maintained." Morality exclaimed happily.

"Oh right. His infamous, 'dad mode'." Logic cocked his head sideways in slight annoyance. Thomas looked at him as if expecting an explanation. "He has the ability to null our abilities and reset the mind palace to default if we argue too much. Or, he can withhold our abilities if we...'act up'."

"I call it a timeout!" Morality crossed his arms and looked defiantly at the other sides, fully remembering how he had to punish each of them.

"And I have no clue what I do." Anxiety leaned back and acted like not knowing didn't bother him one bit.

"It's true. Anxiety's role in the mind palace is still a mystery to us. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Logan looked down at his notepad and flipped through the pages obviously trying to find something.

"Morality mentioned something about Anxiety representing my body." Thomas inputted.

"Yes. That is also one of my theories, but in order to test it out, you would have to be in a very dire situation." Logan found the page he was looking for and took a couple more notes on it. "One so dire that some involuntary functions would have to..." Logan took out a flash card then showed it to everyone else. "...'kick in'."

"Pfff." Anxiety and Roman stifled chuckles at Logan who just rolled his eyes as he knew that he was serious.

"Hm. So we will worry about that later, but how does all this play a role in you guys coming along with me to sushi tonight?" Thomas still wanted all the information he had learned to tie into the previous discussion.

"Ah. This is what I've been meaning to get to." Logan closed his notepad and set it on his lap. "Levels of consciousness/thinking are not unrelated to the different dimensions of reality. As you know, the real world reverts between the third and the fourth dimension. Well, imagination or pocket dimensions are actually parallels of the fourth, fifth, and sometimes sixth dimension that occur in the natural world. Are you familiar with the Path of Enlightenment?"

"Not really. It's like conscious, unconscious, deep sleep, then transcendental...right?"

"Somewhat. Anyways, your Imagination, Princey, resides in the fourth and fifth levels of the Path of Enlightenment which are Transcendental and Cosmic respectively. The Mind Palace itself lies right in between both of those levels, which is unique considering the fact that most other people have imaginations that lie in the Cosmic level and not lower."

"Is it because I split myself into four equal parts that my imagination is closer to the Transcendental level?"

"Yes. We believe that to be the case." Logan shifted positions slightly.

"Good job Thomas. You level headed the royal pain." Anxiety commented, smirking at Prince who was now having a hard time swallowing his tea after hearing that remark.

"Now about 'walking around' in the real world, we can do that. But only to a point where we would be in the same dimension as ghosts and spirits if they existed. Many other 'imaginary friends' can do that too, but not to the extent that they could be seen by animals with very strong senses. We can also use the objects you see in your day to day lives."

"Oh like frying pans?"

"Yes! Except you would not see us use them as there are many different versions of that particular object that exist in our dimensions."

"But that's what we will be doing when we go with you guys. We will make our own sushi and food using versions of what you see around you." Morality was ecstatic.

"And nobody will ever be able to see you?" Thomas asked enthusiastically.

"Nobody 'cept you, kiddo!"

"At least, nobody should." Anxiety added his two cents of uncertainty to the conversation.

"Well that's great then! How will you all travel, though?" Thomas scratched his chin thoughtfully

"The same as we always do when you travel." Princey stirred some sugar into his tea. "We just come with you. Don't you remember what Logic said? We exist in both the 4th and the 5th dimensions. The laws of the real world don't affect us." Princey blowed on his tea before taking a sip.

"Ah. That makes sens-"

"Ewwww!" Everyone turned to look at Roman who had the most revolting look on his face. "Who dares to switch my sugar with salt!?"

Morality and Thomas couldn't hold back the laughter that was bubbling out as they watched Roman's face.

"Obviously someone who thought you needed a taste of your own medicine." Anxiety remarked with a smirk on his face.

"Ugh!" Roman wiped his mouth in disgust and cleaned up after his small spill while Morality and Thomas continued to laugh.

Logan just sat there smiling smugly at Roman whom he managed to catch eye contact with. "I think it's safe to say we're even now."

Roman's jaw dropped open as he realized it was Logan who had played the prank on him.

Morality continued to chuckle, but replied. "Hehe! What are the odds?"

Logan's smile immediately turned straight faced as he turned to Morality with irritation.

Roman sprung at his chance. "Wow Logan. I would have never been able to figure out who pulled the prank if you hadn't said anything." The smug smile was now upon Roman's lips as he watched the logical side almost flip out of his skin.

"Roman!" Both Morality and Thomas were surprised.

"And now it's safe to say that your days are both numbered...dang." Logan face palmed at the pun he just made.

The room roared with laughter. Roman and Morality both threw their heads back while Thomas just sat giggling pretty hard. Anxiety even had to cover his mouth for fear of sound coming out.

Logan rubbed his temples with his left hand in utter embarrassment and sighed. It took about 5 minutes for all the giggling to end, at which he was very glad when it did. During the slight pause that everyone was catching their breath, Logan regained the upperhand of the conversation.

"Now that that fiasco is over, what are you going to be wearing tonight Thomas?"

Thomas's face immediatly fell. "I have no idea."

"Oh do not worry Thomas! I can help with that!" Roman assumed his fanciful pose pridefully. He dematerialized the tea set in front of him.

"And tell him to wear something that will make him look like a fool? Yeah thats definitely something you can help with." Anxiety sarcastically remarked.

Roman shot Anxiety a detesting look.

"Alright break it up you two. How about you both help me choose an outift?" Thomas proposed.

"What?" Roman was taken aback.

Anxiety shrugged. "Sure. Not like I got anything better to do."

"Anxiety, you have no fashion."

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?" Anxiety glared at Roman smugly.

"Oh yes I will. I bet on the winds of change Thomas will pick the outfit I choose for him."

Anxiety scoffed mockingly. "Fine then. What happens when you win?"

"For one month, Whenever I sing a Disney song, you must join in with me. And you will sing the specified part I give to you." Roman outstretched a hand in Anxiety's direction. "And I mean actually sing because I know you can. You just choose not to."

Anxiety cowered at the thought. Oh was Princey going to get it. "...Okay. Then, if I win I get to control your fashion style for one whole month. All of your clothes you have now? Gone. Whatever you wake up to, will be what you have to wear for that day. Because I will have demonstrated that I do have fashion and that I was right." Anxiety was basically doing the z-snap with his shoulders.

"Hahahahaha!" Princey mockingly laughed. "Bring it."

Logan and Patton looked at each other and exchanged worried glances as if to say "how did this escalate so quickly?".

"Alright." Thomas was extremely amused. "Us three will go back to my room and we will see what we are up against when we get there." He nodded uncertainly.

"Fine by me." Anxiety looked at his fingernails.

"Let's get down to business!!" Princey began as the three of them dematerialized from the Mind Palace and into Thomas's Apartment.

Logan looked at Patton unsuredly. "What just happened?"

"I don't know. But one things for sure-"

"No puns please. No more."

"Alright Logy."

"It's Logan. Just...Logan."

Taglist: @mewsicalmiss @here-to-vent @anonymous-snake @cup-of-blue@storytellerofuntoldlegends @cookieartcannon @thagrinbery @ts-sideblog@protecterofalltheaus @pasteries-and-portugal @justanotherpurplebutterfly @remmythepegasis @leesacrakon@kitsuneprideleader @fancifulfox @dolphin-squirrel @evilmuffin@petunia9402 @greymane902 @we-get-it-youre-adorable@withoutfandomsiamnothing (Let me know if you want to be tagged for future chapters. :) Love you guys!)

#sanders sides #sanderssides #thomas sanders #thomassanders #logan sanders #logic sanders #anxiety sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #princey sanders #patton sanders #morality sanders #undeniablyimportant #logicality #prinxiety #analogical #hopeyouguyslikethis #hhhhhhh

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jack-aa-boy · 7 years

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Hacked - Chapter 2

When my alarm went off the next morning, I felt like I hadn't slept at all. I knew it wasn't healthy to stay up all night when I had a job I had to go to in the morning, but the money for my night job was too good to pass up. Thankfully most of the events from last night had receded into my subconscious, and I had leveled that I had probably only experienced a sleep deprived hallucination.

I turned off my alarm, and rolled out of bed to go about my morning routine. I put on my green work shirt and got into my car, ready to drive to work. I hooked up my phone so I could listen to some music. I picked a song I liked and headed out.

It wasn't long before things started to act up. My music would stutter and skip like I was listening to a worn out CD. Videos that I had saved in my phone would open and start to play. My volume was changing constantly, going from blaring loud to soft and back again in the matter of seconds. I reached down and found the power button with my finger. I held it down and shut off the device, feeling a little electric shock go through me. I wasn't too worried. I remembered I plugged my phone in the wrong port last night and that this was probably just a lasting effect from that. I would reset it once I got to work and things would resolve. I pulled into the parking garage at my work building, locking my car and taking the elevator to get back to ground level. The building I worked it was large and almost fully glass. The metal on the outside shined like chrome on a new car, and contributed to the overall sleek design. It was a suitable place for IT support to be located. I checked in with my badge at the door and said hello to the workers at reception, like I always did. A few commented on my exhausted appearance, something that had become common for me, but I just waved it off as being out late with some friends. I wondered if that sounded believable to them. I took the elevator up to the 19th floor where my particular cubicle was located. I sat down at my desk, looking at the little piece of property that I could call my own. Not that it was super identifiable. I had no pictures hanging up, only a few bored doodles on sticky notes. There was a small badger plush that I had gotten as a gag gift before at a staff party once. There was one feature that stood out, but only to me. I had a jar at the corner of my desk, about half filled with origami cranes. I liked to make them sometimes, when phone calls were so easy that I could literally just rattle off the solution to the customer while my mind was on something else. Recently one of my employees had started to help me fill up the jar. And if I wasn't mistaken- Flick. Pap. Yep. Just like clockwork. A little crane flew over the cubicle wall and landed on a stack of paper work. I smiled a little. I liked consistency. "Thanks, Jack," I said, picking up the bird and placing it in the jar. "No problem," he said. His head popped up over the side of the wall, his blue eyes shining and, of course, there was his hair. It was green, and very hard to miss. "So when you do you think you'll have enough?" I shrugged, looking at the jar. "Hard to say. I think it'll be a while before the two of us make a thousand paper cranes." "Well, when we do, we have to go halfsies in on the wish, okay?" he asked, then laughed. He was too sweet. "Of course," I said, looking up at him. "Tell me when you're taking lunch later, yeah?" He started to reply, but the phone ringing began, and so did our work day. He gave me a thumbs up and disappeared back to his cubicle. I sighed, glancing at my blinking receiver. I picked up the phone and forced a smile and my most professional voice. "Thank you for calling tech support. This is _____. How can I assist you?"

It seemed to take forever for lunch to roll around, but finally another little crane popped over to my desk. Between the wings was a note that said: Lunchtime? I pulled out a pen and scrawled the word yes on the back of the piece of paper, folded it, then tossed it back to him. Jack stood up a few seconds later. "I'll have you know that landed in my hair," he said, taking off his headset. "It's a good thing I noticed or it would've got lost." I rolled my eyes, but got up as well. "That's true since I doubt you wash that unruly hair," I joked, getting up as well. "Let's go to the break room." Our break room was actually one of the good things about working here. Large couches and soft chairs filling up the space along with a few proper tables to eat at. There was a couple of fully stocked vending machines for drinks and snacks, which is where I found myself. Jack was either impressed or concerned with my eating habits, I could tell by the way he quizzically watched my 'lunch' tumble into the dispensing tray. I retrieved my food and sat down on an unoccupied couch. Jack sat on the one opposite of me. We chatted back and forth, at least as much as we could. We could never get far into a story without something popping in to say hello to Jack or to clap him on the shoulder (and nearly choke him in the process) as a friendly gesture. Every time they did, Jack always looked back at my apologetically, but I waved him off. It really didn't bother me too much. I knew Jack was incredibly well liked here. How could he not be? He was always vibrant, quite literally, and positive. He never failed to get the best reviews from customers. I'd even had a few people request him before. It wasn't long before our lunch break was up and we had to get back to work. This was always the longest part of my day, something I had often lamented about before. Jack's resolve was to help pass the time as much as he could. I could count on at least one more origami crane before I left work, and possibly even a few jokes or ridiculous photoshopped images to be airdropped to my phone. Which reminded me that I'd had it shut down all morning. I reached in my pocket and turned it back on. I sat back at my desk and resumed work, hearing Jack do the same. We were mostly busy so there was an unfortunate lack of jokes being sent back and forth, and no paper cranes. The good news was that the day passed quickly and before I knew it was was clocking out. I peered over the wall of the cubicle, seeing if Jack was winding down but he was still hard at work. That didn't really surprise me though. He often got here early and stayed late. I asked him about it once, but he only said that he liked to keep busy. I wasn't sure that was true since I imagined there was a lot more fun things someone like him could do to occupy his time. I left the office without saying anything, not wanting to disturb the others who were staying to work overtime. I got into my car and checked my phone. My lock screen was fuzzy and there were red, blue, and green lines going vertically and horizontally over the image. I verbally cussed, wondering what I had done to screw up my phone. I hadn't dropped it or anything, and it wasn't that old. I unlocked it and the glitches went away. That only confused me more. I cut off my phone, then back on again. The glitches were back. I furrowed my brow. "This doesn't make any sense," I muttered. How could my lock screen be damaged and not the rest of my phone? "Unless...?" I unlocked my phone, and went to my pictures. All off them looked like my lock screen; with lines and distortion all through them. I dropped my phone in the passenger seat, not having the brain power to deal with this right now.

