#it appears being possessed saps like all of the body's energy

[existencebringsonlypain]

Idk, I find it interesting that Raine has much less visible scarring than Hunter post-possession. With Hunter, it looks like at least two-fifths of his visible skin is now scars. Hunter was scarred pre-possession, of course, but the only obvious scar was his cheek one. Raine only got tear tracks and an ear blob. That's... Interesting, considering Belos was possessing Raine for much longer. Perhaps it's because Raine has a bile sac, and it was helping them resist Belos, whereas Hunter was magicless. Maybe the Belos goop (we need to come up with a better name for that) surfaces easiest on existing wounds, and Hunter just had more entry points in general (hence, the facial scar and ear nick being scarred specifically). Or maybe it's just because Belos fought in Hunter, and the curse overtook Hunter's whole body, but Raine only got tear tracks because that's the only parts Belos' curse overtook. It's ambiguous. For all we know, Belos could've purposefully scarred Hunter and held back on Raine because he needed them to look inconspicuous to the Collector. Who knows?

#it appears being possessed saps like all of the body's energy #raine struggled to walk up stairs #hunter couldn't surface abovewater and drowned #so the scars could be belos ... decomposing his victims #hence deer skeleton and grimwalker corpse #so that points to hunter's scars being larger simply because belos' curse took up more surface area #the mulletification is odd though. is belos ...aging the hosts? #hunter made sense ish #his hair grew out extremely fast even when not possessed #so possibly it's just a weird symptom of stress for grimwalkers #but raine? raine is just a witch #hair growth doesn't work like that #pointing to belos aging his victims rapidly #it's odd #would explain why they were so worn out though #in addition to being. possessed #at the same time #belos himself had only a small scar #despite the curse taking a large part of his face #so it may just be possession #not a side effect of the curse itself #anyway tangent over #the owl house #toh #toh rambling #toh raine #toh hunter #hunter toh #raine toh #belos toh

[seirclys]

Index Facsimile AU/ Normal Mode AUs

Facsimile: An exact copy, especially of a document. The words "facsimile" and "copy" can be used in similar contexts, but facsimile suggests a close reproduction often of graphic matter that may differ in scale.

This AU is also named after this headcanon. The purpose of this AU is to serve as a base for my other Normal Mode(w/ real Ivonne) AUs while keeping the storyline of the time loops. (Does this make "Index Facsimile" an AU category?)

Since the loop resets to the day after Callisto's return banquet, anything before that is the Index Timeline, where Penelope and Laila's knowledge of the time loops does not exist.

Penelope, who has had countless loops to hone her magic and skills, has many plans to deal with Laila. However, she can't change much: otherwise, her knowledge becomes useless.

During the first few days of her probation, after dealing with Emily(something she can do with her eyes closed at this point), she sneaks out to Soleil Island. There, she uses an extremely risky ritual she created to cut off Laila's knowledge of the time loops.

This ritual requires an extreme amount of mana and magical control, being much more dangerous than Winter's time loop ritual. However, because she is an ancient wizard, Penelope does not die due to the influx of pure mana. If a normal sorcerer(like Winter) attempts this, death is guaranteed.

Now for all intents and purposes, this is the Index Timeline, but Penelope has knowledge of the time loops. Laila is easier to defeat, and Penelope can plan accordingly.

Her first order of business is to give Ivonne her body back. So she rips out Laila's soul(being too weak to kill Laila, with the ritual sapping most of her strength). Ivonne is brought back into her body and given false memories of commoner life. Her memories of the loops were left behind in the Mirror of Truth, which weakened Penelope further.

Penelope drops Ivonne off at a small village, the same village that Winter once found Laila at, but not before putting a protection bracelet that would shield her from Laila's attempts at possession, much like the spell her own mother cast on a young Penelope.

It'll hold up until Penelope can put a proper spell on Ivonne. She also absentmindedly turns her hair back to the normal brown that Laila arrived at the duchy with. They won't be able to trace Penelope's magical imprint, so she doesn't worry much. The hair would keep Ivonne off the radar until Winter finds her.

She returns to Soleil Island. Because she can't erase and modify all of the cultist's memories of Laila in physical form, she settles on modifying their memories of Laila to have a different appearance and gives Laila a physical body.

It'll rot quickly with Laila's presence, so the body will force it to divert most of its time and energy to find a suitable host.

Penelope returns to the mansion, exhausted beyond belief. She holds out until the Second Prince's birthday banquet is held. She lets Callisto cut her throat, and uses that as an excuse to basically go into a magical healing coma for a few weeks.

#lysia's posts #lysia's narratives #villains are destined to die #vadd #death is the only ending for a villainess #death is the only ending for the villainess #ditoeftv #penelope eckhart #original penelope eckhart #og penelope eckhart #og! penelope eckhart #og penelope #ivonne eckhart #index facsimile AUs

[svturn-exe]

more oc stuff bc i love rattling these guys around in my head<3

cw for mentions of cannibalism and being buried alive

🔪most of what edwin would describe as 'supernatural bullshit' is usually invisible to normal humans for a number of reasons.

🔪demons can alter their appearance to appear human, or hide themselves altogether. however, they are still visible to other non-humans, so many demons will choose to simply disguise themselves instead, unless they're leeching off some poor sap's energy. everybody eats!

🔪angels can also take on a human disguise. the human brain can't comprehend most angels in their true form, so it blocks it out altogether unless the angel is either VERY determined to interact with them, or actively attacking them. nephilim are human-adjacent enough to be perceived, but this doesn't make them any less distressing to behold. fallen angels, who are locked into a more humanoid form, can also be seen

🔪spirits and ghosts n shit aren't visible to regular humans under normal circumstances and can't do much about that, but they may appear in cameras and mirrors

🔪edwin has a large scar on his back from an ill-fated encounter with Supernatural Bullshit he had as a child. the incident taught edwin that certain ghouls and beasts aren't fond of finding out he can See them. the incident also taught edwin that his dad can and will shoot a demon with a gun to protect his boy (father-son bonding !)

🔪edwin has the sight, and can tell when Supernatural Bullshit is afoot, even when it's disguised. (for example, when jackson first approaches ed at the gym, he can instantly see something is up with this guy, even if he's not sure what, exactly, bc he'd never seen an angel before) edwin also looks different to himself in his reflection (lighter eyes and light pupils)

🔪cero, emile, and jay (after gaining a demonic bestie) all have a partial sixth sense. cero can see ghosts/spirits and angels in unfiltered rawdog form, but it is possible for a demon to hide from him. emile can sniff out (sometimes literally) when someone isn't as human as they seem, but can't see ghosts (though pup can smell them). jay post-consensual possession can see demons, and develops a mild aversion towards angelic presences (though that's mostly due to girlie chilling in bug's body. angels are her natural predator and she would prefer not to get eaten)

🔪edwin, by the time he meets jack, has been on t for years, and likes his voice in general. he especially likes his voice in the mornings, though

🔪emile has entomophobia and arachnophobia. when there's a bug inside their apartment, jay is the one who has to catch them and bring them outside. because emile WILL start crying

🔪graveyards and human burial rites are fascinating to jackson. most disputes among angels end in bloodshed and subsequent cannibalism. actually the response to just about any death of an angel is usually to eat them. you mean your bury your dead or cremate them? instead of descending upon the corpse like vultures? wild. (edwin voice) babe,,

🔪jackson and grand finale both had other names before the death of god, but don't go by them anymore. jackson fell in love with humanity, and chose a name to reflect that desire to be human and live among them. grand finale just stopped using its old name and didn't pick a new one until it started a relationship with naomi.

🔪a0 is cis on a technicality, but somehow still has two deadnames. the first is the name his birth mother gave to him shortly before his burial due to them mistakenly believing he was stillborn. the second is the name that was given to him when he was found wandering around as a young kid

🔪emile: i got that dog in me jay: ??? emile: (transforms into a giant dog) jay: this explains so much, 🔪aspects of grand finale's character are intended to be a foil to jackson. jack went down to earth of kings own free will, grand finale was forced. jackson loves humans and takes any excuse he can to mingle with them, grand finale at its most tolerant is still not the biggest fan of humanity, and prefers to be on its own or with naomi (and later, cero).

🔪jay and naomi are very close siblings, and in their free time like to do urbex together. this joint hobby leads to them stumbling across grand finale, who just ripped and clawed its way through a facility of researchers and is pissed off at humanity. no one dies (no one important, at least) but this still does not end well

🔪naomi is no-op! luna takes e, and has vocal training, but is otherwise usually fairly masc-presenting.

🔪jackson was originally going to be a werewolf

🔪emile has that dog in it, but elaine takes after amelia (their human mother). i'm still thinking on the specifics of it but i know she's some kind of magical!!

🔪a0 is allergic to therapy, and so doesn't have many healthy outlets for stress and trauma. so, when he meets grand finale, their combined irritability and respective strong personalities result in them fighting. grand finale spares cero's life out of curiosity because the dude is clearly some kind of Creature, but it isn't sure what.

🔪cero keeps tracking down finale and fighting it. he knows he'll lose every time (grand finale is just stronger, and a0 can't yank it out of its body without severely injuring himself) but that doesn't matter. maybe he Needs to get his ass beat and not think about all the bullshit life keeps throwing at him for once

#svturn's ocs #ocverse: rosetint #oc: rt edwin rose #oc: rt jackson beau #oc: rt a0/absolute zero #oc: rt emile black #oc: rt grand finale #oc: rt naomi wilde #oc: rt jay wilde #plus a couple others who are only mentioned briefly #yippee ! #long post btw .

[yespolkadotkitty]

Bring You In Warm

I apologise in advance.

I wrote this for @restingnurseface​ and @wolvesandhoundshowltogether​ and @tiffdawg​ . I feel like LITERAL trash.

“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.”

You listened to Pedro practicing his lines in the living room as you tinkered with supper in the kitchen - something smoky with a ton of fat prawns, risotto rice and chicken stock. The aromas floated up to you as your husband carried on rehearsing.

You caught snatches of dialogue as you stirred the big pot. Outside, birds tweeted, greeting the encroaching dusk.

As you sprinkled in finely chopped parsley, Pedro appeared in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around you, the old blue hoodie he wore soft against your back. “Smells amazing.”

You leaned back and let him kiss your neck. “It’s sort of hot, you know?”

“What is?”

“Your character, Mando. I mean - he never lets anyone see his face, right?”

“Right. The way,” he added, dropping his voice half an octave, and damn if that didn’t send a shiver right through you.

“Anyway,” you gestured with the spoon and narrowly missed poking your husband in the eye, “so if he was going to bang someone, it would need to be in complete darkness.”

Pedro considered this. “I guess. Or,” he said thoughtfuly,  “he would need to make them wear a blindfold.” He straightened up, kissing your hair absently. “Shall I wash up for dinner?”

“Um…. sure.” You watched him walk off towards the downstairs bathroom, nonchalant, as if he hadn’t just turned your world upside down with that image of being blindfolded during uber-hot space sex with a mercenary.

You ate dinner together as the sun set, the air still warm until late in this part of the world. You settled in with a favourite book while Pedro read over the script again, sitting out on the porch with a habitual glass of whiskey that he’d nurse all evening.

It was after ten when you started yawning more than you weren’t, so you popped out to the porch to kiss Pedro goodnight. He tasted faintly of whiskey and the saffron you’d cooked with, a heady combo, and you leaned into the kiss.

“I’ll be up soon,” he promised, free hand trailing down your arm as he looked back down at the script.

You undressed lazily and slid into bed, leaving the light on dim as you considered whether to read a few more pages or not - you’d left your book on quite the cliffhanger.

Deciding against it, you sat up to get your night cream - and the lights went out.

“Um.. Pedro? Did we have a power cut?” you asked into the almost complete darkness. Only the sliver of the moon through the half-closed blinds provided a barely-there kiss of starlight.

Silence.

Then, footsteps.

“Eyes closed,” commanded a familiar voice, only, half an octave deeper. “Co-operate and I’ll bring you in warm.”

A bolt of heat shot through you, along with the release of a hoard of butterflies in your stomach. “I promise, I won’t open them,” you whispered.

“Can’t take any chances, not when it comes to quarry,” the voice responded. You felt the creak of the bed at your back, then warm hands guiding fabric around your face. A blindfold.

You swallowed a rush of lust as warm lips skated down the back of your neck and over your naked shoulder. You opened your eyes, but the soft blindfold was thick, revealing nothing.

“What are you going to do to me?” you squeaked, wondering how much you should play along, and a little afraid to admit how much you wanted to play along.

“Whatever the fuck I want,” the voice replied, and you felt a rush of warmth between your legs.

Abruptly you were pushed back on to the bed, the mattress cushioning your landing, and a long, lean body pinned you. You surrendered to a fierce, possessive kiss, arching your body against your husband’s, so turned on you almost felt dizzy.

His hand gripped your hip, hard, and then he slid down your body, the brush of his scruffy jaw so familiar and yet so new. He nuzzled one breast at a time as you speared your fingers through his thick, soft hair, and then he slid further down your body, strong, capable hands holding your thighs apart as his breath whispered over your most intimate area.

“Mine,” he murmured in that commanding tone, and then he started feathering kisses first over your inner thighs and lower belly, everywhere except where you wanted him.

You groaned in frustration just as Pedro licked right there - and then moved away.

“Are you serious?” you groaned.

“On your knees,” he ordered, his husky voice making your inner muscles flutter. “Don’t make me wait.”

You scrambled to obey in the darkness, your hands sliding over the covers as you knelt up on all fours, waiting. You felt the bed move as Pedro slid under you, his face right there, holding your thighs so you were open to him.

And then he pulled you down, down - until he could explore you totally with his tongue, worshipping every fold and crevice of you. You held your breath as the pleasure spiked embarrassingly quickly, and before you knew it you were keening into the pillow, muscles spasming as he held you through the quakes. Only his hands kept you from falling, your body boneless, sapped of energy, as you shivered with the aftershocks of a really intense climax. 

Vaguely you felt Pedro release you, ease you down to the bed, spread your legs. Then your belly tightened anew as he braced himself over you, leaning so his mouth was by your ear. “Sweet girl, I’m not done. I want my fill of you before I turn you in.”

You practically melted away as he filled you with one smooth, hard thrust, and you heard his groan of pleasure, only making you wetter.

He set up a punishing rhythm as you lifted your hips to meet each snap of his, his long, lean body warm and smooth against yours, his front warm to your back. Just as you felt your pleasure peak, he commanded, “touch yourself,” and you slid a finger over your clit to bring yourself over the edge.

At the same time he came with a quiet fuck, emptying himself inside you, the weight of him on your back comforting.

“Well, wow,” you said breathlessly, after you’d given him a few seconds to recover.

He gently tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “You liked that?”

You snorted. “You couldn’t tell? Thank you. That was…” you tugged off the blindfold. “So hot. Insanely hot.”

He pressed a kiss to your shoulder as he got up to clean off. “Never let it be said that I’m not a method actor.”

#the mandalorian x reader #pedro pascal x reader #shameless smut #pwp

[seb-owns-these-tatas]

Witcher Of The Night (Chapter 10.1)

THIS IS MODERN ERA READER WHO WOKE UP IN THE DIMENSION OF THE WITCHER. 

WITCHER OF THE NIGHT MASTERLIST

CHAPTER 10

Characters: Geralt of Rivia x small!Naive!Reader

Summary: You’ve woken up after the possession without remembering how it went, nor did you remember yourself confessing for the witcher. Three wishes were said with an comfortable feeling that seemed irresistible for you and for the white wolf himself too; leading into having renowned stress and frustration for Geralt with tensions that seemed to be carnal deep inside. 

Warnings: Sexual tension. Frustration from both. Reader being one naughty woman for some bum staring and keeps on bothering a sleeping Geralt. Soft, soft, soft, Geralt of Rivia. Anxiety filled reader. Captain America is mentioned.

Words: 7.6k (SHEEIT. THIS IS LONG AF. WHAT THE HECK TATA HAHAHA. I WAS TOO HAPPY THAT THERE’S SOME TENSION NOW. HAHA! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT!)

A/N: Smut will be up soon. (Maybe around chapter 14-16) There will be! Patience is a virtue, bb’s! Also, this is one of my favorite chapters that I’ve written! Heehee! I hope you’ll love it! 💖

TAGLIST IS STILL OPEN FOR THIS ONE! Heehee! Don’t forget to REBLOG, COMMENT OR GIVE FEEDBACK IF YOU DID LOVE THIS CHAPTER! IT’LL MAKE ME SMILE!

Disclaimer: PNG’s used in edits are not mine even the GIF’s too. However, the edits and oneshots are definitely from moi. Characters, places and said monsters aren’t from moi as well. GIF’s INCLUDED ARE CREDITED TO THOSE WHO MADE THEM! I DO NOT OWN THEM! (Some Gifs are from demivampirew)

MY WORKS ARE NOT NOT NOT NOT NOOOOOOT TO BE POSTED ON ANY OTHER WEBSITES. My official username in Wattpad is “TATATHEPOTATO” and that’s the only other site I have for writing aside from Tumblr. Thank you, Tater tots!

After the aberrant incident with your Djinn, you'd happen to wake up in the arms of the witcher. Geralt didn't know what happened; nor does he have any as to what explanations can be said. Nobody knew your wishes, not even yourself as you woke up sitting on a saddle; with Geralt's arms surrounding you in a warmth that tells you he was protecting the person in front of him; which was you.

He'd deeply pondered about it as the gang hiked back towards their path going home. What was the reason that you've been possessed by some sort of pneuma? Better yet, what have you really wished for?

All he remembered was your ebony eyes that consumed you from that time being. Though, drinking black blood was ticked off the list because he never even gave you the opportunity to try it nor is it possible for your tiny frame to take the elixir with no immunity like his.

You were definitely possessed; but then it left once you'd given him a barf of black smoke as explained by the bard who saw everything before his eyes.

He wasn't sure of it, but he couldn't be steadfast that the spirit wasn't in your body anymore; keeping you as a host. Though, the bard's explanations interprets that you've given the spirit to him.

Geralt would rather much prefer that than for you to painstakingly have it.

Hence, there was still a lot of questions especially that you woke up like finding a djinn never happened. Those words that was whispered out of your lips sounding like Elder speech.

He'd only understood the first word you've said which was 'Cáerme,'.

It meant Destiny. The word he hated the most.

The latter shouldn't have searched for the Djinn in the first place and just chose the latter option, but he just had to be so stubborn for wanting to flip the bird back at destiny who was trying to play him like a puppet and also at Durriken who began to spat shit back in the Tavern.

"Geralt," Jaskier extolled as the witcher walked Roach out of the forest. The way his pitch turned higher; sounding so mesmerized by the image he was seeing. The vast meadow sitting before him as a petite stone house castle appeared before them. Their wooden cavern long gone as another house has been magically changed; a stone house that probably had a second floor and rooms to provide for the whole family.

The bard gasped and stood in the middle of the field, his eyes shimmering in delight as he loomed before the new house; arms all wide as he exclaimed, "THIS IS SPLENDID! A MIRACLE, INDEED! What did she even wished for?!"

You were oddly silent. For Geralt, it was strange as he'd noticed that the first thing you've asked when you woke up in his arms was 'what happened?' as your eyes were weary and somehow filled with fatigue.

Your quietness was disturbing him to the fullest because he was fond of how you were always asking stuff whenever you see something uncanny in the midst of trailing down the path; which your naivety and curiosity lead to having a Hirikka living in his home. But, now; you were just staring out of nowhere as you sat on the saddle.