It wasn't until later that night that I turned my attention back to my phone. I reset everything back to default, and plugged it up to my laptop to load everything back up. That was a big mistake. Within seconds the screen flickered, lines glitching in some parts and completely black spots in others. I tried to unplug my phone, but it was burning hot to the touch. I started hitting every command I could think of to make it stop, or to at least power down the system, but nothing deterred it. I was about to call it quits when the screen went black, and the computer restarted normally. No errors or display issues. My login prompt came up, and after a moments hesitation, I put in my password. My laptop had been wiped of all my program shortcuts, and my background was a black screen with small green numbers: 01100001 01101110 01110100 01101001. The numbers repeated until the screen was covered with them. I leaned in to try to decipher the code, though my binary was a bit rusty, but a program opened and I jumped back. It was a notepad application, with a message written already. Ì ̷r͏e͢d̸e̷c̢o̶r̴a͡t́éd, d̛o͟ ̛you ̸l͡iķe it?̢ The cursor blinked underneath it, wanting me to write back. I slowly began typing a reply. No, I don't. Who are you? I watched as one by one letters were typed out, the font corrupted and strange, but it was still legible. Di͝dn'͞t y̨ou ͡get̛ ͠m͡y̡ ͢m͘ess҉a̛ge? ͟I͜t ̧wa̢s a̧ll̨ ͡ovęr̡ y͟ou͞r home s̵c͏r͞ee͏n͘.͘ I glanced back to the numbers I could see peeking out. I slowly went through the alphabet, translating each set of numbers. Tian? What kind of name is that? I wrote out. The screen warbled and warped a for a few seconds. A̴ńt͝i, ̨y̛o̧u ̕įdiot̶!́ It̷'̀s ͡An̕t͠i͘.̶ I supposed that did make more sense. I shook my head, and typed back. Listen, I'm not going on with this little prank any further. You're probably just some kid who learned a few things on the internet and decide to spend your free time screwing with people that have more important things to do. So piss off and leave me alone. My screen went to static and I heard that same laughter like sound from before. Whatever this kid had learned how to do, I had to admit, it was impressive. That didn't mean I'd appreciate it though. Y͟ou ̛wi̷sh͝ thi̵s ͘w͡às͝ ̵j̶u͘s͟t͢ a ̛p̀ra̡n̶k̨,͢ d͟o̢n't ̶y̡ou̶,̡ _____?̀ ͞But̴ th̢is ̸i̛s som̀ethi͡ng͟ ̧f͟ar ͡w͢òrse. Yoú d͠on'͜t k̨nơw w̢ha͟t you҉'͞r͢e͝ dea͢ling wit̕h̀,͏ ̸and́ I̶'̧m ̶s͢or͘ry ͏fo̶ŕ ͞t͡ha͟t.͜ D̢on't f͟r͢et t̡h͡ơugh̕, ̶you͠'l͟l ̸c̢omé ̨tǫ kn̶ow ̨me ̴very͝ ͏perśo̶nall͞y soo̸n̡.̨ H̷ehehe..҉.͏ I didn't like the idea of this little punk getting under my skin, but he was starting to. So I did the only other thing I knew to do to make everything go away. I shut my laptop. Anti, or whatever his real name was, couldn't bother me unless I interacted with technology. It was annoying, but I could give up my computer time for tonight until I found someone to fix it.

AN: Thanks for reading this story guys! I know the first chapter was short, but this one is a bit longer. I really liked writing Jack in this, he is just too cute 💚 I hope you enjoyed it as well! Feel free to leave feedback, constructive criticism, anything to help me write a better story!

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#antisepticeye #jacksepticeye #jacksepticeyetag2 #jacksepticeye fanfiction #antisepticeye fanfiction #anti x reader #she writes

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asunafairywizardessheart · 7 years

Text

To Save Her (Rewritten)

Klaus/Asana

WARNING: VIOLENCE DEPICTED

Summary: Following off Klaus’ unhappy ending, he is distracted with thoughts of going to her home town and facing her but a dark wizard clan he is chasing takes Asana hostage.

This is a rewritten version of the old TO SAVE HER story I had previously posted.

I realised the problem with the old story likely occurred when I was having technical difficulties with Tumblr and my computer. To fix my computer I had to reset my computer to default settings which meant deleting everything off the drives, so I couldn’t go back to the original document I wrote.

So, I rewrote the story so it is different to the old story.

“They escaped again,” a young agent with short brown hair entered the vacant warehouse where the security guard had tipped to the Ministry of the gang they were chasing but had fled the scene before they arrived, “Look for clues, I will inform…Klaus,” he dreaded, something about the man had been off lately making him grumpier than usual to deal with.

Boarding his broom, the agent had not travelled far out of the city where cooped up inside his office, Klaus lacked the motivation to work but he had to complete his tasks or face a long lecture by his boss, who also happened to be his long-serving father or the second-in-command, who happened to be his carefree older brother.

Grumpily, Klaus analysed a map sprawled out across his desk with pins marking the places the dark wizards he was hunting had been too. As he did, the young agent who had the job of informing Klaus of their failure to capture the wizards, nervously knocked on his open door, “Sir?” his voice was soft, his composure stifling at Klaus’ tall and gallant figure.

“What?” in contrast, Klaus’ voice was sharp and his eyes refused to meet the young agent’s.

“Sir…the dark wizards evaded us again,” he answered, swallowing a lump of his nerves as Klaus pierced his famous violet glare at him.

“Then why are you standing here telling me this when you should be gathering evidence or talking to witnesses?” Klaus grumbled, “Any small clue you can find will help us catch these murderers.”

“Yes, right away, sir,” the young agent made a move to leave the office.

However, Klaus called him back, “Oh also,” he spoke loud enough for the man, and those working just outside Klaus’ office to hear him, “If you need to communicate with me, do not leave the crime scene to simply tell to my face the wizards escaped again,” he warned.

“Yes, sorry sir,” quickly, the young man fled to the safety of the elevator doors.

Walking across the room, Klaus closed his door and retreated to the tanned-coloured office chair made of cushioning leather. His porcelain tea cup filled with his favourite brew of black tea had gone cold as he spent time trying to think in the minds of those he’s chasing to counteract their steps, but they were smart not to leave a recognisable track.

Wiping any place clean of their magical residue, they couldn’t turn up any names of interests and careful not to show their faces, they stuck to the paddocks and fields or blended with the crowds of people in the city to remain hidden. During attacks, they wore masks and used magic to disguise their voices to shield their identity while carrying out their mission, taking valuables and money on the way. They called themselves the Soul Takers Clan, radicals who believe in pure magic and violently murder or kidnap non-magic users or half-blood wizards to preach the value of pure magic.

Rubbing his hands down his face and then cupping his head between his hands, he peered down at a small photo in a silver frame on his desk. He was standing next to the girl who got away, wearing his Prefect’s uniform and forcing a smile while her brunette hair flowed gracefully around her face and she wore the merriest pink smile as Amelia took a photo marking the day where she should have become an official student.

“Hm, time flies,” his eyes fixated on her beautiful round eyes and the smile he fell in love with, only his heart twitched in agony at the memory of her abandoning him as he waited for her to return to his office, three years had passed since that day, “Why didn’t you just come back to the office? We could have worked something out,” he whispered the same question he had been asking for the last three years as she ran away.

He wondered if she knew how much it had hurt him that she had run away like that or how every day he longed to see her again? Being a certified wizard and not wishing to find employment at the academy which now reminded him of his only love, he joined the Ministry, using his knowledge in dark magic to combat it under the authority of his father, though occasionally assisting wizard knights in combat training.

On the tenth floor of the extravagant building, he shared an office with his older brother but he was in a meeting long with his father and a few other members of the Ministry, unhappy these criminals have not yet been captured and his team had no suspects to question. It was like the Ministry to resolve these problematic issues quickly, especially when the media hounded around the investigation like dogs fighting over a juicy bone, wanting the same piece of meat as the others.

His mind shouldn’t be spacing out over a girl who had broken his heart three years ago, but her running away was the first time he had felt severe heart-break and it made him an even more difficult person, that infamous violet stare and brutal tongue plunging intimidation into the eyes of those who stood before him. Though, Klaus could never forget how she stood up to him, how she had broken through his walls and touched his heart, the flaming love he felt for her still burning as bright as it did in those thirteen days he knew her, like an eternal flame with no way to extinguish it, love was not emotion easily switched off.

Turning his gaze to the her the photo immortalising her young face, he wondered how much she must have changed and wondered if she had met someone new in the three years they had not seen each other. She’s an attractive girl who has likely matured into her beauty, and with the kindest and gentlest soul and infectious smile, any man would be a fool not to fall in love with her. Then, he glanced at the flip calendar beside the framed photo with the number ‘23’ circled with a red pen.

“I will see you soon, Bunnyhead,” he muttered in the silent room with no other sound but the noises of working employees muffled by the walls and door separating him from his colleagues and the ticking clock on the adjacent wall by his brother’s desk.

Turning his gaze to the calendar on his desk, he had a date marked in red pen. ‘23’ was circle but the date was three weeks away. It would mark the day he began his holidays and the day he would find the courage to travel to her mountainside home and fulfil his promise of chasing after her. “I will see you soon, Bunnyhead,” he whispered to the picture on his desk. The circled date marking the day he would use his holidays to finally get the answers to his one question, “Why didn’t you just come back to the office, we could have worked something out?” he sighed, reclining back in his chair as he refocused his brain on the case, he would be going nowhere until these criminals were caught.

Inhaling a deep breath, the smell of tea clouded the air around him, and his thoughts drifted back to the first cup of tea he shared with her, the fragrance of black tea transformed into the aromatic scent of Assam. They learnt more about each other in that office, these days occupied by his younger brother. Another twist of pain caused agony to his heart as these memories, as vivid like it happened only days ago, tormented him, but why did he have to think about it now when he should be concentrating on the case at hand.

“Concentrate Klaus,” he encouraged himself to think about the case, it needed to be his top priority, but it was hard to concentrate knowing in three weeks he would come face-to-face with the girl he loved, and perhaps his behaviour stemmed from some anxiety he refused to show. Again, he found himself thinking of all the possible scenarios that would play out when he shows up on her door step.

His lips tugged into a grin as he imagined the cute look on her face, not noticing his door flinging open and two men walked through his office. They were both tall, but one had golden locks and a youthful face and the other had blonde hair which had started to grey in his older years. The older gentleman had an authoritative stride and the other kept his posture straight and his steps were fast.

“How do they expect us to fight an enemy who keep themselves concealed?” the younger one had a slight temper as he crowed angrily and walked over to the kettle to boil water to brew a cup of coffee, his voice clear and smooth in his youth.

“I have been working on a magical tool to help us in this case,” the older man looked to Klaus, raising an eyebrow at the weird grin he was wearing, and back to the younger man boiling water in the kettle, his voice deeper and stern, “Is your brother broken?” he suddenly asked, waving his hand in front of Klaus to grab his attention.

Grabbing a ball of rubber bands tied together from his desk, the younger man threw it lightly at Klaus and it landed on the top of his head, “Ouch!” it snapped Klaus from his daze sharply and he growled at the younger man but older than him by a few years, ��What are you a child, Julius?!”

“Listen when our father is speaking to you,” Julius refuted him.

“May I ask why you are grinning like a fool, son?” the older man in the room was Walter Goldstein, Klaus’ father, boss and a long-serving field wizard in the Ministry, where he held a chief position, though with two sons under his command he always remained their father first and their superior second.

Klaus stared up at him and answered, “…Just thinking…about someone,” he averted his gaze with a slight pink tinge in his cheeks, too embarrassed to admit he was daydreaming about a girl.

“You mean, that girl who stoned your heart?” Julius questioned, an amused smile curling across the man’s face, certainly more aloof in character than his two brothers.