All your energy has just been taken from you when you've woken up in wonder; leaving you drained.

"What did you wish for, midget?" Geralt asked out of nowhere as he yanked on Roach's reigns as the horse galloped forward, towards an unspecified small, stone castle that you weren't accustomed with.

You've cocked your head to the side, squinting your eyes back at the larger house sitting in front of you and at the question that the witcher has asked, "What? I haven't yet. We were about to go to the swamps, remember?"

It was a sapped response that made the witcher hum in wonderment; shrugging to himself as the horse maneuvered to the side of the house to see that he'd still acquired his stable but not made of wood; but made in stones.

The house totally looked sumptuous to Geralt's surprise. He was used to the penurious looking stuff, but not the lavish life. He'd been sleeping in brothels before, had no home and friends other than his horses. Yet, life seemed like surprise him to the fullest.

"You've already made your wishes and we have already went to the lake," the witcher surly grumbled, his voice vibrating against his chest as you could hear the cavernous timbre that surely always does give you a touch to the spine.

Howbeit, once you've heard the velveteen gradient passing through; the effect was rather much profound. Kindling with the sparks that seemed to give your spine a shiver.

Totally bewildering, overwhelming and suddenly pleasurable.

"I...didn't? What are you saying?" you softly chided as your body went stiff by the patent purl of his effect on you. The witcher detected your body turning rigid like you've been shot to the head; yet he paid no thorough heed to it as he thought you've just shivered from the benumbing breeze of the night.

You've felt shifting from behind and noticed Geralt who'd gotten to jump off his horse first. No movements were made other than you who was stupefied at whatever stupendous feeling you were having. Beseeching peepers peering down at the witcher who had his beautiful amber eyes on you; silently watching like a hawk with his expression stoic but somewhat pliable that only you had the liberty to.

Very weird indeed.

"Jump." the witcher ordered, his voice sending more overwhelming ripples of shivers that made you subtly shake your head but it was noticed by Geralt as his mouth formed a firm, thin line; eyebrows slightly creased together from the reaction he got.

You timidly hauled your leg off his horse. The witcher's robust fingers spontaneously grabbing onto your hip before you could even jump then fall to the ground; like an instinctive reflex coming from the man himself, carrying you down with no effort. You were gently placed to the ground with much caution.

The wavelet of pleasurable specter traveled through every parts of your body, involuntary stepping an inch away from the latter which has made his hands stay where they have been, cocking his head to the side as he blinked in confusion.

He stared at his fingers far too long; seeming to be feeling what you were also feeling as of the moment. But, he never planned to tell; thinking that it was just probably the side effects of what has happened prior to the Djinn incident that has occured.

"Ughm," your heart was beating fast, giving you an unrewarding feeling when you've subtly moved away from the witcher; your actions never liking what it did when you've felt weight laid upon your chest, making you want to groan out loud in ire, "T-Thanks,"

Geralt could only raise a brow in silence from your reflexes; a weird abrupt feeling of frustration spreading through his chest but he paid no regard as he wanted something he couldn't quite understand.

The witcher was the first to leave, his mouth in a small frown by whatever was irritating him. You tailed behind Geralt stepping foot on their door step with quick marches. From the moment you've thrown yourself in the space of their new humble abode, you were awestruck as you've scanned the whole place with stupefaction.

The interior design of the whole house was in cardinal and wood brown, floor in stones. Geralt stood in the middle of a rather medium sized living room, thoroughly inspecting the place with his scrutinizing amber eyes with Jaskier, Cirilla and Kolby entirely delighted by the miracle that has been given.

You've stood behind Geralt, his Herculean back shown to you as you were staring at it far too long. A sudden thought for wanting to see his body bare which earned a mental slap for your untamed brain.

What were you just thinking right now?

The brooding witcher puttered an exquisite groan to himself, a phantom of satisfying prickle of your stomach giving your insides a warmth that seemed to slowly become insufferable as he'd turned around to meet your doe-eyes; guilelessly peering up at the witcher who was all colossal and strong.

"Tell me your wishes---" he firmly started, roughly spitting out his demands when Geralt met your vindicated gaze that could get him antsy. But, now he was just beyond feeling irked. His gaze simply falling on your lips that held nothing but kindness; those lips that he suddenly wanted to savor all night long.

What was wrong with you both?

Geralt exhaled a calm breath; tightly gritting his teeth as he sharply snapped his eyes away from your vermillion, "---right now. If I were the Djinn,"

Kolby was yelping in the background in his own way; the Hirikka way. Albeit, Jaskier was trying to avoid the harmless monster as it was trying to stand in his path, asking for something from the bard, "No! Bad Hirikka! Stay away!"

You've given the witcher a look of peculiarity; studying how rigid his stance was before you. Eyes closed and seeming to be breathing deeply. The latter couldn't help but take note of how unyielding your scent have been, a sudden feeling that he couldn't withstand and just want to bury his nose in the crook of your neck.

It made Geralt hum a dangerous and displeased short-lived grumble deep inside his chest.

Lemon with a hint of peony. His new favorite scent since the moment you came running off the forest.

"Why---"

The witcher has sharply cut you off out of the blue, jaw clenching as he'd fluttered his eyes for you to see; piercing, obscure and penetrating. "Just tell me, midget."

Those eyes seem to always take your breath away; maybe even your soul as well because of those lascivious thoughts whispering inside your head; scorching your spirit to the fire wanting to be flamed.

"A..A bigger, better house for your family," you hesitantly murmured, soft and quietly which made Geralt's eyebrows twitch. The sound was delicate and utter convincing for him with a perilous want to satiate.

The type of satiation that he wanted to covet; all night long.

It was definitely sudden and treacherous.

Jaskier gave you both a once over across the kitchen, eyes bulging out of its sockets when he'd noticed it was bigger than what they had before; more comfortable and homey. Kolby was trailing behind the bard like he was his shadow which was still being ignored by the lean man himself, "Which explains why we have a small castle house right now, thank you very much, small rat! I can now bathe without Roach staring like he wants me to breed him,"

Jaskier's laugh was loudly resonating around the house which accompanied with the silence you were having with Geralt. One thud and you've noticed the witcher came closer, glowing amber eyes solely on your small frame as he continued his interrogation, "And the second?"

"Enough...food and clothes for everyone,"

Jaskier has seen a basket full of apples, oranges, grapes and everything you can ever wish for. His face twisting in oddity when he'd given the basket of apples to the Hirikka who'd devour it like he has been famished. The bard continued to listen, hearing Cirilla's loud stomps of excitement coming down the stairs of their new two-storey stone house, "Kolby is certainly loving it," he cajoled, stepping away from the Hirikka with a cringe on his face before looking at the princess who was now twirling around with a new pretty yellow gown that she held to herself; a huge beam on her face, "---Also, Cirilla."

You've stayed rooted on the ground, accepting the witcher's presence like it wasn't giving you the shivers and a weirdly palpable desire for wanting him close. Closer than you can ever imagine. Geralt also wanted you nearer, maybe even more. A lot more. Your irresistible scent clouding his mind as he'd taken several steps closer, your scent crashing his palates like a damn delicious snack he'd wish to devour.

The latter lowly whispered crude profanities to himself when the 'want' was starting to get to him. It wasn't like this before; the cravings and utter such. Only for tonight. He ceased his steps once he was an inch away from your feet, looming before you like a skyscraper as you've felt the heat of his stare totally irresistible as time goes by.

It was creating an enigma for your silent mental thinking; heedful of keeping your thoughts in a haywire.

"The last one?" It was a mere grumble, a volume that only you could hear as you were thoroughly enchanted by those amber eyes trying to burn your vindicated soul.

"The happiness of all, especially...yours," your heart was running a mile as you were consumed by the fire in his eyes. You softly stuttered with utmost sincerity. Never wanting the overwhelming sensation to go away as he was now closer; seeming that your desire to touch him was turning deep-seated.

You wanted to touch his face. Badly. The warm feeling threatening you to do it.

But, it seemed like the witcher was also feeling the same way and was somehow more immune to the irresistible repulsion. You've seen his eyes faltering, changing into a look of frustration, anger and depletion as he snapped his head away from you. The veins to his temples throbbing as deeply growled to himself; fighting off something he was feeling that you couldn't decipher.

Then, it was like he'd broken the spell as he abruptly shifted away from you; shaking his head. The overwhelming sensation changing into dismay and pain. His reaction sparking you to feel downhearted. Shouldn't he be happy that you wished for his happiness as well?

You've blinked back at the witcher with a frown, the way his eyes shun away kept your heart at bay, pondering of the fact if he felt it too or was it just another one of your ridiculous hallucinations? There were voices inside your head, screaming that you've told the witcher you liked him, though you never remembered when and where.

Maybe, it never happened?

Hence, why does the idea felt incorrect?

Jaskier, a great eavesdropper; managed to slid his way to where you both were. The bard's ocean eyes raking both of your rigid forms like you were acting pretty strange. Especially, the witcher who seemed to be having an internal battle within himself, "Alas! It seems like this is the wish that broke my heart because the witcher doesn't appear happy at all,"

Geralt gritted his teeth as he spoke; clearly upset of your last wish as he was glaring you down. The sudden change of his attitude making you scrunch your nose in dismay; his frustration seeming to also be given as you had your fists on either side, huffing out a breath;  "You didn't wish to go back to that earth you call your home?"

"By the sound of my last wish, I think I did."

"It didn't sound like it," the witcher roughly spat. Bruising that selflessness and naivety of yours with his simple words. You crippled under his fierce gaze and felt yourself thwarting, "I really did! I didn't want to be selfish and wish for myself! Coming home makes me happy! Obviously, it would've been for you too based on how persistent you are in throwing me away! If I did say that to the Djinn then I should've portaled back home already!"

The sudden high-pitch timbre of your voice was an accident. You didn't mean to burst like a mad man at the witcher who had been wincing since the moment you've spat spiteful words after words. You were utterly infuriated; from the heavy, unrelieved feeling and also disheartened by how he was strong willed about how you should go back to where you came from.

Jaskier was rooted on the ground. Hands fidgeting over his cup of water, tapping the lid when you've started dropping a bombshell back at the unnerved witcher who now had a stoic expression carving his features once again; giving you each other looks as his mouth was in an 'O' form, staring back at Geralt; waiting for another mistake that he could do because he was that type of lout as Jaskier knew.

But, to the bard's surprise; his expectations had been high as he waited for the witcher to yell back like how he did to him back in the days; accidentally hurting his heart.

Yet, there was no angry witcher coming forth.

"You should've been more specific," Geralt calmly murmured, audibly sighing from the anger you've poured down on him; leaving Jaskier  to his astonishment, "---you're too fucking selfless," the latter went on with his gruff rumbles, shaking his head in disdain as he turned his heel to drop his heavy metal sword on a medium sized brown mahogany table, "---to even include us in your wishes,"

Cirilla was nowhere to be found; currently in her room as she was jumping on her pretty large new bed. Jaskier wearily blinked back to the both of you who seemed to be in a mess; nodding to himself from the moment the witcher was the first to even calm down when you were maddened.

The simple action was enough for Jaskier to get blown away because he rarely does that when someone was proving a point to the witcher, especially when the point was actually about his rickety attitude that he couldn't control. The bard left you both to your argument, never wanting another quarrel and trying to cease the war by waving the white flag.

His firm and calm response made you feel bad. Totally bad especially when you've seen his frown. Howbeit, you were pondering why was he even thwarted about the fact that you included them in your wishes when he should've been thankful?

Witchers were complicated, you thought to yourself. The pent up aggression now leaving your body when you've tried to reason out to the witcher; though, it was still there deep inside. You just tried to shake it off.

You've tread on the heels of Geralt; throwing questions after questions as you were hot on his wheels, "But, did we get the Djinn?" First. "What happened?" Second. "Are you really not going to answer me? Is this a part of your brooding charm, then?" Third.

He'd ceased his steps before the first block of the stairs, your forehead hitting his beefy back. You've immediately hissed at that and caressed the part that was hit, silently groaning out for being an annoying idiot.

The witcher wasn't moved at all.

You were beyond awestruck from how you were acting. You've never been seeking for his attention before yet here you are; kindling with his patience.

"I'm sorry," the guilt was eating you alive. Your sudden caterwaul and needy attitude making you feel strange. You were never like that. Ever. You genuinely apologized to the witcher, biting at the pillows of your chapped lips from the anxiety, "---I didn't know you want me to leave that bad, Geralt."

Still, no answer from the witcher. Albeit, that was his problem with each passing day with you; the thought of you leaving was slowly penetrating his will on watching you go. He was slowly hating to see you leave.

If Destiny was hearing his thoughts, it'll be celebrating by how she was playing her cards right. It's what she wanted from him; from Geralt.

To accept his destiny. As always.

"---Also, thank you." you continued, trying to communicate with the silent hunk of a man, "---For always saving me when I should've been killed already,"

You've given him a small, sad smile without him even looking. Catching you off guard when he'd momentarily turned around to see a partial of his apologetic amber eyes.

"I---"

Though, it seemed like destiny didn't want that from Jaskier's brash interruption; Geralt didn't have the chance to continue what he wanted to say. A subtle roll of his eyes as the bard hollered from the second floor, being happy as a box of birds when he was welcomed with a bed that seemed so comforting to sleep on. He was just looking through the set of rooms; deciding to give Geralt the chambers that had wider windows then leaving to catch up on the others. There was also a pretty much medium sized bath room that took up most of the proximity of the home itself.

It was rather fantastic.

"THERE'S ANOTHER SPARE ROOM! HOWEVER, IT IS PRECISELY ONE ROOM DESTINED FOR ME!" he shouted from above, hearing him uttering out the most unfamiliar words he'd excitedly said as he continued to yell, "---YOU ARE AN ANGEL SENT FROM AN UNKNOWN PORTAL, Y/N! I SEND MY KISSES TO YOU! MUAH!"

Geralt's features was masking in complete fatigue and dismay; sighing from the bard's horrible interaction.

You bit your lips together, beaming back at the witcher who had a tight scowl on his face as you'd stealthily stepped back; planning to flee from his presence. Your thoughts thinking that maybe he was already annoyed, "Okay then, I'll give you your wanted silence."

You've side-stepped, cautiously aware of how heavy his gaze rested upon you. But, you were too bashful to even look back. Nervous that he would notice that you were already deeply fond of him.

But, something inside you says he already knows which is why it added more butterflies in your stomach; lately becoming uncontrollable and raucous.

"Where are you going?" Geralt bluntly questioned, you've ceased from escaping within his presence and gave him a look that tries to state the obvious, "To my chambers?"

The brooding witcher cocked his head to the side, curiosity filling his cat eyes. His lips twitching for a smirk to carve because your reasoning was hilarious, "The kitchen?"

You gave him a tight crease of your forehead, finding his queries rather abrupt and weirdly strange because he seemed to be pointing out that it wasn't your room and so you've laid down your opinions and viewpoint, "I know you were kind enough to lend me your bed because I was wounded. But, I think the medicine still works like a miracle and---"

Therefore, it was enough for the witcher to simper. The strange sentiments of keeping you close as he tries to sleep assaulted those strange senses that continues to give him impelling decisions.

"No," Geralt wanted to wince. It was not what he wanted to say. His crooked smile fell when you eyed him like he was a weird one, "What do you mean, no?"

"You can have my bed,"

The latter's nose was scrunched, subtly snapping his head to the side as he lowly cussed, "Ugh, fuck." when that was abruptly said out in the open.

He wanted you with him. On his bed. With reasons that can get him to sleep and also because of that feeling he couldn't get off his chest.

You puckered your lips in quick ponder, before shrugging to yourself and suddenly sleeping on his bed seemed to be normal, "Okay--What?"

Geralt calmly exhaled a breath, blinking back at you with a scowl as his body went stiff; uttering his next words with contrived annoyance, "You can suffer from Jaskier's lute strumming in the middle of the night; non stop like a dragon in heat," his teeth gritted against each other. Though, you didn't notice that and was more heedful of his anomalous attitude, "Is...Cirilla's room not available?"

The witcher shook his head, to the question sent and for his random actions, "You can't always sleep in her room," pause. He'd started again with doubt dripping in his baritone pitch, "---There are...peril instances that may occur when she is deep in her slumber,"

You clicked your tongue, "So, I have no choice but to sleep in your bed?"

"Hmm."

All you've gotten from him was a raise of his brow and a low menacing hum that seemed displeasing to the ears, "I think that was a yes," you avoided his intense golden peepers, thoroughly tentative of how your fingers fidgeted with the hem of your long mustard colored sleeved sweater; his demands giving your heart another blush, "---You are acting...weird today, Geralt."

With you stating the obvious ignited a grudging groan from the latter. Words were in a surly rumble as he languidly spun in his booted heels and took his flight up the stairs. His heavy, muscly weight making the floors creak with every step he takes; following him from behind, "Fine. Sleep with Kolby for all you want."

The way up was steep and narrow. Having an ounce of space for the person below the latter when he walks up. You were lost in wonder as your focal point was fortunately on Geralt's abounding derriere that made your mouth dry. 11/10, you rated inside your brain. Totally A+ with that tight leather pants he wore. He had a better bum than you, which made you look back at your own tushie, lighting up a scoff to your disappointment.

"---He seems quite unstable before we went to go get that faux of a Djinn,"

Halfway up the stairs, the witcher ceased. Sensing something was going on as he slightly turned his body to see you staring straight at his tushie. Geralt eyed you down in confusion, his amber eyes skeptical as he just caught you ogling at his firm glutes. The witcher couldn't help but scorn, seeing your mouth shut and in awe from what you were seeing.

You've blinked back to see him staring you down with that guileless curiosity of what you were just doing. Maybe staring at a witcher's bum wasn't exactly the brightest idea when he had heightened senses. A loud clear of your throat got him smirking before he continued to ascend.

"You--You called him Kolby!" you stuttered and tried to ignore that you were caught red handed by the witcher. You went after him and feel the blush creeping up your face,  "Don't--Don't you turn your back away from me when I'm talking to you, Rivia! "

Your eyes scanned the way up the stairs, utterly surprised to see their house magically transformed into something better, "---So, I really did made the wishes already! Your house has a second floor right now?"

A crane of your neck as you watch his dirty, tousled hair bounce with every step you take. Those buns of his also jiggling when he took his final step and you couldn't avoid but silently give a chef's kiss; understanding how he was ravishing and utmost pleasing to the eyes of women.

Until your foot caught the ends of the stairs and you stumbled. One knee falling flat on the floor and a loud thud erupted from your clumsy accident. Too much bum staring. But, it was probably worth it. "Oh---Geralt! Ow!"

There wasn't much struggle as the witcher effortlessly grabbed your weight in one second; keeping you still as you were given a whiplash by those spellbinding eyes.

The witcher had one knee dropped to the ground, never hesitating to give assistance to your dextrosity. You were a lummox when you were bashful and shy; uttering out the most ungraceful confessions, opinions or even being an utter clutz because your fingers fidget from the embarrassment.

"So fucking selfless with her wishes and utterly cloddish,"

Geralt checked your bandages in haste, straightaway pulling the hems of your sweater in the right, respectful amount to see them all bloody and looking like you've stitched them open because of your accident. Touching you seemed to be the least of his worries when you've arrived; like he couldn't feel the prickling, delightful sensation that he pours out on you whenever he does.