It was a weird question to ask since Klaus had not once mentioned Asana to his eldest brothers or his parents, only Elias knew because he was there, and he made Elias swear not to mention anything to the rest of the family because he did not want to give them the ammunition to tease him, Julius, especially, would never let him live it down.

“I’m going to kill him,” Klaus muttered knowing Elias must have said something, not sure who he told first for it to have spread to everyone in his family.

Walter chuckled, “Now, do not resort to violence Klaus. Elias was only concerned for your emotional and mental health that he felt necessary for us to know why you have been a giant, grumpy pain in the rear more than usual,” his father told him the truth, “Why do you feel the need to keep these things from your mother and I?”

“I am a grown man, I don’t need my parents to hold my hand,” Klaus’ words were harsh in response, “Also, it’s my personal business,” his eyes twitched with agitation and his face went from a pink-tinge to a darker shade of red.

“She must be some kind of woman for you to be hung up on her for three years,” Julius commented, “Love’s a bitch, it hurts, but never thought you would fall this hard for anybody. Even after she abandoned you and broke your heart.”

“Language, Julius,” Walter said as his son brewed a cup of coffee.

Klaus shrugged, “I love her, and I always will.”

Walter’s life experience was far greater than his young sons’ and remembered his first heart break at the hands of an ex-girlfriend, a year before he met their mother, and was believer in true love, despite his stern and realist personality.

“To be young and in love,” he smirked and rambled, “A feeling felt in many ways and can happen at any moment, possibly when you least expect it. It can be a cruel torture and pure bliss, it can bring down the toughest men and women and it can also become your greatest strength in the face of adversaries. It can’t be persuaded not even by magic and, depending if it is true, when lost, can guide the way.”

Klaus and Julius traded a glance, their father saying something their mother would say, but they never knew he was quite the philosopher when it came to matters of the heart, “Since when do you believe in true love?” Klaus suddenly asked.

“Because, my true love has stayed by my side through sadness and happiness, blessed my life with three handsome and smart sons and is always waiting up for me to greet me when I return home from this depressing job,” he smiled down at his son, “Now, back to the case at hand,” his wrinkled hand disappeared into his pocket.

“That’s right, you said you made a magic tool to help us catch these criminals, right?” Julius remembered his father saying so before Klaus’ issues had them going off track, and carrying his cup of coffee, he leaned against his brother’s desk.

“Correct, I had Elias do some research for me,” Walter pulled out a crystal and placed it on the desk, “Simply, he researched the elements the tool we invented to collect magical residue in high volumes and research a way for that same tool to collect smaller amounts of magical residue.”

Klaus pinched his eyebrows together, “How is this going to help us? I mean, they wipe the scene clear of any residue.”

“Not true, magical residue will linger if you have used it until the air dissipates it,” Walter argued, and it was a textbook fact that a wizard’s energy lingered where they had last used it until it wears off naturally, “Knowing this rule, Elias used a stronger and larger crystal and fused it with the Tears of Undine and a person’s magical residue to create a persona mirror which could reveal where they are in the kingdom.”

Julius inspected the crystal his father had removed from his pocket, “Is this it?”

“No, Elias is bringing the finished product here in person.”

“So, how did he manage to make a tool to collect residue and to be able to find criminals far away?” Klaus was interested because this could be his little brother’s mark on the magical tool making world, a sense of proudness overwhelmed him.

“Relentless research is what I am hearing from Headmaster Randolph and a lot of trial and errors,” Walter explained, “He’s been working on this project for a while now and we might be the first people to use it.”

Julius smiled proudly, “He’s come a long way,” he commented and echoed Klaus’ thoughts, “If his invention is successful, this might be his first big magic tool he’s made.”

“I might have some competition after all,” no one was prouder than Walter, “Let’s hope his invention helps us.”

“For it to work, won’t you need to find some residue?” Klaus wondered.

“Already have a sample inside the crystal. I went to the most recent crime scene and collected what I could before it vanished.”

“What if this residue does not belong to any of the thieves we are looking for?” Julius asked.

“It might give us a witness at least, depending if they are on the Ministry’s list.”

“How long until Elias arrives here?”

“I believe he’s on the train here now.”

Looking at the map, they worked together to get inside the minds of the people they were chasing, not foreseeing how personal taking down these villainous radicals would become, especially to Klaus.

“You can’t go back to the warehouse,” a man with short brown hair met with the radicals on the outskirts of the city among the shrubbery, where their meeting wouldn’t be seen by several eyes, “I don’t know where you will go because you Klaus Goldstein on your trail, and he’s good at tracking.”

“Klaus Goldstein, huh?” the man he was speaking to wore a mask and his voice was changed using a potion to conceal his identity from the agent, “He’s becoming quite the problem. I suppose I should be thanking you for leading them astray with your false sightings but what is it you want from us? We murder people and you are helping us.”

Scratching the back of his head, where he had neatly shaved his brown hair from his neck, the same agent who had met with Klaus earlier had an agenda all his own, “Because…I need you to kill someone,” the agent replied and the masked man’s eyes widened.

“We have a political plan here, we aren’t assassins.”

As far as the agent was concerned the group of radicals owed him for risking his own flesh in helping them evade Klaus’ hands, “I could just tell Klaus where you are and he will deploy the knights and many other powerful wizards to stop you. If that’s not enough, I also know where your main hideout is, you should be careful where you speak about your business, in the woods anyone could hear you.”

“You have guts threatening me young man.”

The young man frowned and gave him a glare, “It’s not an empty threat either, besides, after all the innocent lives you have taken, why should this life be any different.”

“Can’t argue with that,” the leader of the radicals clicked his tongue, “Who is it you want to kill?”

Pulling out a photograph, there was a face of a young girl on the front, “Her,” she was stunningly gorgeous and the leader of the radicals raised his eyebrows.

“She’s a gorgeous thing, why would you want to waste such a beauty?”

“Because, Klaus Goldstein killed my brother and it’s time he lost someone important to him,” the young agent said, “Her name is Asana Way, she’s the only wizard in her village of Reitz. I want to make him fall to his knees and understand the pain of losing someone so important you can’t bring them back no matter how hard you wish.”

“This is perfect,” an idea sparked in his twisted mind and the agent paid him with a pocketful of golden coins, “Does it matter how we do it?”

“No, I don’t care so long as she dies and I can witness Klaus suffering everyday as I do for my brother. This is, call it a deposit, do the job right and I will pay you handsomely.”

That’s where they departed ways and the leader looked down at the picture in his hands. She was stunning and cheerful but with her ties to Klaus, a common enemy between himself and the young agent, she would be the perfect target to force Klaus into retreating. He wouldn’t kill her, not yet.

“Gents, pack your things,” he called out to his large gang, “We are going to the town of Reitz to pay a visit to Klaus Goldstein’s woman. When we get there, no harm is to come to this one, we will use her to control the Goldstein but the rest of her village and their magicless people can burn.”

Darkness fell across the kingdom as the clan moved from the outskirts of the city and ascended into the moonlit sky to advance onto the small village hidden in the valleys of the mountains in the deep countryside.

Small streams of hot air flowed off mashed potato and meatloaf on her plate. With small bites, she caught up on the day's news from the morning paper. It felt strange to be reading the morning paper at night, but she had a busy morning doing her rounds around the farms.

As it has been for a week, the front page covered the Soul Takers Clan and their latest attack on an innocent village. In Reitz, people were worried the murderous radicals would storm their tiny mountainside village, turning their lush green meadows red with their blood.

However, they expected Asana's presence would be enough to protect them from attack. ‘They're after non-wizards and half wizards’ they would whisper, but Asana was one person and unaware of their power. While she was no longer a clumsy wizard, she was not the most powerful either or knew how to fight that well, her speciality were taming animals and creatures and medicine.

As she read about the recent attack, her heart ached for those poor people who suffered, especially the children caught in the tragedy. “I hope the Ministry finds them soon,” she sighed.

Reading further down the article a recent picture of Klaus was published, he was the leading officer in pursuit of the Soul Takers Clan but the article about him was not positive. The reporter painted him in a negative light because the complexity of the case meant he had no suspects in custody or any leads to catch the criminals.

“Klaus Goldstein has studied dark magic, how do we know he's not aiding these radicals on their mission for a pure magic world?” the question at the end of the article made her angry, and she threw the paper to the floor.

“Rubbish!” she announced passionately to no one, “He would never align himself with dark wizards! They have no idea who he is!” suddenly, she lost her appetite at the thought of the one man she ever truly loved and those sharp pains in her heart brought tears to her eyes once again.

Like Klaus' heart, her heart ached with regret and loneliness as the accusations made against him caused her to relive those thirteen days she had fallen for him, and in the three years, without speaking to him, her unconditional love for him had not faded.

Back then, she was naive and had convinced herself she was not worthy to stand at his side. Her failure ignited a strong insecurity within her, and she ran away, afraid her failings as a wizardess would hinder his bright future. She left the academy, without a note or a personal goodbye, and returned to her cosy cottage where she continued to train hard to become a stronger wizardess, so one day she could face him as someone worthy of him.

She ordered every reputable text book on magic, even offensive magic, and practised day and night, sometimes without eating or sleeping, until she crammed the fundamentals of magic into her head. Every time she got a spell wrong, she could hear his beautiful voice scolding her, driving her motivation to become better.

Naturally, neighbours worried about her but they let her be but, in hindsight, those restless days was her working through her own heartbreak and the guilt she harboured knowing she had hurt him. Those restless days was her desperation to become a better wizardess for him, though after three years she'd understand if he never took her back and it was likely some other woman stood at his side.

She looked across at a jar of money on a dustless chestnut shelf nearby the kitchen. Her veterinary clinic was keeping her busy and bringing in a stable income that when she opened she had been saving to travel to the city to see him again. She had more than enough but she would have no idea what to say to him or even if he wanted to see her. Also, the thought of seeing another woman at his side made her heart ache.

“Stay safe Klaus,” she whispered into the air, knowing how stressed he must be and the danger he must be facing in pursuit of these radicals, “Maybe...I can come see you after the case is resolved,” she said out loud, like he would somehow hear her voice.

She sighed and her dinner had gone cold, not that she was hungry now. Washing her plate in the sink, her body began feeling tired from her busy day at the clinic though she had enough energy for a quick shower. As the water rained down on her body though, she felt heavier with tiredness and started to feel uneasy. She hadn’t realised it yet, but it was a sign she was going to be in for a sleepless night.

Wrapping a towel around her body, she dried herself off in her bedroom and changed into a satin nightdress with thin straps keeping the garment on her body. As she changed, her vision began to blur and her body felt like it was being pinned down by a weight she didn’t have the strength to move or speak, “What’s happening to me?” She asked and started to see Klaus’ face.

Collapsing onto the bed, she fell asleep and strong visions plagued her mind where her subconscious senses were consumed with the pain of being tortured and the smell of fire and blood in the distance fragranced the air: she could see masked men tormenting her and torturing her and could hear the cries of her village in the distance. She tossed and turned violently and her body became drenched with a sweat conjured by her nightmare. The only familiar face she saw, and the one she wanted to see the most in that moment, was Klaus’.

“Klaus!” bolting upright, she screamed his name into the silent and dark house, her breathing hard and shallow and her nightdress and sheets dampened by the layer of cold sweat covering her body. With no one to hear her, she held her blankets close and checked the time, it was one in the morning, but her scream had travelled further than she thought.

Miles away in the city, the Goldstein residence was shrouded in darkness as the family caught some solid hours of sleep. Klaus, Julius and Walter were exhausted after their eventful day chasing these dark wizards and fighting off the media, and Elias had returned home later than expected after the train ran late, but he would show them his magic tool invention in the morning.

As they slept, Klaus tossed and turned violently too, the silk sheets on his bed twisting with his movements and coming out from underneath the mattress where they sheet was tucked.

It was as though his mind had been connected to hers, but he couldn’t see any visions, he just heard screaming and he could smell fire and blood with a terrible and painful feeling in the pit of his stomach eating at him. Then, he heard it, “Klaus!” he shot upright with a cold sweat glistening across his brow in the moonlight which shined into his room, her voice rippling through his head.

“Asana!” he shouted her name as he sat up with an explosion of wind magic emitting from his body. He had unleashed an uncontrolled primitive wind spell just by calling her name, flipping the tables in his chambers over and any unweighted papers flying across the floor.

Next to his chambers, Julius and Elaine were abruptly awoken when they heard the loud crash of his furniture and Klaus panicked scream. Without thinking, Julius leapt from his bed with Elaine right behind him as they hurried to his chambers, “Klaus?”

Barging into his brother’s room, Julius turned on the lights and found his tables flipped onto their sides, papers strewn across the ground and Klaus staring into thin air with his violet eyes as wide as saucers. “Klaus?” Julius approached him.

“Is he okay?” Elaine kept her distance but her voice was gentle with worry for a man she accepted as a brother, though they were the same age.

Sweat stung his eyes as it dropped from his forehead and Julius noticed the wet patches of sweat in his white night-shirt. Klaus felt his heart racing as his breathing was rapid, but he couldn’t shake the terror he was feeling, after all he’d recognise her voice anywhere. He didn’t know why, but he could feel her fear and it was connected to the Soul Takers Clan.

Leaping out of bed, he raced to the library where they had been working on trying to calculate the Clan’s next target. “Klaus?” Julius raced after him, worried since his brother was clearly bothered by something, which was unlike him.

Turning on the lights to the library, the same map they had been working with at the Ministry was pinned to a chip-board wall. Every village and every town in the boundaries of the kingdom were named, with different coloured lines marking large rivers to slim creeks and streams, railroads and back roads to major highways.

Red pins marked the towns which had been attacked whereas the blue pins marked the places where the Ministry had received calls they had seen the criminals. Klaus knew their mission was to cleanse the world of non-magic people and half-wizards, pathing the way for a pure race of wizards.

Tracing his finger along the map in line with the red pins, he realised he had missed an obvious pattern, “How could I miss this?” he cursed at himself for not being able to focus his attention on the case, lately his mind had been thinking about the date he would come face-to-face with her again.

Jittering around the room, Klaus paced around with agitation in his steps, “Klaus?” Julius came to stand by his side and gripped his shoulders, “Hey, pull yourself together and tell me what happened?”

While Julius dealt with his brother, Elaine had intercepted Walter at Klaus’ chamber doors and pointed him to the library, along with Elias too. He didn’t know how to explain it but he heard her, “Let me go,” Klaus shrugged him away, “I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

“Her?” Julius was confused and heard footsteps coming through the door, “What do you mean you won’t let anything happen to her? You are not making any sense.”

“Listen! They are following the Illgatto Mountains!” he pointed at the red pins and made his brother realise the pattern they had missed, “They are attacking towns and villages within and at the bases of the mountains because this is where they are more likely to encounter entire populations of non-magic users or half-wizards, a city is too complex.”

As he pointed it out, Julius and Walter realised the pattern as he explained it, “How could I be so stupid to miss something so obvious! Now, she’s in danger, I can feel it!”

“What are you talking about?” Julius didn’t know who he was talking about, “Calm down.”

“How can I?” his violet pupils were filled with pain, anger and sheer panic, “She screamed, I heard her and I can’t do anything to save her!”

“Who are you talking about?”

Elias answered Julius question, “There’s only one girl he would ever get this worked up about. But, how did you hear Asana from here when she lives in Reitz?”

“I don’t know,” Klaus snarled, “All I know is I was sleeping and all I could hear was screaming and the smell of fire and blood then Asana calling my name. That’s when I woke up with a terrible feeling and knew this clan was connected to her.”

Julius analysed the map and found where the blue pins conflicted with Klaus’ focus on the red pins, “Hey Dad, now that Klaus mentions it, the calculations don’t make sense. It took our agents six hours to be notified of the attack and arrive on the scene but then an half an hour later they were spotted six hundred and thirty-five miles from the scene.”

“That would be impossible by car and if they flew they would have expensed a lot of magical energy with little time to wipe the scene clean of their residue,” Elias agreed.

“Someone has deliberately thrown us off the trail,” Walter confirmed, “Can’t believe they blinded us like that!”

Tracing the base line of the mountains, the last city they had attacked was the major centre of Wile City, “The last city they attacked was Wile City, so if they are attacking villages and towns along the Illgatto Mountain Range then the next town in the firing line is…Reitz,” Julius remembered Elias had mentioned the village’s name.

“What if we are too late?” a shiver ran down Klaus’ spine, “Why else would I have heard her?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Klaus,” Walter put his hand on his son’s shoulder, “Does she by chance possess an ability to see into the future? Time magic, perchance?”

Even though Klaus had not seen her for years, he remembered every detail about the adventure they had gone through to stop Azusa from sacrificing her pure heart to the darkness and recalled her rare magical gifts.

“…She can use an ability called Foresight. Why does that matter?”

“Because, only a strong and powerful wizard with an ability to use to use high-level foresight and time magic can communicate with people far away through dreams. It takes a lot of concentration but if they focus on that person’s face, it’s possible, perhaps unaware, she communicated to you. Though, it takes amazing power to also share whatever she was seeing,” he explained, “Even if you didn’t see anything but she connected her mind and soul with yours, she must be exceptionally gifted.”

He hadn’t seen her for three years and couldn’t confidently say if she had become any more powerful since she left him. “…What are you saying?”

“She gave us time, but probably not a lot of it,” Walter said, “Deploy wizard knights to the town of Reitz immediately,” he ordered Julius to gather the knights, “Have them use the Transporter.”

“I want to go to!” Klaus demanded his brother not leave without him, “I need to save her!”

With the speed of a vanishing winged-rabbit, Julius and Klaus dressed quickly and left for the Ministry, Klaus using his communicator to call an urgent deployment meeting and to be at the Ministry building in twenty minutes sharp. Walter powerless to stop Klaus from leaving, “I could be wrong too…,” he sighed, he was only hypothesising with an eighty-five percent certainty they had time to counter the Clan.

“Dad, once it comes to Asana, nothing else matters,” Elias whispered, “Say, hold on to that crystal, we might need to use it before too long.”

“If we use it now we can tell how far way they are from attacking the town,” Walter argued.

“There must be another reason why he connected to Asana like that,” he felt something was strange, “Foresight often comes when whatever will happen directly involves the wizard. Sure, her town is one thing, but that’s not powerful enough to connect to Klaus, right?”

His question made Walter think and Elias had a good point, “Listen, while you are here, and I hate to ask this of you, but could you investigate whoever threw us off the trail?”

“Of course, but don’t use the crystal yet.”

“Elias, I don’t even know how to use it yet,” Walter had only heard the theory of his son’s invention but was yet to see a demonstration, “Go now, I will give you my key to the Ministry, and be careful.”

Since she couldn’t sleep, not without those nightmares consuming her mind, she tried to piece together what they could mean, unaware she had already called Klaus’ help. With no thoughts coming to her mind, she decided to bake some chocolate muffins in her kitchen to take her mind off her stress.

“What does all this mean?” she asked as she stirred the butter and sugar together, “Okay, next are the eggs and milk followed by the flour and cocoa,” she didn’t need a recipe since these were popular in the town and people ordered batches of her baked goods, though this batch would be for her.

As she stirred the ingredients together, the house completely silent with the town as her neighbours slept through these early hours of the morning, she didn’t count on an intruder opening her door without so much as a sound.

Though, she did see a shadowed figure move across her front window from where she stood in the kitchen of the open planned house. The knob on her front door rattled as whoever was on the other side checked to see if it was locked. Her heart jumped with fear and she dropped her mixing bowl to run to her bedroom to grab her wand but she was stopped by the intruder who had walked silently through her back door.

She was at the receiving end of a magic wand but she attempted to retreat backwards, hoping to escape the other way. However, a gloved hand quickly covered her mouth and the other man, holding the wand at her, bound her hands and feet together with an unbreakable chain bind. As they tightened, the sharp edges stabbed into her skin and she cried out with painful muffled screams.

“Don’t try to move too much or fight back,” the man grabbing her warned her, his voice had no emotion or feeling, but it was cold as his disgusting breath ghosted up her neck, “Those binds have sealed your magic and any resistance will only make the binds more painful.”

She could feel her own terrified breathing huffing through her nose onto the gloved hand covering her mouth because she had no idea what they were going to do to her or why. The metal spikes stabbing into her ankles and wrists forming tears in her eyes as the pain shot through her body. There was no point in screaming out to her neighbours because there was no way they could fight two dark wizards.

“Is this the one?” suddenly, she heard another man’s voice in the store room by the back door, followed by heavy boots padding along the tiles of her kitchen. He walked up to her and stroked her chin, neck and shoulders.

“It’s her boss,” the one who had bounded her hands and feet and kept his wand pointed at her produced a photo to the man who stood before her, uninvitingly stroking his gloved finger across her exposed flesh since she had not changed out of her nightdress.

Taking the photo, the man held it up against her, “This must be a younger photo of you, my you look more beautiful now then you do in this photo,” he chuckled, “Burn the village and kill anyone who is not a pure wizard. This one is coming with us.”

Hearing those orders, her eyes widened and she screamed, pointlessly, into the hand which kept her silent, and tried to kick and punch her way out of the binds concealing her magic. “I warned you,” the man holding her flicked his wand and the metal spikes slowly deepened, the unbearable pain made her scream loudly.

“Let’s go,” the man hoisted her up over her shoulder.

“Put me down!” she yelled as the man removed his hand from her mouth and as she heard screaming from her neighbours and smelt smoke, “No! Don’t do this!” she begged.

“But, I must,” the man the other two had called boss said, “You though, you are pure,” he said and yanked her from the man, “You help burn this village to the ground and then return to base.”

His grab was not gentle as he squeezed her tightly to prevent her escape as he mounted his broom. “Get any clever ideas and I will drop you,” he threatened and ascended to the skies, giving her a bird’s eye view of her village going up in smoke and some of her neighbours being killed.

“No!” she screamed and was powerless to stop them, tears fell from her eyes in a torrent, “You monster!” she punched the man in the back and he grabbed a fistful of her hair and held her.

“You don’t listen, do you,” he said, watching her legs kick as he dangled her in the air, “Now, I am supposed to kill you but I have other plans for you. Klaus Goldstein, he cares about you and he’s my enemy, which makes you the perfect tool to get to him.”

Her body trembled with fear but she didn’t want to hold onto this man, she hated him. “Klaus…will never chose me over everything else,” she declared and cried as her village burned in the distance, “You’re a monster, he will stop you.”

“Well then, shall we put him to the test?” he chuckled and flew faster through the air to reach their base. It didn’t take long for him to reach an abandoned barn and farmstead in the middle of a brown field of grass nor for his crew to join him.

Made of wood, the abandoned barn had several holes in its roof and the straw scattering the floor felt like a bunch of sharp sticks across a forest floor. Being bare footed and dressed in a thin nightdress, she felt cold and the ends of the straw stabbed at her feet, she could feel bruises forming.

The metal spikes stabbing through her wrists and ankles to conceal her powers throbbed painfully. She felt scared as the masked men of the infamous Clan surrounded her and laughed but she refused to meet their gaze. But, the boss of this clan clenched her chin between his fingers tightly, hurting her, “Ah!” she winched in pain.

“I suppose we should let Klaus know we have you,” he smiled and her gaze turned to a man holding a visual recording magic tool, “What to do though?” his smile was sadistic as was his threats.

Klaus and Julius gave instructions to the wizard knights and accompanied them to the village by using the Transporter, a magic tool which teleported people to far places without having to expense to much magical energy. Joining them was Walter.

“Elias will investigate whoever deliberately threw us off the trail,” he informed them as he arrived at the office.

“Alright, we need to prepare ourselves for a fight,” Klaus explained, “We believe they are attacking villages and towns within and at the base of the Illgatto Mountain Range.”

“Our priority is to protect the civilians and make sure they are not caught in the cross-fire,” Julius added, “You have permission to use whatever is necessary to stop these criminals. We will use the Transporter to get there faster.”

“Are there any questions before we discuss the strategy?” Klaus asked.

No one asked a question and Klaus proceeded to explain the plan of attack. Separating his agents and knights, Klaus’ strategy was an impromptu one and as he finished an owl flew through the office, dropping a package on the fire escape outside the window.

Walter collected it as Klaus finalised his strategy and Julius set the coordinates on the dial of the Transporter so they could, hopefully, intercept the Clan before they attacked, but Klaus felt uneasy that bad feeling still stirring in his stomach.

Collecting the package, Walter saw no address on it, only ‘KLAUS GOLDSTEIN’ written in a bright red substance. He took the package back to Klaus, worry settling in his heart as he handed the package to him, “Your name is written in blood,” he had been a wizard long enough to know what blood looked like, even on a sheet of paper.

“…Blood…,” he felt his heart sink and held his wand. Unsure of what to expect, he cast a spell over the package to analyse it. There was no threat to his own safety, but he was too afraid to open the package.

Julius turned to Vincent, “You lead your knights and the agents, report what you see. We will join you soon,” he gave his orders and Vincent nodded affirmatively and lead his knights and the agents through the portal.

“Do you think it’s from them?” Elias wondered.

“…I think so,” Julius answered him and waited patiently for Klaus to open the package.

“Dad, give me the crystal,” Elias held out his hand and Walter pulled the crystal from his pocket. He had brought the sealed wooden chest with him and prepared to use it to find the owner of the magic, hoping his father had collected the residue of the one of the criminals, if not, he could easily jump through the portal and collect another sample.