He was prettier up close. You mentally thought to yourself, charmed by his handsome features when his focal point was on your bloody bandage, "You need those bandages changed, midget." he grumbled the thought out loud, slightly craning his head as you had the advantage on the position you both have; meeting those curious doe eyes like you wanted more from the witcher.

Something insatiable, pure and peckish.

Faces close in proximity, trapped in a spellbind that you both completely had no power in. His warm breath hitting your ajar mouth, slightly filling the curiosity you had for the witcher.

You've raked the small scars on his face, imperfections that made him more striking; wondering how many flaws did he have to take to become a monster-slayer in their world as you remembered Cirilla's stories about him. What more scars did he held on his body in which you find him still delightful.

The gap between the both of you was perilous. There it was again, the sensations that you both were having; yet no one was willing to risk.

"Geralt?" you softly whispered against the his lips; watching those eyelids of him fall shut when he'd craned his head to see your eyes staring right at him. Those gorgeous eyelashes that had been given to him; rather than to a woman like you. It was unfair to see how gorgeous he was up close.

Lemon. Peony. It was enticing for a witcher. Bringing him to a haven he didn't thought there was.

From the moment he'd heard you softly say his name, he'd slightly fell back; seeming to be caught in a vulnerable state. You've finally seen his eyes that was now filled with ire; like he was struggling with something within himself, "Hmm?"

"Did I...do something?"

The witcher exhaled a breath he has been holding, your scent catching his senses as he tried to imprint your scent by heart, giving him the advantage that it helps in making him calm and at ease, "No," he gruffly mumbled, breaking the spell and dragging his sky scraping height to the fullest; standing up with a frown on his face by wanting to achieve something that shouldn't be dreamt of, "Not at all."

Vulnerability would answer his curiosities and the witcher didn't know if he was ready yet because the last time he did, it got his heart broken.

You've had sleepless nights. Even more than you can ever imagine back in your apartment. The insomnia was kicking you in the ass for a thousand times as you kicked and stirred in your sleep, beside a witcher who has been giving your heart a marathon.

Just his breathing was keeping your breathing and heartbeat erratic.

There it was, the desire of having the big witcher close to you as he slept on the other end of the rather new large bed, his strapped, broad back away from you looking like the space he'd given himself was rather too little for his large frame.

It was funny to see him struggling with the small space as you've twisted and turned for the hundredth time. You couldn't hear anything other than the eerie, buzzing sounds of the night. Jaskier finally had shut up from creating new epics and strumming on his lute, so to say; it was probably three o'clock in the morning in their time.

You were wondering if that was how the witcher slept. Only on one position; never moving like he was dead. It has already been two hours and you had nothing to do but tap on the mattress with your fingers and stare at his clothed back. Did he also have scars on his back too? you mentally thought to yourself and gently turned your body to look at the wooden ceilings.

Sleep wouldn't consume you tonight. You'd rather have a different type of sensation that would consume you all night. Your breath hitched at the thought of that, wordlessly dragging the sheets above you to wrinkle your nose from the damaging ideas inside your head. Your soul probably tutting because of how you've become from the moment you've fainted and remember nothing.

There was a sigh. Your head snapped towards the witcher who seem to shift in his side of the bed, placing a hand underneath his pillows as his face was morphed into distress. He couldn't sleep at all because you were restlessly moving like a worm, also for the heavy feeling tugging at his chest since the moment he'd woken up from being attacked by the djinn.

"Geralt?"

He didn't answer.

"---It's cold, like really cold." with that, he deeply sighed; never planning on opening his eyes. The latter was hoping you would stop turning around the mattress and also for the uncomfortable feeling resting on his chest with every breath you take.

"Not for me,"

Geralt knew you were pouting at his response; but he paid no heed and tried to silently have his slumber. The brumal temperature of the night never giving him a headache because his body heat was taking it nicely as it was also helping the heat that began to start from his chest up till the every end and nerves of his body; making him groan to himself when you've unintentionally whimpered to yourself when he'd rejected the idea of closing the windows.

The sound you make was making him crazy.

Also, the clothes he was wearing to sleep was making him crazier; even hotter than it was supposed to be.

"Geralt," he grabbed onto the pillows a little more tighter, drowning himself in the fluff of his pillow as you continued to disturb him because you somehow couldn't find your own sleep as well.

"Yoo-hoo~ Beefy Legolas?"

It went on and on. Your twists and turns also did as he finally had to tiredly grumble.

"Let me have my nap."

You were lucky your wound was given medicine because it wasn't hurting anymore. An elbow on the bed to support yourself as you peeked to see Geralt's shiny hair glimmering beneath the candle light. Tempting you to give care and probably spend a little time tugging at it as well. Those thoughts make you shake your head, clearing your throat as you asked the witcher with utmost purity lacing your tongue.

"Geralt, can I braid your hair while you sleep?"

"No."

"Did you bleach your hair then? You know, it’s like a way of coloring your hair and such---"

"No."

You softly huffed in disappointment, lower lip jutting out as you sighed from the energy and itch that you couldn't fight off, trying to see if he had his eyes opened but his burly form was making it difficult. You could only see his back and ivory hair, "Where's the gym? I mean, obviously you do go to a gym with that...build. Except, if you're given a serum like Captain America's..."

The latter lowly grunted in response; making your spine shiver from the sound as he does so. You've suddenly swallowed the saliva down your throat, wincing as you subtly held onto your chest; feeling it strangely grow a temperature hotter. You shake your head to try and ignore the uncomfortable feeling.

"You are talking in riddles that I couldn't comprehend, midget."

Geralt audibly sighed, turning his sturdy body to see you wide awake and innocently blinking back at the latter. Acting all guiltless like you weren't just trying to wake him up. He exhaled an exasperated breath; amber eyes glued to the ceiling with a grimace on his face.

"So, you're...awake?" you innocently stated the obvious, trying not to act guilty that you were anxious about a lot of things and your brain doesn't seem to cooperate with your body.

"How can I sleep when you keep tossing over and over," the latter rasped before languidly turning and facing front to you. His eyes searching for whatever was keeping you awake; pondering why your energy level was at the top. Totally too much for his wearied ones, "---I'm starting to regret why I offered you my bed," he gave a soft shake of his head as he comfortably dropped his head on his fluffy pillows, watching you drop yours at the same time. You've welcomed those golden peepers drilling with your emotions; setting fire to your insides, though you've never told anyone but yourself.

"I told you so. I have insomnia when my anxiety strikes like a bitch,"

Geralt had his eyebrows in a tight knot, "A what?"

"I can't sleep." you honestly told, breathing out your frustrations as you've felt the witcher's stare heavy on you, "It's just so...cold,"

He gave a small, tender smile. It was unconscious, the witcher didn't know if he even was smiling when he had hunches onto why you couldn't sleep. Based on how you were giving him bear hugs up all night when your fever went high, a leg on his robust ones; face nuzzled on his clothed, wooly chest; he knew you were a cuddler.

Howbeit, nobody also needed to know that he had his fingers raked in between your hair like the witcher was brushing it to make him sleep.

Like it was calming him down; making his breathing steady and at ease.

"You want something." he simply graveled, thoroughly amused.

"W-What?! No!"

Did he know what you were thinking? Especially those promiscuous ones? Or only the part where you wanted to be near him as you slept?

The latter scoffed, his smile turning crooked as you've seen those teeth eventually showing as he beamed, "I didn't thought naive midgets lie. I must say, your flaws are surprising."

Albeit, despite of how he was making your stomach flutter wildly; this brooding man gives you comfort in such a weird way.

Adoration was definitely a complex part in life that nobody can ever explain. A diversity in their world and also in yours.

"You need a hug." the witcher stated as a matter of fact, knowing that it was what you needed as you continued to fidget and tap on the mattress with your fingers.

"Maybe," pause. You've peered back at the man who kept giving your heart beat a difficult time; being drawn to his amber colored eyes, enraptured by his presence as you were caught in a spell that he could only give.

Only him and nobody else.

Geralt seemed to be a good listener and so, you've done the inevitable as he was the only person you've shared a bed with for all your life. Other than your mother when you were younger. He was the only man you've approved of having your personal space infiltrated.

"I had...stuff toys and a big pillow back in my home. It was the only thing I could hold for me to sleep. The only thing that can keep me company in a cold day," you started, shifting your eyes away from the witcher who was on the far end of the bed; waiting for you to continue like he always does, wanting to know what was inside your head.

Curiosity always leads to something else.

"---So, I must say that it helps with my anxiety and insomnia. Thinking that I have someone to hold; someone to protect me from all the sadness, rejection or disappointments that seem to love me throughout my life,"

"Are they beasts?" you glanced at the latter, studying him if it was a joke. But, all you see was a determined witcher who was patiently waiting if his guesses were correct.

"Anxiety and Insomnia?" Geralt gave a quiet hum as an answer.

"What? No. Definitely---Well, maybe. If you think of it that way. They keep your mind unstable and problematic. Fifty percent would want you thinking about things that should've been left forgotten. It ruins your sanity,"

"It is a beast then,"

You've given him a small smile, memorizing each curvature of his face; never wanting it to be forgotten. The way his eyes peer back at you in curiosity for whatever you wanted to say like hearing you talk was his entertainment and pleasure.

He'd watched you move closer, letting your curiosity get the better of you as you've felt his hot breath fanning your face in a way that could give you warmth in the midst of the brisk night; his windows never closed shut and feeling him closer than you can ever ask for was giving you the warmth you needed.

A warmth that could take those horrid thoughts away.

"Tell me your stories," you softly urged him on, his voice seeming to be soothing. The only ones that could pacify your jitters to shut down.

The witcher blinked, appearing to be off-guard but utmost compliant nevertheless, "About?"

"Your monsters. The ones you've slaughtered," you joyously smiled, your eyes turning crescent shapes as it felt as if it was the moon that was giving Geralt light to his night sky, "---It might be helpful if I want to become a game developer of something,"

"I've only shared stories with my horse,"

You placed your palms under your head, craning fully to see those eyes piercing through your soul; satisfying your cravings for having him close than you can ever wish for, "You mean, Roach? You talk to your horse?!" a soft exclamation was all it took for Geralt to give a short scoff.

"Merely, now because I have Jaskier and Cirilla. But, prior before they came around; I only had my horses to talk," pause. "---You wouldn't want me talking about how I hunt monsters, it'll bore you to death,"

You firmly shook your head to show him your will-power in hearing those interesting stories he had. A monster-slayer who had boring stories? You doubt. Just learning the back stories of a main character's game was interesting, no doubt that Geralt's stories would even get you gasping from all his slaughters, "I love all types of stories," you cordially whispered, eyes twinkling underneath the candle light as the witcher blinked back, "---Also have read ones that weren't of a penchant. Yet, I've grown to love them."

With little effort of bringing out the big guns, Geralt obediently complied. The deep baritone of his pitch lulling you into having your slumber. He'd talk about his latest hunts and quests; learning about monsters that you didn't know existed. Mostly deadly as some has taken him down and eventually lead him to being poisoned. You've frowned at that, but he'd reassured you that his scorching trials created him to be immune to any poison that was harmful to humans.

He was mutated after all and it made him more compelling.

Geralt has stopped his lullabies when he'd reach at the point where he had tried saving a town called Blaviken; quietly simmering down as you were suddenly perspiring like a dog in heat and heaving deep breaths.

"Midget." he firmly stated, studying your face when you've fluttered your eyes closed as you started listening to his stories. You've nestled closer to the witcher who had a wince on his face as he was perplexed by the sudden drops of sweat that was forming on your forehead. "---Are you alright?"

You gave a quiet chortle as you've felt his breath fanning your forehead, "Maybe,"

His medallion rested on your forehead, realizing that you were cuddling him a little too closely but the bear of a man didn't seem to care, "Your answers can always leave a person guessing," he grumbled more so to himself as you felt him shift on the mattress. Curious as to why his big, rough, calloused fingers were behind you; his hand that he has used to hold a sword and yield for those men to be butchered.

His hand that had magic was now raking through your hair, gently and slowly combing your hair as it was giving you succor and protection.

"You're not...uncomfortable?" you hesitatingly asked, voice smaller and quiet as his body was taking in your small form. The witcher had his eyes closed now; like he was in peace, "I've done far worse than to be scared of giving people hugs,"

"But, this is called cuddles and chill because you're hugging and talking me to sleep,"

"Is that what it is now? Is that what its called in your kingdom?" you've heard him tease, his lips curved in a way that tells you he was poking fun at your modern references that he certainly didn't know.

His fingers continued its ministrations; how gentle he was made your heart beat drum so loud that you could hear them ringing in your ears and you were sure Geralt could be hearing it. You gawked back at the latter, "It won't be called Netflix and Chill because I swear it has a different meaning and---"

Geralt quickly cut you off, abruptly opening his eyes to give you a compassionate look in his eyes, "Cuddles and chill it is, then." you've bit your lip in an attempt to shut your mouth.

"---Sleep, midget." the once brooding witcher demanded before giving your spine a satisfying shiver as his thick fingers raked on the hairs of your nape as he patiently untangled those locks away, "Those beastly creatures you have won't slaughter you while I'm around,"

Inside both of your chests, there was still that insatiable feeling that you couldn't comprehend. However, the fire dissipating an ounce by the tiny bit of wholesome intimacy you've gotten; was just the rattles of one's cage because there was always more.

More and more you'll be willing to take.

Hence, It was a full moon and wolves howl whenever the moon shines bright against the brumal, cold nights as a cicatrix began to shine which has rested in between the valley of your breasts.

FEEDBACKS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! PLEASE DO LEAVE FEEDBACK IF YOU’VE ALREADY READ THIS OR EVEN PRESS THE REBLOG BUTTON OR LEAVE A HEART. IT’S FINE WITH ME. THANK YOU! HOW TO BE GERALT? MIDGET KEPT ON BOTHERING HIM. XD

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[duraxxor]

Character Sheet: That Damn Trio

Uh oh, it would seem Duraxxor has gotten himself in a lot of trouble this time around! He’s been split into three pieces of his former self! Oh the humanity! Well there’s only one thing to do. What’s that? Well, we go on a wild adventure to put him back together, of course! That’s why I have decided to create character sheet to explain and every one of the fragments and their traits. So without further interruptions, let’s get down to the material! 

Character No. 1

Name: Daev  ( Pronounced just like Dave ) 

Race: Sin’dorei?

Height: 5′ 8″ ( down from the 6′ 4″ that he once stood at. )

Hair Color: Silver Blonde

Eye Color: None, his eyes are as clear as glass

Age:  “ I was only born not that long ago... I jest though... “ 

Physical Traits: When a person comes in contact with Daev, the first thing they may notice as his youthful appearance. Unlike Duraxxor as a whole, Daev has the physical body of a young adult that has suffered from lack of muscle. Despite this, he seems able to stand straight and maintain himself but is unable to physically apply the strength and running speed he once had. The scar that once dominated his features is now shrunken down and appears to have lining that almost reminds some of a stitching, so to speak. Perhaps even mending? The same can be said about the majority of his black attire that decorates his body other than the sleeve that appears to have torn on the right side. A thin trench coat and a pair of black leather britches that are only matched by a pair of boots below. One can also notice the pair of snake bites piercing on his lower lip that seem to have appeared as he no longer bears even a semblance of the elven fangs gene. 

Personality: Quiet and probably the most balanced of his former self. Daev seems to be given the nickname of being the Heart of the Trio. And with good reason considering he is probably the very being that keeps the other two in existence. He is never to quickly jump to violence and seeks to see how people function and feel. Selfless thought and under normal circumstances, kind to those that share a mutual respect for him and his space. Although he is the most attuned to multiple emotions, he has a hard time properly expressing them and it may even come out in a series of riddles. However, he does seem to have something to say for every type of person. 

Abilities: Lack of physical strength, Daev has to rely on his mind and quick thinking if he hopes to manage avoiding being killed off with the help of his familiars. It isn’t known whether he retains much of his weaponry training, other than having a dagger tucked away under his coat that appears to have a significance, or perhaps even symbolic value. Despite his familiars having their own personalities, he seems able to maintain control of them in certain moments and can even call them or dismiss them at will. Daev’s greatest ability is that he has so much untapped potential that is it unpredicted what he may learn in his stay within the Shadowlands. 

Character No. 2 

Name: Randdu ( Ron-doo ) 

Race: Familiar ( Bat ) 

Height: Unspecified, look to his Abilities for details

Hair Color: White

Eye Color: A mixture of Red and Yellow

Age: “ Look, man, give me a break. I only look old. “ 

Physical Traits: You feel a piercing gaze always watching you when you approach Daev with his avian shadow, Randdu. He takes on the appearance of most bats native to Azeroth aside from some defined features that make him appear more like a Fruit Bat from our world, bearing a canine-like snout beneath the leathery wraps that are his lengthy wings. Jagged claws appear to be on both the back legs and wing joints, giving him almost the look a humanoid if not for the fact he lacks thumbs. He is the definition of wild animal with personality. 

Personality: The reckless familiar that is highly regarded ( and prideful of himself ) as the symbol of Duraxxor. Randdu is also the loudest and most immature of the trio. He would rather pick a fight and see who is the strongest than listen to negotiations. He also possesses quite the appetite match this need for combat. However, this doesn’t mean he isn’t self aware when he is in over his head, being the quickest to also panic when he feels outmatched, that is until something goes right, then he will simply mock his foe. Warning: He may curse a lot. 

Abilities: Despite his reckless personality, Randdu is actually quite the powerhouse. He is physically strong and can easily pick up something that is three times his own size, which is only matched by the fact that he is able to grow and shrink his form based on the energy reserves he has obtained through his vampiric aura. The more he fights and succeeds, the stronger Randdu gets. Claws, teeth, and even a mind piercing screech are at his disposal. However, the magical affinity seems to lie more so in the fact he is able to cast a blaze of shadows about his form, giving him enough speed to perform a Wraith Flight, an ability that projects his vampiric aura outward and making mere contact results in the sapping of one’s raw energies. 

Character No. 3 

Name: Sphula ( Sph-ooluh ) 

Race: Familiar ( Serpent ) 

Height: 15′ 07″ in length 

Hair Color: “ Crimson Scales, you uneducated pig. “ 

Eye Color: Onyx 

Age: “ To old for you to know. “ 

Physical Traits: While Randdu is regarded to be the visible lurker, Sphula sticks to remaining hidden into his time is most appropriate. The lengthy serpent bears a strange familiarity to the Arcane Serpents of Northrend, but with many more rows of teeth and definitive fangs. He also lacks the ethereal skin until certain abilities are applied. Scales, bladed fings, and circular markings that are akin to chains, this crimson familiar seems to be the most colorful of the trio. 

Personality: Calm until provoked, Sphula recognizes his own intellect and will exercise it when it is most necessary. More often than naught, he is seen wrapped around Daev, whispering into his ear while chastising Randdu. For once to gain conference with Sphula would mean that you either have earned his respect or there is something of worth about you or upon you that he would sooner have you align yourself to their cause. Unlike the other trio, Sphula is not above breaking the rules in his favor. For he believes logic is more important in the case of survivability in the cruel world of a snake. There is one he deems the most worthy of his time: The Lady in the Red @sanguinesorceress​ . 

Abilities:  Not as physically strong as Randdu, Sphula is also a constrictor and has no issue wrapping his long tail around his foes or even applying it in a flailing motion to dispatch someone from approaching Daev. And speaking of which, did you know that snakes can actually jump three times their length? Not just this one, but he can also slip his entire length through objects much like a pocket space just to come out in a near forty yard radius. Sphula is also the strongest when it comes to the use of magic and intellect. He is able to conjure geomancy, hemomancy, umbramancy, and in some cases, cryomancy and pyromancy. But what would a snake be without his bite? Twin fangs possess a potent cytotoxin, which is a toxin that induces tissue necrosis. Keep your hands away from this snakes mouth!