From the blood on the package, he could feel it belonged to her. With no more hesitation, he unsealed the back and reached into the pouch of the yellow only for his fingers to meet with a thick and warm wet substance. Bringing his fingers out of the pocket, he found the tips of his white flesh were covered in blood with strands of brown hair trapped within the sticky blood.

He felt like being sick and felt faint since he recognised her beautiful soft brown hair anywhere. With his hand holding the end of the envelope, he felt something hard inside the packaging but he was scared to know what could be waiting for him, anger burning in his heart.

At the bottom of the envelope was an amber disc from a magical recording device and a letter, the corners of the white paper also dyed in the stains of blood. “I don’t like where this is going,” Julius muttered.

“Are you sure you want to watch this?” Walter asked and looked behind him at Elias. His son concentrated his magical energy to transfer the residue between the mirror and a map he had created for his three-piece invention, and it was working.

Klaus had no clue what was waiting for him on the visual but he had to play it, he knew they had Asana and they had no idea what a huge mistake they had made. Enchanting the amber disc, it floated up in the air and a clear visual was produced.

“Klaus Goldstein!” a man’s voice was disguised with magic and his face was masked, “I think I have someone quite special to you,” the visual turned to Asana, she had blood running from her wrists and ankles where they were bound with metal chains, blood ran from her shoulders down her arms and there were bruises, gashes and lacerations across her face and abdomen. If Klaus was not angry before, he was now.

“Sorry, she’s not looking the best,” the man mocked him, “However, if you want to save her there is something you can do about it,” he moved to pick Asana up off her feet by grabbing her small neck with one hand and lifting her high enough that her feet were moved off the ground.

Holding her in a headlock, he dug his wand into her neck while tightening his grip around her neck, stealing her ability to breath. Sounds of her choking and gasping for air had Klaus’ blood boiling as he remembered the shape of the man’s darkened eyes in the face of the camera, “Stop investigating us or this pretty little thing will never take another breath.”

That’s where the communication ended and Klaus’ eyes had turned dark too. It was a look his brothers and father had never seen him wear. Elias had finished his spell and the map revealed the location of one of the men and saw he was in a barn watching the man trying to feed Asana with bread, but she refused, spitting in his face.

“Found them,” Elias smiled, “They are at an old barn and farmstead in the mountains. He’s watching that guy trying to feed her.”

In a low growl and gripping his wand, Klaus’ smirk was terrifying, “What are the coordinates?” his voice was dark and it made Elias flinch in fear.

“…F-Fifteen…miles west of Reitz,” he handed Julius the numbers to set the Transporter to take him straight to where Asana was being held against her will.

“We will come with you,” Walter said, referring to Julius and Elias, “There’s no way you can handle that many on your own.”

“Don’t underestimate me, Dad.”

With the Transporter set, Julius sent a message to Vincent to inform him where they were going and required assistance when they were free, sending him the coordinates in a magic note as they arrived at the old barn.

Klaus could hear her screaming and he was ready to storm the building to save her but his father brought him back down, “I know you want to save her, but you will be dead before you reach that door. Open your eyes and pay attention!” he slapped his son across the head.

She screamed again, only this time it was louder than before. Before his father and brothers could stop him, Klaus sprinted towards the warehouse. “Klaus!” Walter called him back but his son didn’t listen, firing magic towards those who attempted to intercept him, “Good grief!” Walter, Julius and Elias had no choice but to run after him, providing him cover.

“She must be something,” Julius commented.

Bursting through the warehouse doors, Klaus withdraw a magical staff full of wind magic and knocked several men opposing him on their backs. He was driven and when he reached the man piercing a hot wire into her open wounds, he quickly brought him to the ground, with his brothers and father surrounding the other men. Straddling over the man’s waist, Klaus didn’t hold back on making sure he knew how angry he was, magic flying from the wands of Walter, Julius and Elias, clearly stronger wizards then their enemies. Asana couldn’t believe he had come to his rescue, “Klaus…,” happiness overflowed from her heart.

“Asana!” rushing to her side was Elias, he unshackled the chains around her wrists and ankles, “Can you walk?”

She nodded and he helped her up but she fell right back down, “Ow!” she was in too much pain to stand and felt pathetic as usual. Suddenly, another group of wizards burst through the barn and they were dressed in white.

“Vincent, take them into custody,” Walter ordered.

The Clan did not try to fight and surrendered to the Ministry. Prying Klaus off the leader, Julius encouraged Klaus to go to Asana, where Elias was healing her wounds but she was in tears.

“Hey, you’re okay,” Elias tried to comfort her but her tears wouldn’t stop.

Suddenly, she felt her body leave the ground and into a familiar pair of arms. She had no reason to be afraid of these arms, especially after her ordeal, they cradled her gently and warmed her body. His scent of tea of books filled her nostrils as she buried her head into his chest, her tears not for her suffering but those in her village.

“…Please…tell me…,” she sniffed, “…some of them…are alive.”

“…I’m not sure,” Klaus replied as he carried her out of the old barn, “I am glad I came to rescue you. Seems like you have become stronger since the last time I saw you.”

She cried harder, “…I’m not strong…I couldn’t protect my village.”

“That’s not true,” Klaus sat down with her, “…I’m going to heal you now.”

Withdrawing his wand, he calmly chanted a wind healing spell to treat her wounds followed by a water healing spell. Unlike a moment ago, he was completely calm and relaxed knowing she was safely in his arms. “You led us to these criminals, you should be proud.”

Outside, the sun had started to rise over the mountains in the east and a light breeze had a chilly bite making her body shiver. “Oh, here,” Klaus took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, and things became awkward, “…This was not the way I wanted us to reunite.”

“…Neither did I,” still shaken, she didn’t understand how or why Klaus managed to find her, “…H-How…did I lead you here? I didn’t reach out to you?” she asked, wrapping his jacket around her shoulders tighter.

“…Do you remember having a foresight dream and you called out to me?”

She was stunned he knew that, “...I only had that dream a few hours ago. I could see fire and smell blood and these men attacking and torturing me, then all I saw was you. So, I shouted your name…and…,” she pieced together her dream, still in shock.

“Take it easy,” he hugged her as her body began to tremble, “Well, did you know those who possess a natural ability of foresight or time magic have the potential to communicate to another person through their dreams. I don’t think you meant it but you connected to me, I couldn’t see anything but I heard you and smelt fire and blood to, that’s how we managed to get here quickly.”

“…I…did that?”

“Your stronger than the last time I saw you,” he took in the details of her face up close. As a band of soft yellow sunlight rose higher into the sky, welcoming in the brand-new day, etching the light across her face, he found she was not the teenage girl he had met three years ago but a beautiful woman grown into her features and had become a stronger wizardess.

“…But…I saw them,” she began crying and remembering how useless she was in stopping those wizards destroying her childhood village and murdering the people who became her family, “I was powerless to stop them… I couldn’t protect them, even if I am stronger,” her voice strained as she cried.

Her body fell forward as she collapsed onto her knees but Klaus held her close and let her cry, her tears wetting the fabric of his shirt as the pain of losing those she cared about taking an enormous toll on her heart as nearby those dark wizards were being dragged out of the barn, one-by-one.

Handcuffed, Klaus gave them foul looks as Elias kicked the leader, roughly, “Hey you,” Elias grabbed his attention and pulled down his mask to reveal his identity.

Julius came to his brother’s side and recognised the man, “Figured you might have been behind this, Benedict. My, haven’t you come a long way since our school years.”

“You know him?” Elias questioned his brother.

“Benedict and I were rivals at school,” Julius explained, “We were never friends but during our final year, when I was offered a position at the Ministry over him, he accused the Ministry of being bias towards pure blood wizards over half-wizards.”

Benedict rolled his eyes, “Of course, no one could ever match up to the perfect first-born son of Walter Goldstein. Not only in your veins do you carry the blood of a Goldstein, but your mother’s family are a formidable wizardry family too. I see you met Daddy’s expectations.”

Julius shook his head, “No, I met my own expectations and didn’t let the darkness consume my soul out of pure pettiness over something as trivial as being a pure-blood or half-blood wizard. The Ministry offered you a position in the Knights but you refused.”

“A knight?” he laughed and spat at the unit, “The famous Wizard Knights are nothing more than puppets, deployed to the front lines to protect pure blood wizards like you. I simply did want the Ministry wants, a world full of pure-blood wizards.”

“If that’s the case, then why will you be facing the death penalty for dark crimes against the kingdom in the name of genocide?” Julius refuted, “Whereas I will return home to my wife, make love to her and take on another dark wizard tomorrow.”

Julius knew Elias had been interrogating this Benedict to retrieve information regarding the mole inside the Ministry, the one who had supplied misleading and false tip-offs in a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice. But, the dark wizard laughed.

“You are going down for countless first degree murders using dark magic,” Elias reasoned with him, “Why go down covering for another man’s mistakes when you don’t have to?”

“Maybe, I want to be nice,” Benedict replied and looked over Elias shoulder at the young agent with brown hair, he was shifting uncomfortably as Benedict was pounced on by two Goldstein brothers. Benedict chuckled as the young wizard who had paid him stretched his collar, feeling like he was choking with fear.

Julius followed his eyeline and found the brown-haired wizard turning bright red. Meeting his gaze, the young wizard took his chances and attempted to flee but other agents around him quickly arrested him, “Hurry up and get these criminals out of here,” Julius ordered and they began transporting the criminals back to the headquarters.

Walter kept his distance as he watched Klaus comforting the girl and Elias joined him, “Dad, about the magical tool I made. How do I go about submitting it to the Ministry?”

“Say, you are around the girl’s age and you seem to know her well,” his father was not interested in discussing his magic tool just yet, “I assume you met at the academy?”

“We were in the same class but she was failed to enrol in the academy,” Elias answered and heard Julius approaching to join them, “She was Klaus’ buddy.”

Walter had been speaking to Vincent, receiving a verbal report on the state of the village, “Vincent has told me half of the buildings in her village were burnt to the ground and ten people died. However, most of the villagers survived and she saved them through contacting Klaus in her dreams. She is quite…interesting.”

With thoughts running through his mind, Elias added some extra information, “This is the first time I have seen her since she was at the Academy, but I know she has her moments where she displays amazing powers in dire situations. She seems much stronger now than in those days.”

Crying herself to exhaustion, she passed out from sleep and had a request to ask Elias and carried her in his arms as he approached him, “I need you to do a favour for me?”

“Sure.”

“Go help her village get back on their feet,” unlike his cold-stone voice before, his tone was calm and his gaze soft as he peered down at her face, “Call for medical supplies to treat the wounded, whatever needs to happen to get them on their feet.”

Elias didn't seem any trouble with such a request, “I will gladly help but is she going to be okay?”

“She will be okay,” he smiled at her, “She may have grown up and became a stronger wizard but nothing's really changed. After what's happened here, she just needs to rest in hospital. She's in shock.”

Mounting his broom, Klaus cradled her gently in his arms and kept her warm, the same care as a mother cradling her infant. Brushing her fringe from her eyes, he was reminded of the day she fell asleep in his office and how adorably her cheeks puffed up when she slept.

It was like the three years they hadn't seen each other never occurred, and the love he felt for her overflowed from his heart. Though, once she rested he knew they would need to talk and he wanted those answers, but even if she decided not to pursue a relationship with him, Klaus knew he'd never love another person as he loves her. Thirteen days was all it had taken for her to steal his heart.

A nurse brought Klaus a newspaper as he requested, “Thank you,” Klaus appreciated the favour as he waited by her bed in a private room he had secured for her to rest and allow the magical medicine to completely heal her wounds.

Before he had even unfolded the newspaper, there was a gentle knock at the door. There in the doorway stood his father with a small smile stretching across his face, “She's asleep?”

“Yes, so I will ask you to be as quiet as possible so not to wake her,” Klaus grew defensive, seeing the teasing thoughts crossing his father's mind, “Why are you here?”

“Relax, I have no intentions of teasing you...yet,” his father promised, “Can't guarantee Julius will be as considerate but I was hoping she would be awake because I have news about her village.”

“Are they okay?”

Walter shook his head somewhere between a yes and a no, “...It could have been worse but she saved most of her village with her communication with you. However, where there is loss of life through murder, no one should say it could have been worse.”

Starting to wake up from her exhausted sleep, she turned her head and her limps moved under the blankets of the hospital bed. A wall of midday sunlight streamed through the large square windows, bathing her face as she stirred.

In Walter's hands, he carried a bag of clothes Elias had grabbed from her wardrobe as he checked her property. Thankfully, a protection barrier around the home prevented it being set on fire. Walking deeper into the room, he set the bag on a nearby table.