OOC Information Station 

Rp Style:  When interacting with this blog or even the in-game character, I cannot always guarantee that you will interact with all three of them, just as I also cannot guarantee that one of the other’s won’t squeeze themselves into the RP. Otherwise, I am generally laid back and always up to most themes, including the dark and twisted. I am an adult writer and in most cases, I am not so easily triggered and easy to speak with. Please, don’t hesitate to ask questions as I may have an actual answer for them. I also would like to remind everyone that I have been roleplaying in World of Warcraft for nearly ten years. All I ever ask is your undying patience and kindness in return. 

Platforms: Tumblr, Discord, and In-game (Planned) 

If you have made it this far, congratulations. Now to get to the nitty, gritty disclaimer warnings and rules.

1. Roleplaying with The Trio means you have agreed to not knowing the original character Duraxxor is the true identity of these characters without the proper knowledge or permission. Should you regard him as Duraxxor, Alphus, Lord Daevara, Myotis, or any other former alias, it will be ignored in-character. Should this become a continuing habit, I will ask you personally to please stop trying to ruin the mystery of the characters. Let’s make this a fun plot for all, old and new. 

2. If you are seeking to fix the problem as quick as possible, then you have come to the wrong player. I am wanting this particular plot device to go longer than a few weeks or even months as the Shadowlands is going to obviously take longer than a single year itself. There’s going to be hurdles to make evolve these characters over time. You are welcome to speak about being a part of the plot where he attempts to fix himself though!

3. When addressing particular character questions, please specify who you are addressing to unless it is all the above or the mun. This makes my life so much easier and more engaging. 

4. Do not god mod my characters as I would not god mod yours. All of them have their own individual strengths and weaknesses and should be considered only through natural interaction. 

5. More importantly, be respectful and patient. This is a brand new concept I am playing with and I really wish to see it through to the very end and want those involved to have fun. 

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I do hope that everything is clear! I look forward to roleplaying with everyone and enjoying the Shadowlands storyline! Happy Writing everyone! 

And if you have not read Chapter 1 to the Shadowlands storyline, here is a link to the story is here

#character sheet #That Damn Trio #Daev #Randdu #Sphula #shadowlands

[shootingsun]

MY PRECIOUS BABY ANGEL LILY

Lemme just *drops info* @shslharrisonkinnie

She appears in Tournament of Elements as the only elemental master getting through on fighting skill alone as she won't (for some unknown reason) use her power to fight

Which immediately makes the Ninja suspicious of her

She ends up being accused of being the traitor

She's not

And then the ninja get confused because if she's not evil then why won't she use her powers??

It's then revealed that the reason she won't use her power to fight is because she hasn't actually unlocked her true potential yet

She also seems to have a split personality of sorts? At this point of the show she doesn't actually look the way she looks in those pictures. Instead of green eyes and tan skin, she has glowing red eyes and pale skin

She also offhandedly mentions that she was bitten by a snake as a kid. Which Garmadon is like "WAIT HOLD ON A SEC-"

They all (including her) think she was bitten by a Great Devourer Baby but no! Plot twist!

She was actually bitten by a totally normal snake, which just so happened to have been possessed by a corrupted soul which then latched onto her

The name of the corrupted soul is Amy (Formerly a dragon called Ami, pronounced ah-mee)

Long story short, the Ninja take her in and train her to get to her True Potential

Thing is, she's already in peak physical condition, she's strong and fast and definitely on par with the Ninja who have already reached their true potential, so why hasn't she gotten hers yet?

Trauma

The answer is trauma

The answer is always trauma

Yeah so turns out that happy go lucky, sweet, anxious, overly helpful, definitely self destructive levels of protectiveness, doormat behavior? Its because her family was emotionally abusive! Yay...

Not really yay, not a good thing

Oh and also because Amy is accidentally sapping up her elemental energy the longer she stays in Lily's body (yeah thats an important plot point)

Oh and also she bacically re-writes all of the seasons season 9 onward because she gets like what would be a 2 season story line/arc

Also she had a crush on Lloyd (implied in season 4, bacically confirmed in season 5 near the end, and grows out of it by season 9)

She may or may not have a love interest that she actually ends up with tho

[kazeofthemagun]

Kaze - Character Tropes

[A thing I compiled for fun for my portrayal of Kaze and all my headcanons. There is so much stuff on TVTropes that I may keep adding as I go. He does have a page on it but it's lackluster for my taste XD but here it is.]

[Putting all this crap under a read more cuz that is long.]

Purpose-Driven Immortality / Regenerative Immortality - as long as the prophecy holds and Chaos still exists, Kaze cannot die. When his body is killed, he comes back through regeneration, centered on the Magun.

Soul Jar - the Magun, specifically, his heart that had been transplanted into it and bound him to the Gun Dragon sealed in the Demon Weapon. The vial is warded by very potent magic - supposedly, only another Unlimited has the power to break it.

Touched by Vorlons - granted immortality by Bahamut, the Gun Dragon, upon being accepted as Magun's prophecized perfect wielder - Unlimited.

Cybernetic Mythical Beast - the Gun Dragon and how he came to be - made from the slain Bahamut's corpse and infused with tech, animated by his still-living soul. As such, all Summon Spirits that come from the Gun Dragon and his Magun are also biomechanical in nature.

Dracolich - Gun Dragon is technically undead, while also reinforced with machinery to create a "perfect Weapon". He's forged from parts of his own corpse, bones showing through such as the arms, legs, exposed spine.

Draconic Abomination - Gun Dragon.

Dragons are Divine - Gun Dragon as the Windarian God of Destruction - the title gets passed on to Kaze as his chosen and vessel. Also War God.

BFG - Magun is fucking massive.

Bling-Bling-Bang! - Magun seems to be made of gold, but is really composed of an unidentified alien metal. Shiny tho.

He Who Hunts Monsters - fanatical levels of obsession with hunting everything Chaotic. (His title of choice being literally the Hunter of Chaos, Hunter for friends.) Definitely partially a personal vendetta - his whole world was devoured and his own mind was ripped nigh to shreds - but also a purpose felt strongly through the connection with Magun/Gun Dragon, a Demon Weapon forged specifically to combat Chaos that activates only at its scent, pre-repaired verse. Almost leads to a Van Helsing Hate Crime against Ai and Yu - luckily, Kaze is not that merciless and spares the kids for wanting to live as humans and not demons. All in all, Kaze/Gun Dragon are a cosmic force that opposes Chaos till the end of time. Also Married To The Job.

Collateral Damage - piss him off and you're gonna go. Alongside everything in approximately a 5 mile radius of where you're standing. (Thankfully he learns more restraint with time, attempting to minimize casualties where possible. Still, if ending Chaos requires sacrifices.. so be it.) Probably also Inferred Holo//caust in FFU. He had blown up huge chunks of land to end his foes. Likely killed people or at least animals :/

The Stoic - His personality archetype.

Weak to Magic - Blue Elenium, a special type of water magic that corrupts Soil. As an extension, Kaze is harmed more by water magic in general, seeing as the energy messes with Soil flow.

Trauma Button - having his hand held/touched suddenly. It brings painful memories of his sister, Aura, who died holding his hand. Under Chaos' influence, it was one of the only memories Kaze still had of her, rendering the trigger particularly intense and sending him into dissociative episodes. Furthermore, a fear of Gaudian flowers - the blue phantom flowers that herald the arrival of Chaos. Suffers from visions and nightmares of a very gory nature that involve said flowers.

Shell-Shocked Veteran - of the War with Chaos.

Loners are Freaks - he is an introvert born to a society that abhors weakness as disgraceful and sinful. Has trouble connecting with people - but he also (mostly) doesn't need to. Due to the nature of his quest, accepts his fate as the one who will never fit in anymore. "I am the monster who hunts monsters so that you may sleep at night human. It is a thankless job."

Beware the Quiet Ones - his silence precedes a storm. When he speaks, his words boom as thunder - be they a roar or a whisper. This man wastes no words.

Aloof Ally - self-explanatory.

Tranquil Fury - most of the time. Also, Rage Breaking Point applies when facing Kumo mid-show. Except Kumo promptly wrecks him, without much effort involved. It is only later (After-series) that Kaze recovers most of his power and sanity, and gains equal footing to his rival.

Firing One-Handed - can only do so this way. Only has one hand 99% of the time, the other is bound to the Magun and is reformed only to fire it.

Guns vs Swords - him and Kumo - Demon Gunman vs Demon Swordsman. Gun Dragon vs Sword Dragons.

Hand Cannon - Magun, to a lesser degree Orthrus.

I call it "Vera" - with Orthrus, named after the patron shepherd dog spirit of the sun's blood-haired children.

Improbable Aiming Skills - especially with the Gun Demon sight.

Overheating - the Magun when too many summonings are performed too quickly. As an extension of it, Kaze himself. May result in a death via Spontaneous Human Combustion.

Sawed-off Shotgun - Orthrus, double barreled.

Sniper Pistol - Orthrus.

Trigger Happy - self-explanatory.

Ancestral Weapon - the Magun, passed down the line of the Windarian summoner prodigies.

Made of Indestructium - the Magun, which cannot be broken by anyone short of another Unlimited.

Living Weapon - the Magun. Also, Legendary Weapon.

Shapeshifter Weapon - the Magun, a part of Kaze's body - gauntlet, windmill, gun. Replaces his right arm.

Only the Chosen May Wield - the Magun.

They Call Him "Sword" - except, gun. Kaze views himself as more of a weapon than a person at times. Makes sense, considering he is one - his true body is the Magun, which houses his heart, binds his soul and consciousness, and serves as the core from which his regenerative immortalitysets to work.

Nemesis Weapon - Kaze's Magun to Kumo's Maken. While forged for the same purpose, they govern conflicting energies. Also, Sword vs Gun.

Weapon Wields You - the Magun to Kaze with its funky laser-guided teleportation, always going after Chaos. Oh, Chaos' signature is underneath the ocean? Too bad.

Equippable Ally - Kaze, after reducing himself to the Magun and having Kumo and Lisa wield him to bring out the Gun Dragon.

Human Weapon - Kaze, literally.

Become Your Weapon - Kaze with the Magun.

This is a Drill - the Magun's Soil engine that activates Soil through spiral motion. Combined with a wholeass windmill.

Spectacular Spinning - the Magun's windmill. Plainly put, Spin to Deflect Stuff. Also, Blow You Away applies due to the Tornado Move.

Deadly Rotary Fan - the Magun's windmill used offensively.

Swirling Dust - Soil Spiral on the winds generated by the Magun.

Transformation Is A Free Action - seems to be the case in the series. May not be the case always.

Mechanical Lifeforms - Gun Dragon and all its summons.

Badass Cape - of course.

When Things Spin, Science Happens - the Magun's spinning shenanigans empower Soil.

Stock Footage - the summonings. He is become budget, Destroyer of Chaos. Also Transformation Sequence. Guy has a routine.

Running Gag - his spontaneous appearances, seemingly from nowhere.

Emergency Transformation - soul reforged into a Soil bullet, summoning himself as the Gun Dragon.

Elemental Powers - all the summon spirits.

Soul Power - Soil.

Soul-Powered Engine - the Magun/Gun Dragon.

Merger of Souls - Kaze with all of Magun's leftover Soil, as well as Bahamut's soul that animates Gun Dragon. Also Many Spirits Inside Of One - Endless White as the confluence of all the colors.

Emphatic Weapon - the Magun has a mind of its own, considering it is a vessel for the Gun Dragon.

Shoot the Hostage Taker - with Soljashy. Goddammit, Lisa.

Theme Music Power Up - Demon Gun Dissolve and Demon Gun Shot.

Black Blood - Kaze's blood, corrupted by the Magun's smoke. His earring, made of his own red blood mixed with tree sap, is a reminder of when he was still fully human. Technically also Machine Blood - it serves as a coolant for Magun and catalyst for Soil. Furthermore, My Blood Runs Hot - whenever Magun malfunctions. May be dangerous, as already mentioned.

Important Haircut - Kaze wears his hair long specifically as a "fuck you" to Windarian folk beliefs related to the blood hair curse.

Dark-Skinned Redhead - self-explanatory.

Death Glare - his usual go-to method of communication.

Icy Blue Eyes - a cold stare.

Eyes Do Not Belong There - Gun Dragon, with four eyes on the chest and one on the belly in addition to the four already on its head, also, many other summons, such as Phoenix or Raiden.

Glowing Eyes of Doom - Kaze's special Gun Demon crosshairs eyes, for when the time comes to be particularly scary.

True Sight - Kaze is capable of seeing through most basic illusions due to an extremely sharp spirit sense. Can see certain types of ghosts. Also Supernatural Sensitivity.

Cool Shades - wears a dark lens over his left eye to minimize distraction via Orthtus' muzzle flash. Also, Sunglasses At Night.

Megane - lol.

Lean And Mean - also lol.

Jerkass - he is. Sometimes Jerk With A Heart Of Gold.

Facial Markings - the wave on his nose and the solar marks under his eye.

Power Tattoo - the Embrace (Gun Dragon's claws upon the shoulders.)

Fingerless Gloves - wears an archery glove that covers the pointing finger and thumb only.

Eccentric Artist - also outside of battle. Primarily a poet, draws sometimes.

Being Tortured Makes You Evil - by Chaos, after being possessed. Returned to being good-aligned after some time.

Brainwashed And Crazy - by Chaos, to obsessively hunt Kumo. Now recovered. Also Mind Rape.

Laser-Guided Amnesia - his memory loss and subsequent insane pursuit of Kumo mid-show.

Curse - according to his people's folklore, the unusual color of his hair.

Stress-Induced Mental Voices - happens a lot, bothin hallucinations and the Soil speaking.

Heroic Willpower - to stand strong against Chaos.

Dark and Troubled Past - everything about him. Everything. Also Born Unlucky - cursed from the start.

Sole Survivor - of Windaria's fall.

Last of His Kind - last Windarian.

Meaningful Name - Black Wind.

Rite Of Passage Name Change - from the nickname "Wolf" to his current name, as granted by his clan.

Driven to Madness - first somewhat by his pursuit of power, then more so by Chaos.

No Medication For Me - good luck getting him to medicate for his issues. Chances are it would not work anyway due to his altered nature.

There Are No Therapists - on Windaria.

Good Thing You Can Heal - gets injured or killed multiple times during his quest. Good thing he's immortal, right?

I Can Still Fight! - frequently, especially when Kumo is somehow involved.

Organ Dodge - his heart is no longer in his chest.

Wound That Will Not Heal - still feels a type of phantom pain where his heart once was - the surgery scar is the only scar that refuses to heal.

An Arm And A Leg - the Magun essentially removed his right arm below the elbow.

Arm Cannon - the Magun.

Artificial Limbs - the Magun, replacing Kaze's right arm.

Handicapped Badass - despite possessing only one hand (when Magun not thawed).

Don't You Dare Pity Me! - Kaze and most of the Wind Warriors' culture in general.

All Are Equal In Death - as Soil.

Anti-Hero - also Pragmatic Hero.

The Cynic - self-explanatory.

Badass Creed - “From the Glory of Death, for the Glory of Life.”

Battle Cry - “Soil is my power!” Also Catchphrase and Calling Your Attacks.

Pre-Asskicking One-Liner - sometimes. "What is the matter with the Magun? Why won't you use it?"

Giving Someone the Pointer Finger - “The Soil Charge Triad to use on you has been decided!”

Big Brother Instinct - around Aura.

Parental Abandonment - never knew his parents, grew up on the streets as an orphan.

Summon Magic - Soil-Adherents train in Soil summonings - the Magun allows Kaze control over all summons, except ones of Mist.

Summoning Ritual - the Soil Charge Triad.

Offscreen Teleportation - played for comedic value. Is actually Soil Spiral teleportation, though.

Forced Sleep - induced by Kumo, causing Kaze to slumber for twelve years. Sleep, bitch!

Mage Marksman - self-explanatory.

Warrior Poet - "The gilding of a blood indomitable... True Sanguine."

Religion is Magic - the Soil poetry is sacred to Windarian summoners.

Dark Messiah - as the Dark Unlimited, Hunter of Chaos.

Duelling Messiahs - him and Kumo, who fits the light end of the spectrum. But will Makenshi's purity serve him? Hmm...

In Love With Your Carnage - You can kill efficiently and potentially kick his ass? Hot. Also Power is Sexy.

Magitek - the Magun and all its summons.

Human Alien - Windarians, Kaze's species. Also Proud Warrior Race.

Martyrdom Culture - the Missionary caste Soil-martyring for the Adherents.

#[[headcanon #[[muse meme #what the fuck am I doing? I dunno

[k7l4d4]

Bleach OC, the First

Hello all, today I decided to create an OC for the acclaimed Supernatural Anime and Manga series by Tite Kubo, Bleach. This is just for fun. Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

Virgil Cruz

Age: 17

Species: Bount

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Quote: “Justice waits for no one!! Now wait here for a sec, okay?”

Personality: Flighty and somewhat reckless, Virgil has almost no real self-control to speak of. If he wants to do something, he does it, no matter how reckless or stupid it may be. However, his sense of justice, honor, and nobility is unshakable; every attempt to compromise his morals has ended in a brutal reprisal against whatever poor sap crossed him. His idea of what justice is can be roughly summarized as the rebellion against cruelty; whenever he sees something or someone being forced into a situation that would harm them needlessly, or when the rules of others would punish someone for helping others and saving lives, his fury erupts without limit. Do not test him.

Synopsis: The first Bount born in centuries, and one capable of passing on the power of Bounts to the next generation, Virgil is a daredevil who lives to push boundaries, and has a long history of causing trouble in his pursuit of justice for those bound by cruelty. A wanderer to his core, Virgil has lived his life on the move. He has no knowledge of his parents, but genuinely wishes them a good life of kindness, whoever they are. Virgil joined the fight against supernatural threats when he realized how helpless mortals are against evil spirits and malevolent spiritual entities.

History: Virgil first encountered Ichigo during the opening act of his ventures into the supernatural world, and quickly declared himself Ichigo’s eternal rival in the path of justice, oblivious of Ichigo’s lack of care and attitude towards his presence. Virgil cares nothing for how his presence upsets the balance of power between the living and the dead, and has repeatedly come to blows against others whenever they attempt to enforce their beliefs upon him. Virgil has served as both ally and enemy to Ichigo and his friends, but Virgil will always put aside whatever craziness he is currently enmeshed in when the lives of the innocent are threatened by the “other side.”

Powers: All Bounts possess incredible Spiritual abilities, and Virgil is no different, though with something of a twist. Virgil unabashedly refers to himself as the next evolutionary step of Bount-kind, and he isn’t wrong. While Virgil can easily live to be over 200 years old, he will never lose his youthful build and strength, though unlike the previous generations of Bounts, he can die of old age, something he accepts and admits to being intrigued to experience when his time comes.

Virgil possesses the ability to absorb and integrate foreign Spiritual Energy perfectly, making fighting him a purely physical matter against other spirit-based foes, something he enjoys exploiting in the extreme.

Virgil’s greatest asset in combat is his Doll, Schützen, which takes his absorption powers into a truly terrifying direction, combat wise. While utilizing Schützen, Virgil can modulate his Spiritual Energy to take on the properties of any that he has absorbed prior, allowing him to create techniques and skills based on the enemies he has faced before; however, he cannot imitate Irregular Phenomena, such as Orihime’s powers.