Her pink eyes fluttered open and she felt a warm hand covering hers, “K-Klaus...,” she recognised his warmth, even asleep, she could feel him next to her. As she stirred, Walter decided to leave the room and give the two a moment alone but he stayed hidden behind the wall so he could listen in.

“Dad, why are you eavesdropping?” Julius asked him.

They drove to the hospital together to speak with the victims of the attack on Reitz and where Elias had transported them to receive the best medical care as per Klaus’ orders. He knew his brother would not be happy if they received anything less than the best care.

“I am not eavesdropping,” Walter stood against the wall, “I am being considerate and giving them space,” of course, Julius saw straight through him.

“Honestly, you can be as nosy as Mother,” Julius chortled, “We have enough statements from the victims of the attack on Reitz, we just need hers to build a case. Though, heaven knows why we are giving them a fair trial when they are guilty.”

Glancing behind his shoulder into the private room, Klaus was patiently waiting for her to wake from her slumber and could reply to Julius implied comment they should be executed without hesitation, “Julius, we are not villainous murderers as they are and the trial serves as a platform to show potential dark wizards and remind the public that justice will be done, fairly and in the name of the law.”

“Yeah, I dare you to say that to Klaus after they nearly killed her.”

Julius glanced into the room and back at his father, watching Klaus bestow the back of her hand with a soft, gentlemanly kiss, “Are you honestly waiting to grab her statement or intent on eavesdropping on your son?”

“Can’t I do both?” he shrugged, “How often do I get to see your brother this besotted?”

Not paying his father and brother any mind, Klaus concentrated on her as she woke up and gently clasped her hand between his, “I’m here, Asana,” he whispered, kissing the back of her delicate and slender hands, “I’m glad you’re safe.”

His words brought a smile to her face as she peered at him through the slightest crack of her opened eyes, slowly widened and coming to her senses as the sleepiness wore off, “Klaus?”

“Shh, don’t strain yourself,” after seeing on the amber disc what she had been through, his voice and grasp of her hand remained as gentle and warm as possible and he didn’t want her to rush, “Take your time to gather your thoughts.”

The man she was seeing in front of her was someone she wanted for such a long time and the tears threatening to fall from her eyes were conjured from her guilt she harboured from hurting him and the love she desperately and unconditionally felt for him, “…I’ve wanted to see you for so long,” she whispered, a single tear drop falling from her left eye.

Klaus brought his thumb to her face and wiped away her tear, “Don’t cry…,” he gently kissed her eyelid, “You have cried too much already and I hate seeing you cry.”

His gentle kiss only produced more tears as she waited so long to feel the warmth from his lips again, “Klaus…,” she felt her heart pounding within her chest as she peered up into his violet eyes and her pulse raced as she felt his hand squeeze hers, “…I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she desperately apologised, “I’m so, so sorry…I hurt you.”

Klaus supposed it was time to ask the question he had wanted to ask for the last three years and brought his fingers together to flick her on the forehead, “Considering I like the answer you will give me as to why you ran away, I might forgive you.”

She didn’t know how to tell him and, even with the love she had for him, she didn’t deserve his, and would rather he hate her, “…I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Klaus…I hurt you in the cruellest way all because I was a stupid idiot. I would rather you hate me and I suffer alone, knowing you will find another woman who would never hurt you.”

“Do you think an answer like that is going to be enough?” he didn’t accept her excuse, “Tell me the truth, now,” with one hand, he grasped her wrist gently, preventing her escape, and with the other he wiped away her tears with his familiar stare penetrating her teary pink eyes.

She couldn’t bring herself to explain as her eyes were taking in every detail of Klaus, inches separating them, “If you had just come back like I told you to, we could have sorted something out. You broke us apart for three years when we didn’t need to breakup,” his words were harsh but in their proximity, she sensed his pain, the pain she had caused him, more tears flowed from her eyes but Klaus wiped them away, “We could have stayed this close, if you only came back.”

It was hard to breathe with him so close to her and her heart was hurting as he growled his harsh but true words, “…Klaus…”

“I don’t want to hear you say anything but the truth,” positing his index finger under her jaw and his thumb on her chin, he raised her face so their gazes met, “Look me in the eye and tell me why? Why did you leave?”

His hold on her did not hurt but she saw tears in his eyes too and resolved herself to tell him the truth, “…I…,” she didn’t know how to put her feelings into words and felt her guilt and pain torment her heart, “…I wasn’t worthy…,” it was hard to speak as she cried.

She needed a moment to work through her pain to tell him, “…After everything you did for me…I failed you,” tears fell from her eyes as she looked him in the eyes and told him why she left, “…I wasn’t worthy to stand by your side…I wasn’t strong enough to stand with you…,” she tasted the saltiness of her own tears as a waterfall streamed down her face, “If you had to deal with me…teaching me magic…I would only h-hinder your future…so I left.”

“What stupid reason is that?!” he growled at her, “I don’t care about how good you are at magic, that doesn’t matter to me. I thought you understood that! I thought I made myself clear! You didn’t need to leave! You didn’t need to break us up if you just came back to the office!”

She remembered how she fell to the floor of her home as she arrived home from the academy and cried until she passed out there, “I know…I’m s-sorry…,” her words faded as her tears fell harder as his pain churned out some harsh and angry words at her but she endured it, she deserved it.

Klaus let her go and stepped away from her with the room falling silent, except for her sobbing. Instantly, he regretted yelling at her and could feel her tears crashing around him as he let his emotions out, especially after what she had been through with those dark wizards this was stress she didn’t need.

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry, Klaus,” she pleaded through her hard crying, “I…I didn’t mean to hurt you…I didn’t mean…” her sentence was cut short through her tears.

He didn’t mean to make her cry and stepped closer to her again, “Hey,” his voice was gentle again as he pulled her close to him and circled his arms around her to stop her from crying, “Asana…,” he whispered her name and held her tightly, “Hey come on, I didn’t mean to make you cry this much.”

“I’m…I’m an idiot...,” she found her voice again, “…I deserve it…I’m always screwing up…I just…wanted to make you happy.”

“Well, I’m not…not without you,” he took her face in his hands to wipe the water stains off her cheeks, her cheeks as red as her swollen eyes, “Do you think I fall in love easily? I don’t know what you did to me in those thirteen days but there has not been a day that went by where I didn’t think about you or what you were doing. In hindsight, I should have come after you.”

Wrapping her hand around his, her tears settled down, “…I never stopped thinking about you either,” she had opened the clinic to produce a flow of income to be able to buy textbooks to study and eventually, to face Klaus again, “…I was saving to come see you in three weeks…I wanted to tell you the truth, no matter the cost.”

It was like their minds were linked, Klaus had circled the day he would come see her and the thought was amusing, “…What a coincidence, I banked up enough holidays and was coming to see you in three weeks too.”

His admission surprised her, “…R-Really…I thought you’d never wanted to see me again…I was even convinced you were probably married to another woman and forgot all about me.”

“…I thought you would have moved on from me too,” he confessed and sat next to her, “You are the sweetest and gentlest person I ever met, so I figured you would be snatched up pretty quickly. Any man would be a fool not to see what a beautiful, strong and kind woman you are.”

Asana shook her head, “…The only man I could ever love…is you,” she admitted her unconditional feelings for him, “When I arrived home, I probably spent a good month just eating ice-cream and chocolate, doing nothing but sleeping and moping around, before I started buying every textbook to become a better wizard. Each time I got a spell wrong, I heard your voice, scolding me.”

“Is that how you remember me, is it?” he chuckled.

“…My biggest regret for the last three years…was not going back to your office,” she averted her gaze, “The only person I still speak to is Amelia and she was the one who told me how depressed you were after I left. I heard you cooped yourself up in your office, you wouldn’t even allow Elias to enter.”

“Like I am going to let my little brother see me like that,” Klaus rolled his eyes and sighed, holding her hand, “However, it is true. I tried to fathom why you left and figured you were just embarrassed. After I told you I love you, you left and I never heard from you again, for three years, until last night when I heard you through my dreams. It hurt.”

Finally, she brought her face up to his, and rested her head on his shoulder, “I never wanted to hurt you, that was the last thing I wanted to do. I thought…I was doing the best thing for you by leaving, that way you could succeed without having me holding you back. I just…,” tears threatened to fall again.

“I know you would never intentionally hurt someone, Asana,” Klaus raised her face up to look at him, “…But…I’m not happy. Working at the Ministry is…depressing and I have nothing or no one to go home to. I honestly don’t know how Dad and Julius do it. They face dark wizards each day but are happy when they go home to their wives.”

“…I’m not happy either,” Asana hated cooking large meals for herself and having only animals and customers keep her company, with the occasional coffee date with a few of her friends in the village, but she was always somewhere in the village tending to animals as the only reputable veterinarian in her village, “I run my own vet clinic for creatures and animals, but I never have any time to meet with friends and nights is always cooking large meals for one person. Each night, looking at my shelf of savings trying to find the courage to board a train and come find you. I don’t really speak to anyone else from the academy but Amelia. I was sure everyone hated me for leaving you like that, so I have been living with this guilt for three years, unhappily.”

Wedging his fingers between hers, he squeezed her hand, “Our lives I think are missing the same thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m missing my buddy and you are missing yours,” he remembered how happy he was when they were together at the academy, and started laughing.

His laughter confused her, “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m pathetic,” he laughed, “I knew you for thirteen days but since I met you I haven’t been able to function properly. Just what is it you did to me for me to become so obsessed with you?”

As always, he made a valid point, because she had been acting the same way and laughed, “Well, I could ask you the same question,” violet eyes met her pink eyes, pulling their faces towards each other.

It was not the way they had planned to be reunited but when their lips finally touched, it soothed all the pain and loneliness which had been plaguing their hearts. It started out as a light kiss but it deepened and slowly became heated, “I love you Klaus,” she confessed in a gap before his lips crashed over the top of hers again.

“I love you too, Asana,” he accepted her once again and he always would because he loved her, unconditionally. As their lips parted away, Klaus rested his forehead against hers, “We’ll finish up all this dark wizard stuff, then me and you are going to be alone somewhere to talk.”

She nodded, still holding his hand and squeezing it, “…I want to earn your love again, Klaus and your trust and your forgiveness,” she admitted to him, “I will do whatever it takes to let you know how much I love you, and always have since the day I met you.”

“Good,” he smirked, “I wasn’t going to forgive you without punishing you first and I’m never letting you go again, not even if you beg me.”

“I don’t want to leave your side ever again,” she kissed him, “I will continue to grow as a wizard but I want to be by your side this time.”

“That’s what you should have done from the start,” he flicked her forehead again, “Bunnyhead.”

That familiar nickname, the name only Klaus could call her, set her heart on fire again and she jumped into his arms, “Oh, Klaus!” she threw her arms around him and pulled him closer to her, kissing his lips sending her sincerest feelings through a deep kiss.

Outside the room, Walter and Julius decided the best course of action was to leave and let the two rekindle their flames of love. Leaving the private room, Walter concealed all the windows in the room to give them privacy.

Several months after the attack on her village, the town had been rebuilt and she had explained what happened to her townspeople on the fateful night. She didn’t lie to them, saying there were too many for her to handle alone and they had captured her in the early hours of the morning when she hadn’t expected to be attacked at that moment. By her side, Klaus helped her explain how she used her foresight and time magic to communicate with him and lead him to the village to intercept the wizards.

They apologised for expecting too much of her trying the terrifying time and not understanding that even though she was magical, she was not invincible enough to take on a group of wizards by herself. A ceremony was held for the ten people who had been killed in the chaos with a statue unveiled to forever remember their names.

“So, Asana,” a girlfriend of hers from off one of the farms tugged at her dress sleeve, “Who is that?” she pointed to Klaus, he stood tall and gallantly as he spoke to some old men from her village, a smile crossing her face, “Why have you been hiding him from us?”

They had been working through their pain from the past three years slowly, making sure their second-chance was not rushed to the point it would crumble. However, the love they felt for each other was stronger than any magic in the existence, not even a group of dark wizards could break.

“Klaus, Klaus Goldstein,” she answered her friend and with the proudest smile, added, “My best friend, soul mate and the only man I will ever love.”

#klaus goldstein #elias goldstein #asanawayMC #wizardess heart #love #unhappyending #violence

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serviceonlineusa24-blog · 5 years

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Why Netflix App Doesn’t Work In Windows 10

How to fix ‘Netflix not working on Xbox One: The Solutions

Six Solutions For ‘Netflix Not Working On Xbox One.

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With regards to spilling your most loved computerized content, you have more alternatives now than any other time in recent memory. It isn't only the gushing gadgets that stream your most loved films and TV appears, yet you can stream content on gaming supports also. Xbox One will be one prime precedent that strikes a chord that streams content in the best video quality. Gushing applications like Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, Amazon Video and numerous different applications work easily on Xbox One.