What is easily his most deadly ability, and what often serves as the crux of his conflict with other Spiritual Beings, is his Parallel Spirit Layer, a technique that he can use at will, or that automatically engages when Schützen is active. Using this technique, Virgil can bridge the Spiritual and Material layers of the world, allowing anyone and everyone to see spirits and spiritual phenomena; the true strength of this technique, though, is that it makes it impossible for purely spiritual beings from affecting or interacting with purely material beings, bar those that possess spiritual powers. With it, the masquerade that separates Spirits from the living comes undone, and the sheer chaos that erupts is enough to cause all sorts of trouble.

Fighting Style: Virgil’s fighting style is focused on his ability to render any non-physical technique against him useless, primarily based on his long years of grappling and street fighting; his ability to absorb Spiritual Energy from enemy attacks makes it so anyone who can’t go hand to hand effectively are rendered useless. While his style may seem clumsy at first, Virgil has a wide range of skills and strategies to face all sorts of foes, even those that can go into close range, and has successfully duplicated legitimate Martial Arts that have been used against him prior. His keen eye for detail means no trick works twice unless the one using it finds a new way to exploit it.

Appearance: Virgil has a well-worn appearance, with many of his clothes have the borderline ragged look of someone who rarely changes their clothing or gets new ones. Despite the sorry state of his clothing, Virgil himself is scrupulously clean, as he never sets down in an area without first establishing a local water source or public area where he can bathe and cleanse himself. Virgil has rather sharp features that give him an intense air, undercut by his perpetual, dopey grin. His most distinguishing feature is his oddly prismatic hair, as it’s exact color never seems to stay consistent, and the oddness of it even baffles Virgil himself.

Schützen

Age: Not Applicable.

Species: Doll.

Alignment: True Neutral.

Quote: “The world is an uncaring place to many; the goal of my master to make it better is a noble one, and that is the only thing I care for myself.”

Personality: Blunt and taciturn, Schützen is invariably straight to the point and unfailingly logical at all times. Often playing the straight-man to his energetic master’s antics, he nonetheless is unwaveringly loyal to Virgil and has made it clear that he will sacrifice himself without pause if it would save Virgil’s life. As a result of Virgil’s unusual status among Bounts, Schützen possesses none of the murderousness that lurks within his kind when his master is weakened or in danger of death, instead acting as Virgil’s main defense when in true danger. Despite his blunt personality, Schützen has a strong flair for the dramatic, often enabling his master’s more childish impulses when in combat by providing Transformation Announcements and sound affects for their combined techniques and skills.

Synopsis: The unique Doll that is Schützen emerged when Virgil first faced another Spiritual Entity in combat, and has been his loyal aid and confidant ever since. Schützen possesses a strong sense of camaraderie, referring to those who fight alongside himself and his master as brothers and sisters, and will lose his incredible self-control even more fiercely than his master when those his master trusts are in danger, though this noticeably only applies to those who can actually fight and defend themselves, and only when they are confirmably on the same side.

History: Schützen first made his debut to Ichigo and his allies when the Menos Grande was released into Karakura by Uryu’s recklessness. His emergence allowed Ichigo and Uryu to dedicate themselves totally to fighting the fearsome foe without worry. Schützen since then has made more regular debuts in fights, and often serves as a hidden ace in combat against those who are unaware of his true capabilities.

Powers: Schützen’s primary ability is the power to integrate foreign Spiritual Energy into his being and utilize it as his own, allowing him to learn and grow in strength with every foe he and Virgil face, no matter how weak or strong they may be. His secondary, but no less potent, power is the ability to react to the abilities of his enemies in advance, a form of purely reactionary and subconscious precognition; while it only engages when he or Virgil are in risk of serious injury, it renders any surprise attack worthless against him.

His most closely guarded ability, however, is one that is truly terrifying to contemplate: true resurrection. While Orihime can do the same, if she has the energy and the will to do so, Schützen’s ability allows him to permanently sacrifice a measure of Spiritual Power from both himself and Virgil to resurrect someone as they were in before their demise, and can even resurrect portions of a being separately, such as reviving a Zanpakuto without it’s Soul Reaper, or a Doll without its Bount.

Fighting Style: Due to the nature of his body, Schützen has no fighting style of his own and merely supplements Virgil’s own.

Appearance: Schützen, in his sealed form, takes the appearance of a oddly large belt buckle marked with the Bount Crest upon it, which opens to reveal his deep purple, and jewel-like eye. In his True Form, Schützen takes on the appearance of a suit resembling the kind worn by Tokusatsu-style superheroes, giving him an oddly comical, yet still threatening, air. His appearance most strongly takes after that of the first Kamen Rider’s Rider Suit.

#bleach anime #bleach bount #bleach oc #ichigo kurosaki #uryu ishida #orihime inoue #bleach bount oc #bleach doll

[synchlora]

pspsps spare karl hcs? 👀

YESS hell yeah !!! sorry i did not see this earlier jxascjjcsvksjcskv. gonna try and split it up so it somewhat makes sense

interdimensional form:

this is his normal form

he is literally not from this dimension, god knows where he's from honestly

this form is difficult to describe bc the laws of his dimension don't apply here so he kinda constantly appears to be shifting in ways that don't make sense to anyone seeing him

but he is generally about 9 to 11 ft tall, various bright neon colors, and always seems to have energy (maybe electric but almost appearing magical as well) crackling off of him

can't really express much human-like emotions in this form bc his face doesn't allow for it (technically he doesn't have a face, what u see is something he has projected in order to mimic human emotions and show how he is feeling)

still feels these emotions, they're just hard to express in ways that humans would understand

travelled a lot through dimensions and timelines within those dimensions

ended up overexerting his abilities and crash landed in the dream smp's dimension (this is where his portal is currently and he hasn't tried to move it yet)

can no longer leave that dimension, though he can still time travel throughout it

sapnap was one of the first people he met after crashing and, while he was shifted into human!karl form, he was still very unstable and it was quite obvious he wasn't entirely human

fast forward a lot of time, but i like to imagine that he does eventually show both sap and q this form, though he was very afraid they wouldn't love him

but ofc they still do

these fuckers love their 10 ft tall interdimensional being of a boyfriend

shapeshifting & "possession":

karl can shift to other forms in order to hide his actual appearance

one of those main forms is human!karl, which is what we see most of the time and how most people on the smp know him to appear

this form is difficult for him to maintain but it is manageable

but because he is losing his memory often, he slips up on the details occasionally (hence the inverted spiral hoodie a few weeks back)

it is a very cramped form because he is fitting ~10' tall of weird energy that should rly not be confined to a ~5'10 human form

but he feels obligated to continue to keep himself in this form because he genuinely doesn't want to scare off any of his friends or god forbid his fiances

possession on the other hand is a whole different ballgame

i hinted at this in an older drawing but he can basically possess people in a way

we see it in the lost city of mizu where he basically becomes the person known as issac

i imagine this works similar to the stranger in tma where he becomes the person and those around him still believe they are the same

not quite as sinister as that though because while he does take over their body, their thoughts and beliefs and decisions are still based upon who the person was

so like. karl becomes the person in a way because he acts how that person would have

he gains all of who they were while still managing to maintain his own self as well

which is why it can be very taxing and extremely dangerous for his memory

because he essentially became this person for a while, he ends up garbling his memories up with those of the people he posesses

normally, he can de-possess people and they will have those memories of what happened while they were possessed but it'll just be a little foggy to them

but obviously that did not happen with issac which leads to the next point

death:

this is the interesting part because he has gotten killed multiple times now during tales from the smp

i think that when he got killed while possessing issac in mizu, he basically left his body and scrambled to escape through the portal before any really bad consequences happened

because he had to leave so suddenly, he ended up losing a good portion of his memory there because he wasn't able to smoothly transition out of possessing someone and back into his home form

his intention was never to get issac killed and he still feels incredibly guilty over his and the other fishemens' deaths

when he was killed in the masquerade, i don't think he was possessing anyone (considering his appearance and name) which is interesting

but we also don't see him actually die which makes me think he teleported out through his portal before he was killed

either that or the in-between is a place where he goes when he "dies" during travel and has to recuperate

it's hard to tell because we don't really know at this point and i have a feeling canon will very quickly disprove this ahvishcksgkcs

to me, i think the in-between is either where he goes when something very bad happens during his travels or it is just generally an in-between dimension he travels through in order to make it to another dimension

his husbands and recurring characters:

this is basically just me being sad but i believe that karl recognizes people through his travels who act/appear like his husbands and friends

i have two theories here so bear with me

first theory is that he meets their ancestors / descendents or even what's considered reincarnations perhaps and recognizes them as such

this one's a little more realistic whereas the next one is more sad

second theory is that karl is slipping so badly in his memory that it seems like he is seeing the same people over and over as various different people

so for example, maybe james from the masquerade reminded him slightly of sapnap so he ended up seeing/hearing him like sapnap

and this is where it gets fuckin sad because, in the end, these people don't know him

he may trust james like he trusts sapnap (though it's hard for him to remember who that even is anymore) but james doesn't know him at all

but seeing these people die is so intensely emotional for him, yet he doesn't fully understand why he feels so attached to someone he met less than an hour prior

anyway that is all bc i don't want to make this ungodly long ajfgksjcgskc so here u go !!

#thank u sm for the ask !!!!!! finally got to put down all of these random hcs somewhere acksgjcsgkskc #i am just always thinking abt interdimensional!karl...... he.. #rensunflower #mcyt tag #time travelling idiot (affectionate)

[one-leaf-grimoire]

“triad”

 Chapter 21: the futile purpose

Warning: Major character death, major depictions of violence, manga spoilers

AO3 LINK

Four minutes remain before the end

This is it… almost there…

Zenon’s mouth was open slightly as he drew breath after breath, his heart pounding after the high-stakes fight that had only  just begun. He had hoped the sneak attack would knock me down at least, but there I was again, standing up and as straight as I could with a bone lodged in my stomach. But he had learned valuable information from the strike. She can heal herself, almost instantly, with time magic. She’s only able to do that because she’s shedding it constantly. Perfect… His fight or flight instinct was going crazy as I took a step forward. Even if we kill her now, there’s still the other Magic Knights to take care of. They won’t stop attacking until it’s too late and the Tree has been completed. But if we keep her alive, just a little longer…

No such strategic thoughts were running through Dante’s head. His vision was red as he looked at me, gearing himself up to go in for the kill. You’ve humiliated the great Dante enough- you’ll pay with your life!

No, wait.

Dante froze as Lucifero finally spoke for the first time since the battle started. The devil had been oddly silent, even though his presence within Dante increased to 100%. 

Don’t kill her… not yet. She can be of use to us. 

Dante’s eyes widened a little as understanding dawned on him. He glanced over between his siblings, wondering if they were working off of the same idea.

We can do that? Then…

When I emerge… Lucifero’s voice took on a biting, bitter tone. I’ll remove that menace myself.

Menace?

…

Lucifero… just how much do you know about her?

Lucifero did not answer again. Through Dante’s eyes, his own gaze was fixed on me, on the mark emblazoned on my forehead, a deep, black color. Forbidden magic… what did she do to herself? She can’t be possessed by them… but it’s clear now. Simulcia’s will is being carried on through her descendents. 

…

All four of the people present are thinking the same thing: I have to win. 

I take another step towards them, gritting my teeth as the weight of the bone starts to impede my motion. Shit… I can’t fight like this- My hand grasps its diameter, and I start to release fire, burning the material away. I can heal myself better when it’s gone and-

Zenon raises his hand before I can finish.

“Bone magic: Eternal Fangs, 100%”

Before I can even move, even more bones appear from his body, shooting out at me with amplified speed. All I can do is back up as fast as I can. Shit shit! Jump- JUMP- My foot braces against the ground, ready to spring away out of range, but it’s too late. A hollow scream is ripped from my chest as more bones than I can keep track of pierce my body like a pincushion. Pain explodes in every part; in a way, it’s refreshing, something that no one recently has been able to coax from my body. But now, it’s everywhere, immobilizing me like some doll suspended from strings.

My vision goes white, metallic taste in my mouth. Zenon’s power- he’s pulling out all the stops. I try to swallow, but I just gargle. They’re really getting serious, did I fuck up? In any case, I gotta get down, before-

Right in the middle of that thought, the bones shift, lifting me up. Oh god oh god- I crack open an eye as the world spins. Suddenly, I slip right off the bones, ripped by a jolting motion. The momentum sends me flying, as if Zenon were just flicking a pesky mosquito off of his ear. I don’t have time to be afraid before I hit a wall, crashing right through it from the force. My vision blurs again, and I finally scream, more out of confusion than terror. I hit another wall, finally coming to a violent stop. 

Zenon lets out a breath, his eyes not leaving the place that I disappeared into. “Vanica, Dante-”

“Got it.” At once, the two others rushed forward. Dante smirked, using his body magic to reinforce his arms for the beating that was to come. “All we have to do is knock her into that room.”

“Right, once we do that, we’ve won.” Vanica giggled in anticipation. “I might even have time to fight Noelle after this~”

Come on- Get up!

I feel time magic start to circle around my body, automatically like it always does. But it hurts this time, as it forces bones and flesh back into their places. Fragments of stone and bone are dragged along with it, and my jaw clenches tight to stay quiet. But it’s brief, and I feel my strength return. Good! I start to sit up, my hand gripping my Grimoire like a vice. Now, I just have to anticipate them better-

There’s a BOOM, and none other than Dante is suddenly right in front of me. My eyes widen, seeing that his arms are reinforced and a bloodthirsty expression is on his face. “THERE YOU ARE!” he screeches, and before I can move out of the way, he blasts me with his bare fists, an unmerciful barrage that once again sends me flying. AH! How are they so fast all the sudden-

“MY TURN! MY TURN!”

Oh no. I turn my head just in time to see that Dante had tossed me right towards Vanica. Wait! Hold on-

Of course, she doesn’t “hold on,” and I soon find myself being punched again and again, slashed at by her bloody talons. Three points of my body light up with pain: my right shoulder, my left hip, and my right knee. “HAHAHA! Look at you, can’t you keep up anymore? What happened to all that power you had before?” She giggled, slashing me one last time. With a strangled cry, I get tossed away once again. I hit the ground, immediately rolling to a stop.

Vanica chuckles before landing before me, pointing at my pitiful form as I struggle to sit up. “See there? I got you with my curses!” 

Curses?! I look down at the places still pulsing with pain, and see that there are three similar marks glowing in the spots, dark blueish black spirals that float on my skin as if it were water. Uh oh, this isn’t good-

I start to clench my fist, summoning fire, but it’s slow. Vanica screeches with mirth before lunging at me again. “USELESS! Those are weakening curses! It’s going to take you a hot minute to charge up your magic now!” I look up just in time to see her Red Beast hurdling at me. “Just enough time for us to BEAT YOU!”

It hits me, and I’m once again blasted away.

… how… what’s wrong with me-

Her curse makes it hard to even move once I roll to a stop.

Just a minute ago, I was on top of the world-

Dante appears again to beat me, then back to Vanica, then back to him, then her, then him again-

W-What’s going on-

I manage to land on my feet once, but ten bones sail towards me like spears to send me crumpling back to the floor.

Where are they-

BAM. Dante’s fist hits me in the stomach, and I black out for a whole two seconds.

They’re moving differently now… they’re cooperating. It’s like… they have a strategy?

The world fades back in as I crash through another wall. Everything is spinning, and there’s nothing but the taste of blood in my mouth. 

They have a plan… but what is it-

Three Minutes remain before the end

The air suddenly becomes quiet, eerily so. The silence is cold, and is only broken by a low, creaking vibration that’s more felt than heard. I blink, slowly coming back to awareness, wood against my back. The curses continue to sap away at my energy, and it takes all the strength I have to sit up. Where are they? Am I about to get hit again?

Everything hurts. Blood soaks half of my face, bubbling out from a severe wound above my hairline. One of my eyes is covered with the stuff, and when I blink, it stings. 

Somehow, the attacks have stopped. Letting out a deep breath, I take the brief moment of respite to reach up and wipe my face. My right arm hangs uselessly at my side, skewered completely through by a bone. My own bones are shattered, obliterated by the brutal volley of attacks I was just put through. 

Ow… ow…

My vision starts to clear once again. Something is writhing silently around me, dark shades of grey and brown. What on Earth? Is this-

It all hits me at once, the realization of where they corralled me: I’m sitting in the chamber of the Tree of Qliphoth, and am sitting on one of its branches. I crane my neck to see its many twining branches growing up and up, out of sight. Oh god… was this their plan? At the moment, I can’t feel it damaging me or anything like that, so I’m not sure what the aim of this is. Maybe it was an accident? Slowly, I look back down to see that the chamber goes farther down than I could have imagined. It’s hard to see, but there’s a large symbol on the ground below where the Tree grows from, and I feel like there are people down there. 

“There you are. Good thing you didn’t fall.”

My gaze snaps up at the sound of that voice, and I see the Dark Triad standing on a branch above me, staring down at me with… apprehension? Something about their stances doesn’t make sense, but I don’t have time to think about it very deeply.

“Come on then. Get up.”

Zenon’s voice is cold, blank, merciless.

“This is where you will die, Wizard King. But we won’t do it until you show us the power you used before. That is the last gift we’ll give to you.” 

The bloodlust of six beings is focused right onto me.

“Heal yourself, and die a noble death along with the rest of the world.” 

…

Slowly, I reach up and grab the bone still stuck in my side. Runes start to circle around it, and I carefully tug on the bone to slide it out as the wound heals. The pain is nothing now; my mind is consumed with the task ahead of me.

I can’t lose.

That much is clear. Whatever they have planned, I won’t let them go through with it.

Despite the bone still stuck in my leg, I stand up, my knees wobbling as they desperately try to prop me up for just a little longer. 

And if I die, I’m taking them all down with me!

But before that, there’s something else on my mind. If this is really the Tree of Qliphoth, then that means that William and Yami are somewhere nearby. At the very least, I have to save them, and stop this tree from growing any further. If I can do that, I’ve won.

“Are you sure you want me to heal?”

Particles of light start to circle my body, efficiently cleaning up the wounds left behind as I pull out bone after bone after bone. My right arm snaps back into place, and I flex it, from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers. Time flares up around the curses, and in an instant, they are erased.

“It’ll be the last mistake you make.”

Blood thins, and disappears, bruises evaporate, and I feel my strength return. Right now, there’s nothing more I want to do than release my forbidden sealing spell and see what happens, but I know I won’t last long if I do. Right now, I need to live, and I need to win.

...

“Remember what I taught you.”

Wind blows around me, cooling the sweat on my brow with a pleasant chill. I pant lightly, my mouth open just a little, as I get ready for the next bout.

“If you can work on your precision, you can use this power to predict the very near future.”

The sun is so bright, I can’t see his face.

I’m never going to be strong enough to do that, though… right?

“Accelerate time around your body… use what you see to win.”

No… I am strong enough.

My power surges around me, time whirling at a breakneck pace as I prepare for what could very well be the last few moments of my life.

I am strong… and I am selfless. I am the Wizard King!! Maybe I’ve sinned, far more than one person should. I’ve stolen and murdered for this power. But it’s mine now! This path I’ve walked has brought me close to temptation, close to destruction, but… there’s so much more to this world than me and Julius. Yami, William, Marx, Adeline, Joy, Fuegoleon, Charlotte, Mereo, Noelle, Mimosa, Yuno, Asta- Everyone- 

Zenon, you’re right. I will die in this place. And I will die a noble death. I will die to defeat you!