Xbox One isn't simply utilized for playing amusements, yet numerous individuals are gushing their most loved TV shows and films on Xbox One. On the off chance that you also are doing likewise, at that point I'm certain the experience of it is extraordinary. A standout amongst the best applications to use on Xbox One is Netflix, as it has a boatload of motion pictures and TV appears for you to appreciate.

Be that as it may, imagine a scenario in which Netflix stop to chip away at Xbox One. What actions are you taking to do around then? Today, we will discover a response to this issue since this is anything but a theoretical inquiry, yet is occurring with numerous Xbox One clients. Give us a chance to discover what to do when Netflix quits taking a shot at Xbox One.

The main thing that you have to check is whether your Xbox One meets the base spilling prerequisites or not. In the event that you have watched that your Xbox One has every one of the things that are required to stream content from Netflix in a smooth way, at that point you have to pursue beneath referenced arrangements:

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Solution 1: Check your network connection speed

1. You can check the speed by going to ‘Netflix.com’ and then, click ‘settings’.

2. After that, click ‘Check your network’.

Netflix will check the speed and performance of your internet by reaching Netflix servers. If the network speed meets all the requirements, then you are going to receive a message accordingly.

Solution 2: Restart your Home Network

1. To restart your home network, unplug Xbox One and modem/router for 30 seconds.

2. Plug back each device one by one.

3. Turn on the modem and/or router and wait until all the necessary indicators become stable.

4. Now, you need to turn on Xbox One.

5. Open Netflix and try to play anything in it.

If this solution doesn’t work, then you need to try the next one.

Solution 3: Connect Xbox One directly to the Modem

In the event that the network access to your Xbox One is getting through a remote medium, at that point you have to change that. Interface your Xbox One to the modem rather than a remote switch. For that, you need an Ethernet link, which you can without much of a stretch get from a hardware store. Unplug your modem pursued by interfacing your Xbox One to the modem and after that, sit tight for a large portion of a moment before stopping the modem back once more. Hold up until all the important pointers become stable on the modem and from that point onward, you have to turn on Xbox One

Solution 4: Restore default settings of your ISP

In the event that you are getting to the web on a Virtual Private Network (VPN), at that point you have to debilitate that and interface legitimately to the home system. On the other hand, you can change to a custom DNS setting pursued by resetting your Xbox One to get the DNS naturally.

Solution 5: Revamp Wi-Fi signal

Here is how you can revamp the Wi-Fi signal for a better performance:

1. If the Wi-Fi signal is not Ok in the current location, then consider moving the router to a new location.

2. Don’t place your router close to other electronic devices as their signals can interfere with the Wi-Fi signal, causing Wi-Fi signal to die out before reaching your devices.

3. Place the router above the ground, as keeping it close to the floor can cause signal problems.

Solution 6: Consult your Internet Service Provider

If the condition of the Wi-Fi signal doesn’t improve after trying all the possible solution, then you should call your ISP to fix the problem.

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Www Netflix Com can be gotten to on Windows 10, as Netflix application is accessible in Windows App Market. Numerous individuals have introduced Netflix on Windows 10, yet when they attempted to get to it, nothing occurred. The application didn't open, and they couldn't perceive any of their most loved advanced substance.

Netflix application is accessible in Windows 10 for a long while, and a fair number of Windows clients are utilizing the application with no issue. However, there is a little group of Netflix clients who are confronting issues while getting to Netflix. The application isn't chipping away at their framework, and they have attempted numerous things to fix the issue, however it perseveres. Netflix is a spilling stage that contains in excess of 100 million hours of motion pictures and TV appears. Having Netflix application introduced on your gadget implies having an extent of diversion in your palms. In any case, what's the utilization when Netflix isn't working, correct? In this way, on the off chance that you are managing a non-practical Netflix and need to reestablish its usefulness, at that point here is the thing that you will do.

Solution 1: Download Flixter

There are two DLL documents that you have to work Netflix Activate on Windows 10, which are; VClibs120 and PlayReadyClient2. These records are introduced consequently with the establishment of Netflix application in Windows 10. In any case, on the off chance that Netflix has been introduced by you before, at that point these records are as of now present in the framework, and won't be introduced again when you introduce Netflix once more. In any case, indeed two documents aren't very in the framework, and you need those two DLL records to get to Netflix in Windows 10. Here is the means by which you can fix this issue:

1. Uninstall Netflix app from your computer/laptop.

2. Open ‘Windows Store’.

3. In ‘Windows Store’ you will have to find ‘Flixter’ app.

4. Install the app and then, search for ‘Netflix’ in the Windows app store.

5. Install ‘Netflix’ app.

Solution 2: Install Windows Updates (If there is any available)

On the off chance that you haven't refreshed your Windows in the ongoing occasions, at that point you ought to maybe do it. In the event that there are any updates to introduce, at that point you ought to do it without a moment's delay since issues like the one with Netflix more often than not emerge because of the obsolete working framework. Here is the thing that you should do to check if there are Windows Updates accessible:

1. Open ‘Start Menu’ followed by opening ‘Windows Update’ section.

2. Open ‘Windows Update’ app and then, click ‘Check for Update’.

3. If there is any update to download and install, then do it at once.

There is a software named ‘Silverlight’ that you must install in order to display videos smoothly on the web.

Solution 3: Check and Update Display Drivers

You have to check if the showcase drivers introduced on your framework have gone obsolete. On the off chance that they have, at that point you have to refresh the drivers since running anything on obsolete drivers could prompt various issues. You can go to 'Gadget Manager' and afterward, discover which show drivers are introduced on your PC. Snap 'update driver', and in the event that there is any update accessible for the presentation drivers, at that point those will be introduced.

Solution 4: Uninstall and Reinstall Netflix App

If Netflix app is installed on your system, though in a non-working state, then get rid of the app. Uninstall it and then, get a fresh copy of the app from Windows app store. This will fix the problem.

Solution 5: Use Another Multimedia Player

You can use a multimedia player such as GOM player to access Netflix Com Activate, as that player has got its own special set of codecs that will help play the videos much better.

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memozing · 4 years

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#online learning

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auctionsoftware02 · 4 years

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Website security measures to be handled in application

Website security

• Web security also known as “Cyber security” involves protecting website or web application by detecting, preventing and responding to attacks.

• Web application security is a branch of information security that deals specifically with security of websites, web applications and web services.

• At a high level, web application security draws on the principles of application security but applies them specifically to internet and web systems.

• web security does – it is a system of protection measures and protocols that can protect your website or web application from being hacked or entered by unauthorized personnel.

1. Update, Update, Update!

2. Passwords

3. One Site = One Container

4. Sensible User Access

5. Change the Default CMS Settings!

6. Extension Selection

7. Backups

8. Server Configuration Files

9. Install SSL

10. File Permissions

Website security measures

1) Update, Update, Update!

It is incredibly important to update your site as soon as a new plugin or CMS version is available.

Those updates might just contain security enhancements or patch a vulnerability. Most website attacks are automated. Bots are constantly scanning every site they can for any exploitation opportunities.

It is no longer good enough to update once a month or even once a week because bots are very likely to find a vulnerability before you patch it.

This is why we recommend using a website firewall, which will virtually patch the security hole as soon as updates are released.

If you have a WordPress website, I personally recommend the plugin ‘WP Updates Notifier‘. It emails you to let you know when a plugin or WordPress core update is available.

2 )Passwords

Having a secure website depends a lot on your security posture. Have you ever thought of how the passwords you use can threaten your website security? In order to clean up infected websites, we often need to log into a clients’ site or server using their admin user details. It is shocking how insecure root passwords can be. With logins like admin/admin you might as well not have any password at all. There are many lists of breached passwords online. Hackers will combine these with dictionary word lists to generate even larger lists of potential passwords. If the passwords you use are on one of those lists, it is just a matter of time before your site is compromised.

Our tips for you to have a strong password are:

• Do not reuse your passwords. Every single password you have should be unique. A password manager can make this easier.

• Have long passwords. Try longer than 12 characters. The longer the password is, the longer it will take a computer program to crack it.

• Use random passwords. Password-cracking programs can guess millions of passwords in minutes if they contain words found online or in dictionaries. If you have real words in your password, it isn’t random. If you can easily speak your password, it means that it is not strong enough. Even using character replacement (i.e. replacing letter O with number 0) is not enough.

There are several helpful password managers out there such as, “LastPass” (online) and

“KeePass 2” (offline).These brilliant tools store all your passwords in an encrypted format and can easily generate random passwords at the click of a button. Password managers make it possible to use strong passwords by taking away the work of memorizing weaker ones or jotting them down.

3 )One Site = One Container

We understand that hosting many websites on a single server can seem ideal, especially if you have an ‘unlimited’ web hosting plan. Unfortunately, this is one of the worst security practices we commonly see. Hosting many sites in the same location creates a very large attack surface.

You need to be aware that cross-site-contamination is very common. It’s when a site is negatively affected by neighboring sites within the same server due to poor isolation on the server or account configuration.

For example, a server containing one site might have a single WordPress install with a theme and 10 plugins that can be potentially targeted by an attacker. If you host 5 sites on a single server now an attacker might have three WordPress installs, two Joomla installs, five themes and 50 plugins that can be potential targets. To make matters worse, once an attacker has found an exploit on one site, the infection can spread easily to other sites on the same server.

Not only can this result in all your sites being hacked at the same time, it also makes the cleanup process much more time consuming and difficult. The infected sites can continue to reinfect one another, causing an endless loop.

After the cleanup is successful, you now have a much larger task when it comes to resetting your passwords. Instead of just one site, you have a number of them. Every single password associated with every website on the server must be changed after the infection is gone. This includes all of your CMS databases and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) users for every single one of those websites. If you skip this step, the websites could all be reinfected again and you are back to square one.

4 )Sensible User Access

This rule only applies to sites that have multiple users or logins. It’s important that every user has the appropriate permission they require to do their job. If escalated permissions are needed momentarily, grant it. Then reduce it once the job is complete. This is a concept known as Least Privileged.For example, if someone wants to write a guest blog post for you, make sure their account does not have full administrator privileges. Your friend’s account should only be able to create new posts and edit their own posts because there is no need for them to be able to change website settings.

Having carefully defined user roles and access rules will limit any mistakes that can be made. It also reduces the fallout of compromised accounts and can protect against the damage done by ‘rogue’ users. This is a frequently overlooked part of user management: accountability and monitoring. If multiple people share a single user account and an unwanted change is made by that user, how do you find out which person on your team was responsible?Once you have separate accounts for every user, you can keep an eye on their behavior by reviewing logs and knowing their usual tendencies, like when and where they normally access the website. This way, if a user logs in at an odd hour, or from a suspicious location, you can investigate.

Keeping audit logs are vital to keeping on top of any suspicious change to your website. An audit log is a document that records the events in a website so you can spot anomalies and confirm with the person in charge that the account hasn’t been compromised.

We know that it may be hard for some users to perform audit logs manually. If you have a WordPress website, you can use our free Security Plugin that can be downloaded from the official WordPress repository.

5 )Change the Default CMS Settings!

Today’s CMS applications (although easy to use) can be tricky from a security perspective for the end users. By far the most common attacks against websites are entirely automated. Many of these attacks rely on users to have only default settings.This means that you can avoid a large number of attacks simply by changing the default settings when installing your CMS of choice.

For example, some CMS applications are writeable by the user – allowing a user to install whatever extensions they want.

There are settings you may want to adjust to control comments, users, and the visibility of your user information. The file permissions, (which we will discuss later) are another example of a default setting that can be hardened.You can either change these default details when installing your CMS or later, but don’t forget to do it.

6 )Extension Selection

The CMS applications extensibility is something webmasters usually love, but it can also pose one of the biggest weakness. There are plugins, add-ons, and extensions that provide virtually any functionality you can imagine. But how do you know which one is safe to install?

Here are the things I always look for when deciding which extensions to use:

• When the extension was last updated: If the last update was more than a year ago, I get concerned that the author has stopped work on it. I much prefer to use extensions that are actively being developed because it indicates that the author would at least be willing to implement a fix if security issues are discovered. Furthermore, if an extension is not supported by the author, then it may stop working if core updates cause conflicts.

• The age of the extension and the number of installs: An extension developed by an established author that has numerous installs is more trustworthy than one with a few number of installs released by a first-time developer. Not only do experienced developers have a better idea about best security practices, but they are also far less likely to damage their reputation by inserting malicious code into their extension.

• Legitimate and trusted sources: Download your plugins, extensions, and themes from legitimate sources. Watch out for free versions pirated and infected with malware. There are some extensions whose only objective is to infect as many websites as possible with malware.