And everyone I leave behind… I will leave their future up to them.

My body moves on its own, pushing forward just as it has always done. Flame, light, and time are swung from my fists as I pursue the enemy around the tree. Each of my steps hits heavy on the wood, warping it as it absorbs the blow. Zenon and the others fly ahead, staying just out of reach. Every now and then, one will turn and try to make a strike. But each time, I manage to dodge, either that or my wound is instantly healed. 

Yes… more… more power-

I don’t care that each wave of magic rips more and more of my life force away; it’ll be worth it.

If I can just catch up to them-

Suddenly, as I brace against the trunk in order to leap once again, the Tree swells underneath me, almost like a wave. It catches me off guard, and I push off and away from it, my heart pounding. What on earth was that supposed to be? I think, narrowing my eyes. The Dark Triad are suddenly nowhere to be seen. The fibers of the tree leak some sort of black substance that floats like smoke through the air. Swirling menacingly as the tree itself starts to radiate power. Is this a trap? Or-

It’s right then that I realize that the tree is… bigger. Significantly bigger. I’m almost up to the ceiling now, snow and wind pelting in from above. The twining branches are now thick, a lattice that almost blocks out the sky above. My eyes widen. Wait- how long were we fighting? My perception of time is completely off, the magic still warping it around me. How tall did the tree grow just now?!

Wait…

There’s a chill in the air. Everywhere around me, I sense dark, creepy magic, opening up from seemingly no where.

Gates? But- Wasn’t this supposed to take several days? What is going on-

Is… did the gate just open all the way!?

Somewhere in my stomach, a pit starts to form. I float there, totally still, as the impending wave of despair starts to grow on my shoulders.

Did… did my magic-

I completely dominated the mana in this chamber. My Time magic permeated every square inch of it, as I sped the passage of time up and up and up- The Dark Triad stuck close to the trunk of the tree as I pursued them… all the while, the Tree was absorbing time, more and more until-

My gaze drops, to the ground far below. There’s movement.

“When the gates are open… the two catalysts will be spent.”

I drop like a rock, zooming down to the bottom of the room, my heart starting to pound faster and faster. 

No… it can’t be. This is a mistake- 

Things start to come into focus. I see two heavy metal coffins, both with their doors open.

They didn’t trick me… they didn’t… this isn’t happening-

I land heavily, a few meters away. There’s another man nearby, but I ignore him and run straight for the coffins.

Yami… William… did you escape? You did, didn’t you! 

I run around once of the coffins and see that they are both empty.

You did! You’re out… now I just have to find-

I make the mistake of looking down.

…

…

…

Waves crested gently upon the beach as the sun started to set.

William holds a tiny hermit crab in his hand. His pants are rolled up to his knees to keep them from getting wet.

And years later… another sunset. Another smile.

“I think… another Golden Dawn awaits us both.”

Yami smiles at me, that last spark of hope that I needed to keep living.

“You’re my friend… and you’re the one Julius loved. So go.”

I feel his rough palm squeeze my shoulder before letting go.

“Go… and feel.”

…

…

Yami…

I drop to my knees.

William…

My hands are shaking, and I feel the last of my strength slip through my fingers.

All those years together… all those good times, all those bad times…

Why… why did they have to end like this?

There are two bodies on the ground. I can’t recognize either of them, but I know who they are.

…

...

“Go and feel.”

…

…

I am… I am feeling… now.

#triad #fic #bc spoilers #oc: lisa #:(((

[dear-yandere]

double trouble. [commission]

au. fantasy / yokai | word count. 1.6k

Onryo! Natsume Sakasaki / Oni! Ritsu Sakuma

Sunset dyed the forest rich shades of carmine and amber, washing away their beautiful greens as if beckoning an early Autumn -- a display which blurred together like mixed paint on a canvas as you ran as far as your legs would carry you. The unpleasant taste of iron bathed your throat the harder you pushed yourself past your limit, desperately running from an entity you couldn’t see. Gleeful laughter bounced off the flora like an echo chamber, your mind struggling to make sense of your surroundings the further you delved into the woodlands, the further you ran from home. You swore the branches, rocks, and even trees in your path moved aside for you, parting like a river in the presence of a goddess -- no doubt the result of the onryo’s magic.

“My little koneko-chan~” Another giggle, illusory and attenuated by his magicks. Heart crawled up your throat at the prospect of having lost him -- he sounded far, but you knew better than to let your guard down. “How adorable, thinking you’ll get far!~” He hummed, seemingly right in your ear, but you didn’t dare look over your shoulder. 

Oh, how he adored playing this game of cat and mouse! You were his beloved pet, his sweet little darling whose arrival he awaited day in and day out! Although he longed to hold you in his arms and coo at you for returning to his forest, it’d be a waste to not have some fun before he finally caught you. 

Your ankle, swollen from an earlier fall, threatened to burst as you applied pressure to it with each step, the adrenaline rushing through your veins hardly enough to numb the pain. Vision blurring with tears and exhaustion, the bitter taste of iron was difficult to ignore, proof that you’d screamed your loudest only for the forest to drown your wails.

And, all at once, it stopped.

There was a lull in air as Natsume’s laughter cut off without warning, leaving you with the faint echoes of his laughter and the otherwise deafening silence belonging to a forest you hardly knew; still, your running didn’t relent.

Not until he appeared in front of you -- not until you ran right into his arms.

“Caught you~” 

Lithe fingers, made sharp by the long fingernails of the vengeful spirit, knitted themselves in your hair. You wanted to shriek, the warmth of his chest against yours rolling off of him in waves, but his very presence was enough to paralyze you. Nails, sharp enough to cut into your flesh like knives, twined your locks between fingers that had been stained with blood far too many times, playing with your strands so gently, as if they were nothing more than tempered glass -- pretty, but far too fragile for its own good. You would have struggled, pushed him away long ago had he not cast a powerful charm which rendered your nervous system entirely useless. He smiled impishly at the way your lips still managed to tremble -- at the way even his most powerful magic couldn’t mask the fear in your eyes.

“Oh how I’ve missed my little darling!” He sung, his cascading voice joining the birdsong coming from the dense thicket of trees that surrounded you both -- trapping you in this forest with a spirit who was far too obsessed with you. “You know”, he mused as he draped your limp arms across his shoulders like lovers would. “Your spell hasn’t quite worn off since the last time I laid eyes on you, my little enchantress!”

You couldn’t speak -- whatever spell he’d cast had prohibited your vocal chords from working the way you intended, resulting in embarrassing whimpers on your part. You could only softly whine as he needily nuzzled into the delicate space between your shoulder and neck. “I love you so much, being apart is always so painful!” 

Another whimper, this time complimented by his soft laughter. He was terrifying as always, but his voice nonetheless held an ethereal lilt that lowered your defenses and drew you in. You suppose that’s how he lured in his victims, though it still baffled you why’s he taken such a keen interest in you rather than kill you off.  You weren’t sure if you should feel grateful or frightful, but the idea of someone taking any interest in a lowly village girl was oddly comforting.

If only you attracted the affections of humans. Trouble seemed to follow you wherever you went, almost always under the guise of a playful spirit with far too much time on his hands.

“Ah, why don’t you stay here with me?” His voice rose in pitch, a testament to how wonderful he found that idea. He’d always be by your side! Always holding your hand, sniffing your hair, nuzzling into your warmth, inhaling your sweet scent -- oh what heaven that’d be! “You don’t have to return to your village, I’m sure they’d understand!” He excitedly chirped, liquid gold eyes sparkling with unadulterated admiration and glee.“After all, what we have is true love!”

He took your lack of response as a resounding yes. “Don’t you agree, little koneko-chan?”

“What a disgusting name, onryo.” Ritsu interjected, throwing his fan at Natsume. The fan simply phased through the spirit before curving through the air and returning to the demon. Ritsu clicked his teeth together, baring his fangs with a look of sheer disgust. “Why do you insist on calling my darling Riko that?”

“And why do you insist on ruining my time with my darling koneko-chan, oni?”

Ritsu hopped from the tree branch, easily landing on his feet with otherworldly grace. You whimpered again at the arrival of yet another stalker, noticing that Natsume’s magic seemed to wear off whenever he diverted his attention; however, eyeing your surroundings for a potential escape quickly proved fruitless as Ritsu strode over to you both and listlessly removed Natsume’s hold on your waist. The spot which Natsume’s arms held immediately grew warmer, the coldness of his ethereal form no longer sapping your heat; of course, Ritsu’s own arm slipped around your waist and tugged you toward him possessively. Natsume scoffed indignantly, fingers immediately curling around your own.

“Why are you here, oni?” Joy had bled from Natsume’s voice upon your other admirer’s arrival. He knew the demon would appear sooner or later, and although the two more or less got along -- enough to share you, as they’d lovingly discussed last time you wandered too far into the forest -- the onryo much preferred he didn’t appear at all.

“It’s my turn.” Ritsu simply stated, smile bordering predatory as he tucked your arms around his waist, body pressed up against yours in a display of dominance toward the other yokai. “Isn’t that right, darling? You must’ve missed me if you wandered back into this forest knowing I’d find you without a problem.”

“T-that’s not true...”, you shyly managed now that you weren’t looking into Natsume’s eyes. Ritsu, luckily, didn’t possess magic that paralyzed you -- not that it mattered when either yokai could catch you before you met the forest’s edge. “T-this is the safest path to the neighboring village.”

“Is that so?” He hummed thoughtfully, the sunset perfectly complimenting his scarlet-red eyes. “I don’t believe you, darling. With monsters like us wandering around, this couldn’t possibly be the safest path.” His eyes caught on your lips, eyeing the delicate skin far too long for your liking. “Admit it -- you belong here with me, you’re just too shy to say it.” Scarlet eyes captured yours, their colors so bright it made your stomach twist with the realization of how powerless you were in this situation. Both of your stalkers in the same vicinity -- the tension so palpable you could hardly breathe. “It’s alright to admit you want to be loved, darling. Go on -- give me permission to love you, as if it’s the only thing you can say.”

“I-I...I c..can’t”, you nearly choked, head starting to spin under the overwhelming pressure, the very presence of two powerful spirits enough to drain what little spiritual energy you’d retained. The weight of Ritsu’s body pressed against yours, the pain of Natsume’s claws digging into your skin -- it was all too much. “P...please let me go, I--”

“Hush, darling. Don’t be like that.” His lips brushed against yours, fangs eagerly gnawing against the delicate flesh -- whether teasing a kiss or a bite, you weren’t sure. “Here, let me help...”, he mused, lips close enough to--

Natsume growled, golden eyes flashing a dangerous shade of red -- the very sight of Ritsu making himself far too comfortable with you, in front of him no less, made his blood boil. Nails all but pierced your skin as his grip tightened around your wrist, harshly tugging you from the demon’s grasp and back into his embrace. 

Ritsu’s eyes narrowed with annoyance, as if realizing Natsume was still there. “Didn’t you hear me, onryo? We had an agreement -- it’s my turn.”

“Can’t you see she’s worn out, oni?”

“And whose fault is that?”

Natsume chewed on his bottom lip, brows furrowed as he gazed so lovingly down at you. Your cheeks were flush, eyes heavy with exhaustion and hints of pain as the adrenaline wore off. His eyes flitted to your swollen ankle, feeling a sense of guilt at what he’d caused. “I... I admit this is my fault, but we need to help her at least.”

Ritsu relented, clicking his tongue impatiently. “Fine. She did say this was the safest route.” He smiled at the thought, flashing an almost sadistic glance your way. “We might as well keep her -- she’ll be much safer with us.”

“...For once I agree with you, oni.”

#ritsu sakuma x reader #yandere ritsu sakuma x reader #sakuma ritsu x reader #yandere sakuma ritsu #yandere natsume sakasaki x reader #natsume sakasaki x reader #natsume sakasaki #yandere natsume x reader #sakasaki natsume #yandere enstars #yandere enstars x reader #enstars x reader #ensemble stars x reader #yandere ensemble stars #yandere ensemble stars x reader #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere #yandere scenario #yandere imagines #*oneshot #commission #vanya

[gabriel-gabdiel]

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword Chapter 56: Living Sin (Part 8)

Likka Ikumi and Natsuki Shinkai deal with the Karasu and Kuronue tandem. The Oniwabanshu with Kuwabara deal with Gein and the Omyouji.

Hiei and Kurama deal with Usui as well.

The original source of this idea comes from Chad Yang. I continued his story idea found here.

The rest of the chapters of my Yuyu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin crossover fan fiction are available here and here. Enjoy.

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At the Okushiri Airport...

Natsuki Shinkai freed herself from Kuronue's tight chains, increasing their velocity even while at rest by focusing and infusing her unique reiki unto them.

Kuronue barely dodged the bullet-fast broken chain shrapnel along with the follow-through Kousa Dageki (Cross Strike) strike and thrust combo that nearly crushed his skull and/or put a hole in his trachea.

Or maybe he didn't. Maybe he got hit after all. And killed.

However, the next thing Natsuki knew, he was about 6 feet or 2 meters away from her, none the worse for wear. As though she had hit and killed a mirage.

Damn. That was close.

They were currently inside the flaming remnants of a 747 cargo plane that Karasu had earlier blown up along with the rest of the airport.

Yes, Natsuki Shinkai could be as softhearted as Kurama in that she wouldn't indiscriminately kill her enemies. However, when she was pushed far enough, she could be every bit as cruel as the Youko.

Especially if she thought you deserved it. Like her father, Feng Xinhai, attempting to kill Daiji Matsudaira with a half-formed supercell of a tornado.

Apparently, a simple humiliating parry of her best friend's flying kick was enough to send her to the edge.

Figuring out what Kuronue meant by Natsuki's limits, Kuronue started blasting the remaining buildings and planes of the decimated Okushiri Airport.

Even though she could redirect the explosions or even rubble away from herself, the mindful Natsuki kept her barrier down against the high-speed shards of earth and glass for fear of accidentally deflecting it against nearby civilians or her friend, Likka Ikumi.

"Dammit," she cursed as she concentrated hard to deflect the individual rubble and debris at only Karasu and Kuronue in order to protect Ikumi.

"I think I understand her weakness now," said Karasu, who sneered and produced Clamshell Shrapnel Bombs for good measure. "She's only as powerful as the attacks directed at her! She also needs to concentrate hard to manipulate the direction and trajectory of a multitude of objects coming at her simultaneously or else there'll be collateral damage!"

"That's right. She can't deflect multiple things at the same time!" said Kuronue, who easily maneuvered through the raining debris, metal shrapnel, glass, and rubble in order to attack Natsuki with them, knowing that she could only dodge and couldn't return fire with any effective offense of her own.

The demons attacked simultaneously at two fronts, which kept Shinkai from focusing her psionic redirection powers properly.

Natsuki held on remarkably well though, redirecting the flying rock shards at both demons while using Hawatari (Sword Halt) and Hadome (Sword Crossing) at the supersonic Kuronue's attempts at stabbing her and making her mess up her concentration.

"Ahhh!" Likka cried out in pain as several bits of shrapnel hit her on the thigh and abdomen.

There were too many bullet-fast objects chaotically shooting at every direction and at different speeds for Shinkai to properly take account of and deflect.

"Likka-tan! I'm sorry!" shouted a tearful Natsuki, only for Kuronue to aim for her neck with his scythe. She then faced her attacker and said, "Fine. You want me to kill you? Then I will!"

She proceeded to do what Kuronue claimed she couldn't do, which was to reverse the flow of his blood in one direction, leading his head swell and burst like a balloon.

A second Kuronue appeared right behind the deceased one, his blade at the ready. "Whoa. Those are some frightening powers, child."

'What the hell was going on anymore?' thought Natsuki as the tip of the sickle cut through her stomach.

Karasu then threw a new grenade at Natsuki, who attempted to deflect it only for it to explode in her face.

***

Youtou Shinnoken: Demon Sword

A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho Crossover Fan Fiction Story by Chester Castañeda

Original Concept by Chad Yang

The Misao reincarnation known as Likka Ikumi gets to activate her special powers at last.

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shueisha, Shonen Jump, Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV. This disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted materials that are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very poor.

***

Chapter 56: Living Sin (Part 8)

***

At Nabetsuru Rock...

The Nabetsuru (Pot Handle) Rock was a tourist destination off of the coast of Okushiri Island. It was a rock formation visible across the shores of Okushiri with the appearance of a pot handle.

Speaking of pots, the water surrounding the rock soon boiled, steamed, and bubbled like water inside a pot being heated by a stove. Something was afoot.

The half-healed zombie corpse body of Usui Uonuma was still licking his wounds from his defeat against Hajime Saito when one of the ferry-girls located him off of Nabetsuru Rock and informed the Reikai Senshi (Spirit World Warriors) of the fact.

Shikigami from Houji had gathered around him to present him with enough spiritual power to restore his body to seeming health.

It was weird how jaki (negative energy) of all things could heal him, but he knew his body was really more of a corpse and he was more of a vengeful ghost than a reincarnated spirit.

He knew and he didn't care. He'd cling to existence by any means necessary after it was nearly snuffed out by Makoto Shishio and "permanently" ended by Hajime Saito.

Usui had by then reconnected his body's top half with his bottom half, but his fatal wounds were still tender and his broken spine was still in bad shape.

The Spirit World Warriors were really hammering their forces down, weren't they?

A few minutes later and there he was: Jaganshi (Evil Eye User) Hiei.

Probably the second or third most powerful member of the Reikai Senshi, behind Kenshin Himura (with his inimitable Demon Sword) and Yusuke Urameshi (the direct descendant of one of the Three Kings of Makai, Raizen).

Usui smirked, opened his mouth, and licked his lips.

This was now a battle between the Shingan (True Eyes) and the Jagan (Evil Eyes).

The blind swordsman turned spearman zombie wondered about something. If he had Jine Udo's Jagan on one eye socket and Hiei's Jagan on his other eye socket, would he finally gain the power he needed to usurp the likes of Tenro? Or the Chojin?

Or Shishio?

'Same difference.'

He remembered how his supernatural Tinbe shield grew thick enough to stop even the ultimate attacks of both a super-powered Kenshin and Saito, which in turn allowed his Rochin to penetrate anything weaker and less dense than his Tinbe.

If he had the power of one Jagan to hypnotize people and another Jagan to gain control of huge amounts of demonic energy, he'd be unstoppable: The most powerful Shin Ju who possessed both superhuman senses and supernatural powers.

'But first thing's first,' Uonuma thought, noticing the fewer number of shinigami (death gods) assisting his healing as Hiei approached his perch on the unusual rock at dangerous speeds.

The sea seemingly parted in twain from the jaganshi's flashing steps as though he were a mix of a miniature speedboat and Moses himself parting the Red Sea like theater curtains.

***

There were too many of them. There was a suffocating amount if multiplying Iwanbos there as well as shikigamis who fed them jaki.

The combination of Houji "Onmyouji (Occult Priest)" Sadojima and Edward "The Puppet Master" Gein (also known as Dr. Shoji Sugino from Unit 731) were too much for this batch of Reikai Senshi to handle.

That was the simple conclusion that the Spirit World Warriors and the Oniwabanshu (Garden Keepers) had when fighting against the armies of undead Iwanbo and shikigami spirits from both of the Chojin's top generals/captains.

Like the Roku Youkai (Six Demons) on Mt. McKinley versus The Nameless Yatsume, the Reikai Tantei and the Oniwabanshu were flooded with Iwanbo versions 1, 2, and 3 and the shikigami they fed on for jaki and power ups, like this was an ecosystem teeming with predators and the Reikai Senshi were their prey.

Kuwabara had been chopping out reanimated puppets and familiars left and right with his twin Jigen Tou (Dimensional Sword) for almost an hour, only to end up sapped of energy.

He ended up with only one flickering Dimension Sword left as more and more of the puppet monsters appeared, multiplying by mitosis or something.

At the same time, he had to contend against Houji turning everything nearest him into fast-healing creatures like Toguro Ani, with their wounds or even pureed bodies healing instantly. Like nothing they did to them could faze them.

Gein, in turn, used his own unique jaki to supply the Chojin's necromancer with fresh corpses to bring to life.

The reincarnated Okashira (Boss) of the Oniwabanshu—Daiji Matsudaira (formerly Aoshi Shinomori) —fluidly maneuvered against the razors-sharp web of trip-wires that the World War II veteran mad scientist ninja known as Gein weaved with diamond-covered threads, only to be bull-rushed by the one Iwanbo Version 3 with the four arms: The Iwanbo Version 3.2.

The Iwanbo 3.2 had thus far trampled on all of the efforts of the Tokyo Oniwabanshu to take it down, whether it was through poison, fire, sword slashes, brute strength, or martial arts.

Like Shikijo, it got cross-slash scars from every part of its body, but it still kept moving, shrugging off the rain of kodachi Daiji produced as well as the pistol shots to the head (the police officer could conjure guns as well).

Kuwabara did notice how the monstrous puppet recovered as quickly as Toguro Ani while sporting the same ridiculous musculature of Toguro Ototo. 'Hiei and Kurama's investigations were true! That old ninja guy really was responsible for demonizing the Toguro Brothers!'

Meanwhile, Kuwabara desperately held on to his knife-sized Jigen Tou, willing it to existence even as he had to contend against an undead army of shikigami and Iwanbos.

He could summon a Rei-Ken (Spirit Sword) instead, but even a dimensional knife had more utility to it.

He sliced apart portals, warp gates, dimensions, space, and even the sky itself with the way his cuts remained in the air like cracks on glass, cutting through the guts of the zombie puppets down below and the ghoulish ghosts from up above.

Houji and Gein pushed him to the brink of using up all his spirit energy, which may then force him to use his own life force to keep on fighting (like what Yusuke did to take down Suzaku the first time they fought).

The Onmyouji sloppily sliced his scythe at Kuwabara, who then blocked the blade but his knees ultimately buckled against the weight of the Chojin's negative energy instead of the strength of the strike.

'Dammit, we're going to lose!'

The bowl-cut necromancer cackled and ranted, "This is the power of the Chojin! This is the power of the gods! You were no match from the start!"

As for the Aoshi Shinomori of the modern era, he threw every last kodachi he could muster at the charging Iwanbo 3.2, whose tackles were so impactful he turned even fellow Iwanbo and stray shikigami inside-out into road kill, ground beef, or ectoplasm.

Even after being turned into a knife holder sculpture or Julius Caesar after his assassination, the four-armed Iwanbo would not stop charging.

The tired Okashira ended up taking a knee. He willed himself to move away with his Water Flow Movement, but Dr. Sugino caught him off-guard from behind with razor-sharp thread that wrapped around and bit into his neck.

"Checkmate, Okashira. You killed me before, right? Well, let me return the favor."

Daiji struggled against the old man, surprised at how strong he was for his age, the piano wire digging deeper into his throat. They'd be both turned into mush by the rampaging Iwanbo 3.2, but only one of them would end up getting resurrected by the Onmyouji when all was said and done.

The air around them then changed as the ghosts of the Oniwabanshu rose again. However, something inside them changed. They exuded menace that wasn't there before.

Hannya, Shikijo, Hyottoko, and Beshimi rose up like zombies hungry for flesh.

"Don't you dare touch the Okaaashiiiraaa...!"

***

As Likka Ikumi—Misao Makimachi's Heisei reincarnation—went unconscious due to blood loss, she dreamed of what had happened earlier, when she was deemed a C-Level martial artist ninja girl while the rest of the people she knew from past and present ranked B-Level and higher instead.

"This isn't fair!" Likka complained to Yahiko Myojin. "You'd be B-Level too if you didn't have special powers yourself, you little brat!"

"Yeah, funny how that works. Even Cat Eyes got better superpowers than you and your quick costume changes! OW!" teased Yahiko before he got hit upside the head with Misao's patented flying kick.

"KECHO GIRI!" Ikumi screamed. "Grrr! I want superpowers too! I don't want to end up in the battlefield being some sort of liability to Uncle Jiji (Daiji) or Tsuki-chan (Natsuki)!

Yahiko then relented, "Jeez, Weasel-chan! Don't be upset about me being stronger than you. You only 'woke up' recently! But you're still the reincarnation of Makimachi Misao and yes, you're better at hand-to-hand combat than I am."

Likka paused then pouted. "Really, Yahiko-chan?"

Kenshin himself then said, "Misao-dono, I know that Shinomori Aoshi's talent might have blinded you of this fact, but shinobi (spies) are not known for their swordsmanship or strength. They're instead known for their cunning."

Natsuki herself interjected, "You are not a swordsman but a spy, Likka-tan. A ninja. A shadow warrior. You can take down a samurai many times more powerful than you by ambush and stealth. Use that."

Likka then woke up back at the Okushiri Airport, in time to see the miko (priestess) ferry-girl tending to her shrapnel wounds, removing the foreign objects and healing her body the best she could.

"Please, wake up! Please, hang on!" pleaded the shinigami known as Hinageshi.

***

Back at the Kyujimayama Observatory...

The combination of Houji the Onmyouji and Gein the Puppet Master was truly too much for Kazuma Kuwabara and the Oniwabanshu to handle.

Daiji Matsudaira then did the Jissen Kenbu (combining the Water Flow Movement with his one-handed kodachi strikes) to escape Dr. Sugino's wire-based grasp. The doctor was not as adept at pure ninjutsu as his Meiji Era counterpart.

However, Shoji's supernatural powers and modern scientific knowledge more than made up for his lack of physical prowess and skills.

However, just behind them, the transformed Oniwabanshu tore apart the four-armed Iwanbo 3.2 like a pack of wolves.

"Saaaave the Okashiraaa! At aaaall cooosts!"

Hannya. Shikijo. Hyottoko. Beshimi.

Again, their supposed Okashira had failed them and soiled their memories. Or this watered-down copper version of their Okashira living in the present Heisei Era did so.

These ghosts that served as Daiji's guardian angels from the death of his wife at the hands of Feng Xinhai to the present, when he discovered his dark destiny as being the reincarnation of the Last Oniwabanshu Okashira, were now forced to demonize themselves.

They abandoned their humanity and turned themselves into monsters in order to save Matsudaira.

Shikijo's muscles bulged and popped as his complexion turned grey or even metallic, with him grabbing one set of the Iwanbo's arms in order to stop him in his tracks.

Beshimi bit the Iwanbo with snake-like fangs and threw toxic spines growing from all over his body at him for good measure, the corrosive toxins directly seeping into the undead veins of the puppet monster.

Hyottoko turned into a full-on kappa youkai who breathed fire, toasting the creature from behind.

And finally, the tri-clawed Hannya mauled the Iwanbo repeatedly by slicing apart the veins of his other arms and ravaging him like a rabid wolverine.

The more they ripped apart the puppet, the more mindless they became. Like wild animals.

Houji chuckled at the display, letting his shikigami deal with the weakening Kuwabara for a change. "How would it feel if I brought your ghost friends back to life, Okashira? Alas, they'd end up as the Chojin's minions, but at least they'd be alive."

Meanwhile, Gein retreated and used his own knowledge of the dark arts in order to form a fresh new Iwanbo 3.2 puppet out of the spare parts of the discarded Iwanbo corpses.

No. Enough was enough.

The deceased Oniwabanshu had been haunting Aoshi's soul all this time, even a hundred years later in another body, because they felt like they had failed in protecting him when the opposite was instead true.

Time and time again, they'd saved him.

His blue eyes shining bright like twin stars on a clear night, Daiji's aura of reiki (spirit energy) flared to life and reacted to the youki (demonic energy) emanating from his former Oniwabanshu comrades.

He then started to absorb their dark energy unto himself, shouldering all their anger and feelings of failure unto his own body.

It was his failure and lack of strength that kept them anchored to him for so long, keeping them from passing on.

It was his turn to save them.

As Matsudaira absorbed more of their dark energy, the Oniwabanshu ghouls started to go back to normal. They were neither demons nor monsters any longer.

"Uh, what happened?" asked Shikijo.

"Beats me. I don't remember much," said Beshiimi.

"I feel hungry," said Hyottoko.

"You can't be hungry! You're a ghost!" admonished Hannya, who then turned towards Daiji's shadowy form. "It's the Okashira. He has saved us again, as usual!"

Daiji then went face-to-face against the Iwanbo 3.2, who had again started to cannibalize the corpses or even the "living" bodies of his undead puppet brethren as well as the nearby shikigami unto him.

To build his strength by feeding upon the weak just like Matsudaira did to his Oniwabanshu underlings' youki.

The Iwanbo Version 3.2 then charged at Matsudaira, with the pair of Houji and Gein close behind him.

"Kill the Okashira! Do so and we'll have this battle in the bag!" said Gein to his puppet.

"We might even be able to revive his soul and turn him into one of the Juppon Gatana," suggested Sadojima.

They were in for the shock of their lives.

***

Back at Nabetsuru Rock...

Jaganshi Hiei ran on water like Jesus Christ in a hurry then blasted the rock where the half-healed (or still-healing) Usui Uonuma lay with a Jaou-En-Satsu Kokuryuha (Dragon of Darkness Flame).

The fire demon didn't want to take any chances. However, as expected, Uonuma's Tinbe still remembered the sheer power of the most powerful strikes given to it by the Battousai and the Miburo.

Thusly, the dense adaptable shield survived even the atomic heat of the Makai flames from Hiei's deadliest attack, neutralizing it completely.

"Hn."

Usui answered that indignant harrumph with a chuckle. "And just like that, my Tinbe is now fireproofed as well as shock-absorbent. Is that your best shot, Jaganshi Hiei?"

Hiei then visually disappeared from Uonuma's midst, but the blind man couldn't even see him regardless, so he wasn't too worried.

Usui heard Hiei all the while though.

The blind spearman could only smile as he caught each and every slash or stab Hiei attempted to hit him with, deflecting them away like rain with his Tinbe umbrella.

Earlier, he was made aware that the Shin Ju had lost contact with Houji and Gein, which meant that there wasn't enough shikigami and jaki left to heal him fully.

However, he was an S-Level entity himself.

This meant that even though Uonuma didn't have the Onmyouji's assistance to restore his damaged body to health, he could damn well heal himself on his own. Not at the cancerous rate that the regenerative Toguro Ani could, but fast enough to count when the chips were down.

'I just need to buy myself a little bit more time,' Usui thought, blocking all of Hiei's sword strikes and countering them with his Rochin spear that was as irresistible as his Tinbe was impenetrable.

'Battousai's reports are accurate,' thought Hiei. 'This man is hard to kill, even without the powers of the Onmyouji aiding him and keeping him alive. Or at least undead.'

The two combatants jumped from the rock to the shore, their feet both using the waves and the surface tension of the saltwater to travel from that long distance.

Not once was Hiei able to scratch the injured man. Not with the Kokuryuha. Not with his blade.

However, the blind Shin Ju in turn wasn't fast enough to counter with his Rochin. He kept missing his kaeshi (ripostes) even though he parried or blocked all of the fire demon's physical attacks.

Getting behind Usui to stab him and avoid the shield didn't work because the spearman sensed the fire demon's presence every time and blocked accordingly.

However, thanks to Hiei's Jagan and his inborn twitch reflexes, the Rochin could not touch him in turn, no matter how badly he missed or got parried by the former bakufu swordsman turned Juppon Gatana member.

Perhaps it was because Usui was too injured. Or perhaps it was because he was too slow from the get go.

They seemed to be at an impasse.

***

"Ahhh!" Natsuki shrieked, her impenetrable deflection powers working against her, drawing the implosion towards her instead of away from her due to the nature of her reversal powers.

The crow demon smirked.

His experimental Pillbug Implosion Bomb was a success.

Shinkai predictably attempted to deflect it like Karasu's other bombs, but she did so by reversing its momentum. This made the bomb explode instead of implode unto itself.

The way Natsuki affected her environment was to use the inertia of the objects going towards her and reverse their momentum so that she didn't have to expend her spirit energy moving them away.

To reverse the momentum of an implosion bomb was to turn it into an explosive.

"Now, Kuronue! While you have the chance!"

Kuronue and his afterimage clones attacked Natsuki. Then, after several more Kuronues died out, one of them decapitated Natsuki with his scythe.

Game. Set. Match.

However, that Natsuki turned out to be a standee advertisement of a stewardess instead. Taken straight from the rubble.

"!?" intoned Kuronue, only to realize it was the Misao reincarnation who duped him into decapitating the decoy.

It was a classic ninjutsu trick. Substituting one object for another.

Karasu attempted to get rid of the troublesome onmitsu (ninja girl) with his variety of bombs, only to be greeted with a rain of kunai (ninja daggers) moving at every which way and direction, defying the laws of physics, gravity, and momentum.

He yelped as a dagger ended up in his eye, which would normally be weak enough for him to swat away. 'Where is that damned ninja...?!'

As for Kuronue and Natsuki, they were locked in a battle of wills and wits. Or perhaps a war of attrition.

For different reasons, both Shinkai and the bat demon ended up cleaving or crushing through dozens upon dozens of their respective "clones".

With Natsuki, they were illusions made by Likka. With Kuronue, it was still a mystery where his doppelgangers came from.

For every Kuronue clone that got beat up, head-crushed, stabbed, blinded, or disabled in some way, so too did every Natsuki clone suffer getting their limbs chopped off, their heads decapitated, and their bodies bisected horizontally or vertically.

The fading corpses of Shinkai and Kuronue that littered the landscape disappeared as soon as they fell.

"I don't care anymore!" the one-eyed Karasu threw implosion bombs at the pair's direction. "I'm sure you'll somehow survive this, Kuronue, but she won't!"

That was Likka's cue to detonate the bombs with her flung kunai, one of which ended up stuck unto Karasu's hand.

"...Fool! You fell into my trap!" said Karasu even as one of the implosions set him ablaze. He then took his mask off with his other hand in order to activate his Full-Body Implosion rather than Explosion. "Now to kill you to get rid of all these illusions!"

Likka then smirked before she shifted forms and turned into Natsuki.

"...What?!"

A flabbergasted Kuronue then spared a glance at the Natsuki he was fighting all that time. The bat demon chopped her up, only for her to turn into a stop sign.

"Since when were you under the impression that you were fighting Tsuki-chan?"

"Natsuki" then appeared behind him and turned him into a kunai holder. Sure enough, this "Natsuki" ended up being Likka in disguise instead, mimicking her friend all the while.

"I will not be a burden to Tsuki-chan any longer! I can help her out with my own special power! We can win against you two!" said Ikumi.

Thus was the power of the "C-Level" Likka Ikumi: Optical Illusion. Perfect Deception. Absolute Fantasy.

In other words, Genjutsu (Illusionary Techniques).

Her skills allowed her reiki to create mirages or hallucinations from her own imagination that, when used properly, could make even gods kneel and devils cry.

A special power that could beat even S-Levels to submission.

A power similar to that of the Kanji Killer and his hypnotic Jagan, but it involved projecting her imagination unto reality like realistic mirages instead of invading her opponent's psyche for them to see what she wanted them to see, thus she used up less reiki to do it.

"You've underestimated the both of us," said Shinkai, whose only injuries were from that one implosion bomb from Karasu that slipped through. "Now pay for your arrogance!"

Just as Karasu was about to explode and take both the girls with him to kingdom come, Yutaro Tsukayama's female reincarnation reflected and focused all that potential energy towards Kuronue, blasting him with her own version of Suzaku's Railgun.

She turned the crow demon into fuel and matter for her own energy gun, the same way Suzaku could turn any piece of steel into a blast of pure energy.

The golden beam of light seemed to kill multiple clones of Kuronue at the same time, his body stubbornly refusing to disintegrate, with him reviving over and over, only for him to die again, until there was nothing left of both Karasu and Kuronue in that seeming infinite loop of life and death.

***

Hiei harrumphed.

His speed did not phase his opponent one bit. Nor did his S-Level youki and Dragon of Darkness Flame.

However, he still had to kill Usui then and there.

The blind swordsman with his adaptable Tinbe was too dangerous to be left alive. He'd just disrupt their plan to take out Houji Sadojima permanently and drive the Shin Ju back without hope of resurrection.

Was it shameful to strike down an injured man? In war, there was no such thing as honor or fairness. Just survival of the fittest.

Uonuma cackled. "The speed by which you attack and how hard it is to catch you off-guard is impressive. You remind me of someone."

Hiei didn't answer back.

"Ah yes. Sou-kun," said Usui with a hint of wistfulness in his voice even though his comrade Soujiro Seta was still with him, just in a different unit of the Chojin's Army (the Dai Shin Kan).

The two used to spar from time to time, with both being amazed at the other's prowess.

Seta was surprised by the fact that no matter how fast he went, the Tinbe would block his strike despite his lack of presence or sakki (bloodlust). Uonuma was shocked at how, at times, the boy would reach supersonic speeds that even his Rochin couldn't hope to counter.

Instead of turtling up in defense, Usui attacked for a change, the sands of the beach underfoot blasting behind him like a sandstorm. His Shingan senses and Hiei's Jagan third eye kept the both of them from making fatal contact with each other. The most they could muster were flesh wounds.

Perhaps the youkai underestimated the revived human's abilities just because he was injured.

"Sou-kun's Shukuchi made him blindingly fast and his lack of bloodlust made him nearly undetectable. Your speed and constant bloodlust reminds me of him. You're always brooding while he's always happy. Like twin sides of the same coin."

"Sou-kun", huh? Soujiro Seta was a thorn in Hiei's side all throughout his mission and investigation on human experimentation at Alaska's Mount McKinley (also known as Denali).

The longer the battle went the further Usui pushed Hiei into a corner (literally even as they battled from the beach to the resort to the streets and to several nearby buildings), much to the prideful demon's shame.

It wasn't because Uonuma was as fast as him. Rather, Shishio's oldest rival was used to fighting people as fast as Hiei was, such as Soujiro.

This allowed Usui to use prediction and skill to match Hiei's superior reflexes.

The jaganshi harrumphed again, growing impatient. Someone who was this injured should not be this hard to kill.

Regardless, the youkai still had an ace up his sleeve that the nimble "Ten Ken (Heaven Sword)" lacked.

Summoning the Sword of Darkness Flame felt like a waste of time, but he did it anyway. If speed didn't work then raw power might tip the scales of their deadlock.

This only made the wistful, deranged, and sightless man happier for some reason.

A wave of nostalgia filled Usui. He couldn't see the fire of Hiei's flaming sword with his own actual eyes, his stolen Jagan from Jine sealed away with his blindfold, but he felt the heat from blade, giving him goose bumps and raising the hairs behind his neck.