7 )Backups

Having a hacked website is not something you would like to experience, but you don’t want to be caught off guard in case the worst happens.Having website backups is crucial to recovering your website from a major security incident. Though it shouldn’t be considered a replacement for having a website security solution, a backup can help recover damaged files.A good backup solution should fulfill the following requirements:

• First, they have to be off-site. If your backups are stored in your website’s server, they are as vulnerable to attacks as anything else in there. You should keep your backups off-site because you want your stored data to be protected from hackers and from hardware failure. Storing backups on your web server is also a major security risk. These backups invariably contain unpatched versions of your CMS and extensions, giving hackers easy access to your server.

• Second, your backups should be automatic. You do so many things every day that having to remember to backup your website might be unthinkable. Use a backup solution that can be scheduled to meet your website needs.

• To finish, have reliable recovery. This means having backups of your backups and testing them to make sure they actually work. You will want multiple backups for redundancy. By doing this, you can recover files from a point before the hack occurred.

8)Server Configuration Files

Get to know your web server configuration files:

• Apache web servers use the .htaccess file,

• Nginx servers use nginx.conf,

• Microsoft IIS servers use web.config.

Most often found in the root web directory, server configuration files are very powerful. They allow you to execute server rules, including directives that improve your website security.

Here are a few rules that I recommend you research and add for your particular web server:

• Prevent directory browsing: This prevents malicious users from viewing the contents of every directory on the website. Limiting the information available to attackers is always a useful security precaution.

• Prevent image hotlinking: While this isn’t strictly a security improvement, it does prevent other websites from displaying the images hosted on your web server. If people start hotlinking images from your server, the bandwidth allowance of your hosting plan might quickly get eaten up displaying images for someone else’s site.

• Protect sensitive files: You can set rules to protect certain files and folders. CMS configuration files are one of the most sensitive files stored on the web server as they contain the database login details in plain text. Other locations, like admin areas, can be locked down. You can also restrict PHP execution in directories that hold images or allow uploads.

9 )Install SSL

SSL is the acronym for Secure Sockets Layer. It is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser.

I was hesitant to include SSL as a tip to improve your website security because there is a lot of misleading information suggesting that installing SSL will solve all your security issues.

We have written a blog post to explain the difference between SSL and website security.

SSL encrypts communications between Point A and Point B – aka the website server and visitor’s browser. This encryption is important for one specific reason. It prevents anyone from being able to intercept that traffic, known as a Man in the Middle (MITM) attack. SSL is a great way to protect passwords and credit card info (as well as other sensitive data) With the push from Google to label HTTP website as “Not Secure”, SSL is crucial for all websites. Forcing HTTPS is unavoidable for e-commerce websites and for any website that accepts form submissions with sensitive user data or Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

The SSL certificate protects your visitors’ information in transit, which in turn protects you from the fines and legal issues that come along with being found noncompliant with PCI DSS.

If you are thinking about installing SSL on your site, you can follow our guide to learn more.

10 )File Permissions

File permissions define who can do what to a file.

Each file has 3 permissions available and each permission is represented by a number:

• ‘Read‘ (4): View the file contents.

• ‘Write‘ (2): Change the file contents.

• ‘Execute‘ (1): Run the program file or script.

If you want to allow multiple permissions, simply add the numbers together, e.g. to allow read (4) and write (2) you set the user permission to 6. If you want to allow a user to read (4), write (2) and execute (1) then you set the user permission to 7.

There are also 3 user types:

• Owner – Usually the creator of the file, but this can be changed. Only one user can be the owner.

• Group – Each file is assigned a group, and any user who is part of that group will get these permissions.

• Public – Everyone else.

So, if you want the owner to have read & write access, the group to have only-read access, and the public to have no access, the file permission settings should be:

Folders also have the same permissions structure. The only difference is that the ‘execute’ flag allows you to make the directory your working directory.

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digitalmark18-blog · 5 years

Text

10 Tips to Improve Your Website Security

New Post has been published on https://britishdigitalmarketingnews.com/10-tips-to-improve-your-website-security/

10 Tips to Improve Your Website Security

Having a website has become easier than ever due to the proliferation of great tools and services in the web development space. Content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, Magento, and others allow business owners to build an online presence rapidly. The CMS’s highly extensible architectures, rich plugins, and effective modules have reduced the need to spend years learning web development before starting to build a website.

The ease of launching an online business or personal website is great. However, there are some negative side effects. We see many webmasters who do not understand how to make sure their website is secure. There is a misunderstanding when it comes to the importance of securing their website, and whose responsibility it is.

This month is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and as a website security company, Sucuri wants to make the internet a safer place. Today, let’s see what are the top 10 steps all website owners should take to keep their website secure.

1 – Update, Update, Update!

This is something we cannot stress enough here at Sucuri. Countless websites are compromised every day due to outdated and insecure software.

It is incredibly important to update your site as soon as a new plugin or CMS version is available. Those updates might just contain security enhancements or patch a vulnerability.

Most website attacks are automated. Bots are constantly scanning every site they can for any exploitation opportunities. It is no longer good enough to update once a month or even once a week because bots are very likely to find a vulnerability before you patch it.

This is why we recommend using a website firewall, which will virtually patch the security hole as soon as updates are released.

If you have a WordPress website, I personally recommend the plugin ‘WP Updates Notifier‘. It emails you to let you know when a plugin or WordPress core update is available.

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2 – Passwords

Having a secure website depends a lot on your security posture. Have you ever thought of how the passwords you use can threaten your website security?

In order to clean up infected websites, we often need to log into a clients’ site or server using their admin user details. It is shocking how insecure root passwords can be. With logins like admin/admin you might as well not have any password at all.

There are many lists of breached passwords online. Hackers will combine these with dictionary word lists to generate even larger lists of potential passwords. If the passwords you use are on one of those lists, it is just a matter of time before your site is compromised.

Our tips for you to have a strong password are:

Do not reuse your passwords. Every single password you have should be unique. A password manager can make this easier.

Have long passwords. Try longer than 12 characters. The longer the password is, the longer it will take a computer program to crack it.

Use random passwords. Password-cracking programs can guess millions of passwords in minutes if they contain words found online or in dictionaries. If you have real words in your password, it isn’t random. If you can easily speak your password, it means that it is not strong enough. Even using character replacement (i.e. replacing letter O with number 0) is not enough.

There are several helpful password managers out there such as, “LastPass” (online) and “KeePass 2” (offline).

These brilliant tools store all your passwords in an encrypted format and can easily generate random passwords at the click of a button. Password managers make it possible to use strong passwords by taking away the work of memorizing weaker ones or jotting them down.

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3 – One Site = One Container

4 – Sensible User Access

For example, if someone wants to write a guest blog post for you, make sure their account does not have full administrator privileges. Your friend’s account should only be able to create new posts and edit their own posts because there is no need for them to be able to change website settings.

Once you have separate accounts for every user, you can keep an eye on their behavior by reviewing logs and knowing their usual tendencies, like when and where they normally access the website. This way, if a user logs in at an odd hour, or from a suspicious location, you can investigate.

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5 – Change the Default CMS Settings!

This means that you can avoid a large number of attacks simply by changing the default settings when installing your CMS of choice.

For example, some CMS applications are writeable by the user – allowing a user to install whatever extensions they want.

You can either change these default details when installing your CMS or later, but don’t forget to do it.

6 – Extension Selection

Here are the things I always look for when deciding which extensions to use:

When the extension was last updated: If the last update was more than a year ago, I get concerned that the author has stopped work on it. I much prefer to use extensions that are actively being developed because it indicates that the author would at least be willing to implement a fix if security issues are discovered. Furthermore, if an extension is not supported by the author, then it may stop working if core updates cause conflicts.

The age of the extension and the number of installs: An extension developed by an established author that has numerous installs is more trustworthy than one with a few number of installs released by a first-time developer. Not only do experienced developers have a better idea about best security practices, but they are also far less likely to damage their reputation by inserting malicious code into their extension.

Legitimate and trusted sources: Download your plugins, extensions, and themes from legitimate sources. Watch out for free versions pirated and infected with malware. There are some extensions whose only objective is to infect as many websites as possible with malware.

7 – Backups

Having a hacked website is not something you would like to experience, but you don’t want to be caught off guard in case the worst happens.

Having website backups is crucial to recovering your website from a major security incident. Though it shouldn’t be considered a replacement for having a website security solution, a backup can help recover damaged files.

A good backup solution should fulfill the following requirements:

First, they have to be off-site. If your backups are stored in your website’s server, they are as vulnerable to attacks as anything else in there. You should keep your backups off-site because you want your stored data to be protected from hackers and from hardware failure. Storing backups on your web server is also a major security risk. These backups invariably contain unpatched versions of your CMS and extensions, giving hackers easy access to your server.

Second, your backups should be automatic. You do so many things every day that having to remember to backup your website might be unthinkable. Use a backup solution that can be scheduled to meet your website needs.

To finish, have reliable recovery. This means having backups of your backups and testing them to make sure they actually work. You will want multiple backups for redundancy. By doing this, you can recover files from a point before the hack occurred.

youtube

8 – Server Configuration Files

Get to know your web server configuration files:

Apache web servers use the .htaccess file,

Nginx servers use nginx.conf,

Microsoft IIS servers use web.config.

Most often found in the root web directory, server configuration files are very powerful. They allow you to execute server rules, including directives that improve your website security.

If you aren’t sure which web server you use, run your website through Sitecheck and click the Website Details tab.

Here are a few rules that I recommend you research and add for your particular web server:

Prevent directory browsing: This prevents malicious users from viewing the contents of every directory on the website. Limiting the information available to attackers is always a useful security precaution.

Prevent image hotlinking: While this isn’t strictly a security improvement, it does prevent other websites from displaying the images hosted on your web server. If people start hotlinking images from your server, the bandwidth allowance of your hosting plan might quickly get eaten up displaying images for someone else’s site.

Protect sensitive files: You can set rules to protect certain files and folders. CMS configuration files are one of the most sensitive files stored on the web server as they contain the database login details in plain text. Other locations, like admin areas, can be locked down. You can also restrict PHP execution in directories that hold images or allow uploads.

9 – Install SSL

SSL is the acronym for Secure Sockets Layer. It is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser.

I was hesitant to include SSL as a tip to improve your website security because there is a lot of misleading information suggesting that installing SSL will solve all your security issues.

Let’s be clear: SSL does nothing to protect your site against malicious attacks and does not stop it from distributing malware.

We have written a blog post to explain the difference between SSL and website security.

With the push from Google to label HTTP website as “Not Secure”, SSL is crucial for all websites. Forcing HTTPS is unavoidable for e-commerce websites and for any website that accepts form submissions with sensitive user data or Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

The SSL certificate protects your visitors’ information in transit, which in turn protects you from the fines and legal issues that come along with being found noncompliant with PCI DSS.

If you are thinking about installing SSL on your site, you can follow our guide to learn more.

10 – File Permissions

File permissions define who can do what to a file.

Each file has 3 permissions available and each permission is represented by a number:

‘Read‘ (4): View the file contents.

‘Write‘ (2): Change the file contents.

‘Execute‘ (1): Run the program file or script.

There are also 3 user types:

Owner – Usually the creator of the file, but this can be changed. Only one user can be the owner.

Group – Each file is assigned a group, and any user who is part of that group will get these permissions.

Public – Everyone else.

So, if you want the owner to have read & write access, the group to have only-read access, and the public to have no access, the file permission settings should be:

When you view the file permissions this will be shown as 640.

Folders also have the same permissions structure. The only difference is that the ‘execute’ flag allows you to make the directory your working directory. You will usually want this on.

Most CMS installs have all the permissions correctly configured by default. So why did I just spend so much time explaining how permissions work? When searching for solutions to permissions errors, all over the web you will find misinformed people advising you to change file permissions to 666 or folder permissions to 777.

This advice will usually fix any permissions errors, but it is terrible advice from a security perspective.

If you set a file permission to 666 or folder permission to 777 you have just allowed *anyone* to insert malicious code or delete your files!

Conclusion

If you follow these relatively simple steps you will increase the security of your website. While these steps alone will not guarantee that your site is never hacked, following them will stop the vast majority of automated attacks, reducing your overall risk posture.

Being aware of these issues and understanding them will provide you with valuable insight into how the underlying technology works. It will also help to make you a better webmaster/site operator.

With the holidays coming up, it’s a great time to make sure your website is properly secured. Count on us to help!

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Sucuri Blog authored by Keir Desailly. Read the original post at: https://blog.sucuri.net/2018/11/10-tips-to-improve-your-website-security-2.html

Source: https://securityboulevard.com/2018/11/10-tips-to-improve-your-website-security/

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