Usui was for all intents and purposes a living corpse with an unbeating heart, but his mind made him feel as though his heart raced and his blood flowed like hot fire through his veins. His aortas. His artificial circulatory system.

To Hiei's surprise, the zombie discarded his impenetrable Tinbe and charged with only his Rochin. Shouting one name all the while like a lunatic.

"DIE, SHISHIO!"

Compared to Soujiro and even Hiei, Usui knew more nuanced sword/spear forms and cutting/stabbing techniques than a simple upward, side, or angled slashes. Fire sword or no fire sword.

Like a drunk brawler picking a fight against a championship boxer. Quickness could be countered by experience against predictability.

The jaganshi attempted his usual modus operandi of making his opponent miss and slash at his afterimage, only for him to appear from behind and slash his opponent to bits instead.

However, it was Hiei who ended up slashing at air and an afterimage that wasn't there.

Did Uonuma heal his wounds already? Was he hiding his true speed all this time...?!

Hiei's Jagan tried to sense and locate where Uonuma was, like always. His sight beyond sight served as his means to activate his tripwire reflexes.

Wait a minute. He couldn't see or sense him. Even Usui's jaki was gone. Hiei's vision had become clouded. 'Dammit...!'

The Rochin from out of nowhere stabbed him in the back and shot him right into the sign saying they were in Kitaoimisaki Park, his youkai blood spewing forth his mouth, nostrils, and even his three eyes.

The illusion faded away like a pile of cherry blossom petals blown away by a strong breeze, and soon reality set in.

As soon as the flames from Hiei's Jaou-En-Satsu Ken (Sword of Darkness Flame) enticed Usui's senses, he lifted his blindfold and unsealed the power of Jine's version of the Jagan.

Apparently, even Hiei's artificial Jagan that Shigure transplanted unto him was susceptible to hypnosis. Along with the eyes he was born with.

The Forbidden Child of the Koorime fell into a boneless heap before his blood pooled from underneath him.

He was too careless.

He believed he was there to take care of injured game, forgetting that an animal's flight or fight instincts made them many times more dangerous than usual.

"That was refreshing," said Usui. "I have to thank you, Jaganshi Hiei. Your flaming sword reminded me what I'm truly fighting for, even after a century."

The maneuver Uonuma did on Hiei was something he wished to do on Shishio himself. Trick him with the Jagan then stab him in the back. S-Level or not, such a sneak attack would kill him.

Uonuma then frowned. Inwardly, he thought, 'I haven't mastered Jine's Jagan yet. I can only use it once a day. Maybe more with the help of the Onmyouji's jaki power up, but he's sealed off from the rest of us Shin Ju right now.'

After a minute of pondering, the taller, bearded man grabbed hold of the diminutive demon by the hair and lifted him up high over his shoulders, his bloodstained Jagan in full view.

"No matter," Usui decided. "I have a new Jagan to play with now. As soon as Gein returns, I'll have him surgically implant your Jagan into the empty socket of my other eye. Then I'll have the power of both the Shingan and twin Jagan at my hands."

Uonuma trembled with barely contained excitement, which woke Hiei up after blacking out from the pain of being stabbed so hard.

"Not even Battousai nor Saito Hajime nor Shishio Makoto nor Tenro nor the Chojin will stand a chance against me once I have both those Jagan in my possession along with my Tinbe and Rochin!"

Just as Uonuma was about to melon-ball Hiei's Evil Eye from its artificial socket, Kurama then arrived, parrying the Rochin away with the Grass Blade.

"...Ah. You must be the Legendary Youko Kurama," said Usui with a sneer. "Udo Jine has told us a lot about you."

***

Kyujimayama Observatory suddenly had an entire building sprout from its lookout. Like a gigantic tree of steel and concrete. An ominous castle made of black spires and iron ore.

A structure with no discernible entrance, doors, or windows.

Earlier, just as another Iwanbo 3.2 was on the verge of turning Daiji Matsudaira into a messy pile of shattered bones, giblets, and mince meat, something changed inside the policeman's soul.

He absorbed the guilt and unfulfilled desires of the Oniwabanshu that left them as earthbound spirits, this energy mixing with the reiki of Daiji's soul and the kenki (swordsman spiritual energy) of Aoshi's warrior spirit.

Pushed into a corner and forced to feed into the negative energy of his comrades, his reiki and kenki started to mix with their youki and jaki.

It produced a whole new kind of energy: A swordsman's energy mixed with a human soul's spirit energy and the bloodlust of a demon.

Reiatsu (Spirit Pressure).

Like Shinobu Sensui's Sei Kou Ki (Holy Light Energy), Daiji produced a different sort of spiritual power worthy of one the gods or shinigami themselves or their version of the police, the Reikai Tokubetsu Boueitai (Spirit World Special Defense Squad).

It was through this volatile cocktail of different energies that Matsudaira was able to produce the spire-filled castle by which he trapped Houji Sadojima, Gein, and their undead army in one huge, tangible prison with his Quest-Class powers to create matter out of spirit energy but without sacrificing his life energy to do so.

And, like the One-Eight-Ten Killer before him, he himself was on the verge of breaking through from A-Level to S-Level by suddenly learning this spirit energy blending technique that took Sensui years to perfect.

Afterwards, a flabbergasted Kuwabara created a portal out of the constricting spire and exited with Officer Matsudaira in tow. He then sealed the portal shut before the Onmyouji, Gein, or their creatures could come out.

They'd finally stopped and sealed Houji from reviving the Shin Ju every time they were beaten. For now.

"You're really something else, Officer Matsudaira. You know that?" said Kazuma.

Catching up with his own shallow breaths, Daiji turned behind him and stared back at his ghostly Oniwabanshu comrades. "I can't let them down. Not again."

Kuwabara himself turned towards where the copper was staring at, in time to see the will o' wisp or blue fireball souls of the dearly departed Oni Gang.

The fireballs then formed back into the transparent human bodies of the four deceased shadow warriors. Hannya. Shikijo. Hyottoko. Beshimi.

With a smile hidden behind his mask but could still be heard from his ghostly voice, Hannya said, "As expected of our Okashira."

From there, Uchiko Shikoku (Sayuri), the ferry-girl of the Northeast Quadrant, arrived and started replenishing their spirit energy, although she pouted as she told Daiji, "I was almost sure you'd die, Ikemen (Pretty Boy). Oh well. Maybe next time?"

To Kazuma, the blonde shinigami instead said, "You, I couldn't care less if you died or not."

"Nobody asked you!" shouted back Kuwabara.

***

Back at the Okushiri Airport...

Sayaka finished up her report to the other Reikai Senshi and then said to them. "So far so good. Kurama-san's plans are coming along smoothly. I've also heard reports from Sayuri-san that Sadojima Houji and Gein had been sealed inside a castle-like structure by Matsudaira Daiji-san."

"As expected of the Okashira!" said Likka, mirroring Hannya's sentiments. "We have this mission in the bag!"

Natsuki then told the young Spirit World Inspector, "Tell Shuichi-sempai, I mean, Minamino-sempai to watch out for that Kuronue person. He may still be out there."

Sayaka tilted her head to the side in askance. "Tell Kurama about Kuronue? Why? Isn't he dead? Didn't you just kill him? Killed two birds with one stone by making Karasu into an energy blast?"

"That's the thing. I'm not sure he's dead." Shinkai shook her head. "Killing him is actually easy. Keeping him dead is hard. It must have something to do with his current powers. He might still be out there, hunting Kurama at this very moment."

The Heisei Era Misao piped up, "Yeah, it was weird. Every time it seemed like you've killed him, another him kept popping up in his place."

The youngest ferry-girl considered their words. "Do you think he's like Toguro Ani? An S-Level, Regent-Class regenerator?"

Natsuki shrugged. "The best way I could describe it is that he's like Schrödinger's Cat. Like he's alive and dead at the same time."

"Maybe even Schrödinger's Bat!" Likka quipped to mostly silence.

***

Kitaoimisaki Park was located in the westernmost corner of Okushiri Island.

The Sea of Japan served as its backdrop. It was designed as an open-air museum of sorts filled with sculptures made by Masayuki Nagare, a modernist Japanese sculptor.

Sculptures that soon turned to dust from the battle that ensued.

"RENGOKU SHOU! (PURGATORY WOUND!)" shouted Hiei as he pummeled the wide-open, distracted Usui with his fists of flame, but the flurry of blows were also countered and neutralized by the damnable Tinbe shield.

It did allow him to get away from his captor, though.

Meanwhile, Kurama had arrived there just in time with the assistance of Sayuri's intel and Kuwabara's Jigen Tou.

Kurama asked for their help after they were done sealing away the Onmyouji with Daiji Matsudaira's evolving powers.

"Let's not risk having Usui use Jine's Jagan again," Kurama told Kuwabara. "Leave and don't look anywhere near his face or eyes, Kuwabara-kun."

"You got it, Kurama," said Kuwabara before making a portal out of there. "Hiei, you fucked up! Now Kurama has to bail you out!" Kazuma jumped right into the portal he made before Hiei could follow him and beat him up for his remark.

Kurama then told Hiei, "Kuwabara-kun's right, you know," which made Hiei seethe even more. "I know how you feel, but sit this battle out for now. Let me handle this while Sayuri-san heals you for now."

As for the scythe-bearing Uchiko "Sayuri" Shikoku, she balefully used her shinigami powers to heal the damage done on Hiei, although the pint-sized youkai didn't look too pleased about it.

"Look, we're both not happy about this, so could you stop glaring at me?" said Uchiko, who actually wanted to see what was next for the death-defying "hunk" known as Daiji Matsudaira instead.

Actually, Kitaoimisaki Park was supposed to be under Botan's jurisdiction (she was assigned the northwest quadrant), but she was too busy guiding Yahiko safely towards the Onmyouji to finish him off, so Sayuri had to do for now.

Usui chuckled, rubbing his chin. "Toguro Ani warned me about you," he said. "You're quite the trickster, I hear. So are you going to fight me now?"

"Yes," Kurama said, picking a rose seed inside his hair and turning it into a rose bloom then finally into the Rose Whip. However, this time around, it was a Rose Whip tied around the handle of the Grass Blade, thus turning it into a Rose Kusarigama (Chain Sickle).

"I hate tricksters like you," confessed Usui. "You remind me of a Saizuchi (his fellow Juppon Gatana member) that could somehow fight. The best way to take care of people like you is to kill you before you can come up with a convoluted scheme to take me down."

"Saizuchi?" repeated Kurama as he attempted to scan through Kenshin's memories given to him through his contact with the Demon Sword. "I don't know who that is." Himura must've never met that particular Ten Sword member.

They then proceeded to fight. Kurama was decently fast but not blindingly fast so like Kenshin Himura, Soujiro Seta, Yusuke Urameshi, or Jaganshi Hiei.

However, like with how Usui countered Hiei's speed with technique, Kurama knew how to methodically place his whip strikes and whiplash to minimize movement and maximize his range.

Also, thanks to his new weighted weapon, he could actually maneuver his whip to bounce off the Tinbe then hook-stab Uonuma from the back, as though he were fishing in the ocean.

What a frighteningly clever demon.

It took full focus and concentration from Usui's Shingan to predict the trajectory of every whip strike and whiplash from all sorts of awkward angles.

Kurama even made sure to attack only from a distance. He patiently waited when he'd commit to his strikes to keep himself from giving away any openings. A true chess master that outwitted even the likes of Feng Xinhai.

Truly irritating. Usui had no time for such protracted nonsense.

Usui let the Rose Chain-Sickle wrap around his Tinbe, which allowed him to pull Kurama towards him and stab him with the Rochin at last. The fox spirit turned human was able to twist his body in time to prevent a full-on stab like with Hiei, as though he was used to these situations.

Kurama grunted and tumbled backwards before ending up kneeling and gasping for breath.

Uonuma spared a sightless glance at Hiei and Sayuri, sneering at the youkai in particular. This was more for Hiei's sake (and mockery) than a need for him to sense the demon by turning his head, since he had heightened senses.

"I've defeated both Kurama and Hiei! The right-hand men of Yomi and Mukuro! Even the best demon warriors that Makai (Demon World) could offer are no match against me!"

However, before Usui knew it, he felt his Tinbe start to crumble, with cracks forming all around it like the time Kenshin hit it with the follow-up strike of the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (Heavens Gliding Dragon Flash).

"W-What? But how...!?"

His fingers then noticed the growth of moss on the shield, which had taken root throughout the battle. "Moss...?"

Kurama said as he stood up, "A rolling stone gathers no moss. But a turtle shield might. Your Tinbe is amazingly sturdy, with it getting stronger the more you break it apart like organic bone. But since I added Makai Moss to it, the tiny cracks and marks it was supposed to heal couldn't heal because the moss roots had filled up their space."

Like moss on an old building, the moss on Usui's Tinbe compromised the strength of the magic item, keeping it from reconstituting itself properly. Making it crumble as the cracks and gaps where bone or shell was supposed to be was instead replaced with insidious moss.

Also, the Rochin strike to Kurama's side was shallower than before, the spear becoming more and more brittle in cadence with the weakening of the Tinbe.

A cold sweat dripped down Usui's beard. Even after he was warned by Toguro Ani to watch out for Kurama's trickery, he still ended up tricked in the end!

"I take it back," said Uonuma, gasping for air even though he didn't really need to breathe. "You don't remind me of Saizuchi after all, Kurama. You're more like Shishio Makoto himself. You're as shrewd as a fox yet you fight like a demon."

He glanced again at Hiei, this time not to mock him but instead because his Shingan sensed the sudden spike in heat from the fire demon, which in turn knocked Sayuri back.

"Eeek!"

"Jaou-En-Satsu...!"

"NOOOO...!"

"KOKURYUHA!"

Multiple Dragons of Darkness Flame engulfed and blasted open the compromised Tinbe like a roasting chestnut, the Demon World Moss burning away along with the rest of the turtle shield as the second-in-command of the Juppon Gatana and Shin Ju practically got nuked in place.

***

Meanwhile, in the sky overlooking the northwest part of Okushiri Island...

Botan flew top-speed towards the Kyujimayama Observatory, exchanging places with Sayuri since that was under the northeast quadrant's jurisdiction.

Right behind her, riding shotgun, was a tired Yahiko Myojin, who was conserving his strength for the battle ahead against the Chojin's so-called conduit of power.

As soon as they got confirmation of where Houji the Onmyouji hid, they flew up in the sky under Kurama's orders while Natsuki herself met up with Likka in order to run interference against the incoming Karasu and Kuronue (a replacement Shin Ju along with Toguro Ani).

Even better, they stopped bothering to hide in the clouds for fear of aerial strikes after both Natsuki and Daiji neutralized their targets.

The Yutaro reincarnation blasted away Karasu (who could make flying Trace Eye bombs) and the Aoshi reincarnation trapped both Gein (Kaoru didn't remember who that was) and Houji (Kaoru heard of him through Sanosuke) inside a sealed, castle-like structure.

Now was the perfect opportunity for them to strike Houji down before finishing off the rest of the Shin Juppon Gatana and rescuing Okushiri from being under siege by the Chojin.

However, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Instead of them going straight to the sealed Houji, the Chojin's top minion apparently decided to go after them instead.

"What the hell is that, Tanuki-chan!?"

The top portion of the castle of spires proceeded to float towards Botan and Yahiko like some sort of alien ship or U.F.O.

The monument to their success had now become the flying tombstone of their imminent doom.

Jaki laser beams then blasted through the windowless structure, creating windows and doors.

"AHHH! Retreat!" screamed Botan while the Kaoru inside her head wondered how ordinary humans from the Meiji Era could take on something as ridiculous as a floating sky fortress.

***

Before the Kokuryuha could completely sublimate or at least carbonize Usui to the point of Gein needing to create a new body for him, Kuronue blinked into existence and pushed him aside in order to take the full brunt of the Demon World equivalent of a nuclear warhead.

"...Kuronue!" Kurama shouted out at the bat demon, concerned with the wellbeing of his former partner-in-crime despite their circumstances.

Then a curious thing happened.

Kuronue turned into a shadow in the street. Only for another him to (re)appear, who also turned into ash. Another him then replaced him, dying from the flames of the black dragon conflagration. Then another. Then another.

The bat demon died probably a dozen more times before Hiei thought it prudent to return the flames into his arm as tattoos, sealing them. Not willing to let Kurama's partner from millennia ago waste more of his demon energy.

After the present Kuronue gasped his dying breath, a new him took his place, completely healthy and unharmed.

What the hell was going on?

Even Kurama was shaken by the proceedings. He had heard Natsuki's explanation about Kuronue's new powers relayed to him by Sayaka's communicator, but even then he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it in action.

Was it instantaneous resurrection powers like with Toguro Ani? Clones, like with Suzaku? Or even hypnotic illusions, like with Likka Ikumi and Jine Udo?

The Kuronue whom Kurama knew that died because of a bamboo trap never had such powers. Granted, he was a much weaker demon around that time. But still.

"Uh... Usui, was it?" said Kuronue to Usui. "You should be more careful when fighting Kurama. He's a sneaky one, you see. Don't let him figure you out or else he'll get you killed. It's rare for him to get overwhelmed, like in the case of that one S-Level Reikai Tantei or the Reikai Boueitai."

Uonuma harrumphed. "Ah, so it's you, newbie. Don't get full of yourself. You were only revived by the Chojin because you're the only guy we know who could deal with Youko Kurama's cunning. Udo Jine was supposed to fill the role of Achilles' heel to Kurama, but he ultimately failed and got killed by him."

The bat demon could only laugh. "Haaai (Yeees). Read you loud and clear, sempai (upperclassman)."

Hiei then told the blonde shinigami, ""You better leave now if you don't want to get hurt."

Uchiko said, "But you're not yet finished healing...! Ah. You know what? Fine. Whatever." She then made her exit using her floating scythe as her means of transportation instead of a long boat paddle.

Kurama and Hiei backed away unto each other's sides while both Uonuma and Kuronue loomed towards them, their weapons at the ready.

The Tinbe had already started to reconstruct itself. The gambit Kurama used to weaken it couldn't be used twice now that Usui was aware of how his trick worked.

"Is that really Kuronue or just another imposter?" Hiei asked Kurama, remembering the Meikai (Nether World) god who impersonated the bat demon to mess with the youko's head.

"I'm afraid that's him," Kurama said, his smile looking more like a wincing grimace. "And yes, he does know me like the back of his hand."

"Hn," said Hiei. "Then the same could be said with you to him, right?"

Minamino turned towards his fire demon companion and smiled. "Yes, of course."

Multiple Kuronue "clones" served as Usui's meat shield as his actual shield continued reconstituting its cracked surface, with it now strong enough to resist the Kokuryuha and perhaps even Demon World Moss.

"What's going on? Is Usui using Jine's Jagan again?" asked Hiei.

"No, I don't think so," said Kurama. "From what I remember, Jine's hypnosis affected one person at a time. I'm not sure if Usui evolved the Jagan enough to affect multiple people or create mirages like with Ikumi Likka's powers."

Hiei grunted. Before them was a scene reminiscent of one of the Dai Shin Kan (Great Priests), whose name escaped him at the moment, multiplying endlessly. 'It was Something-Yatsume who did it,' he thought.

Was multiple cloning the M.O. of the Overfiend?

Was it his way of showing his undead army of Dai Kaijin (Great Monsters) were as unlimited as a pestilence of voracious pests? Like a swarm of locusts or a mischief of rats? Unkillable like an intrusion of roaches?

He even heard from his communicator that the same thing happened with Gein and his Iwanbo meat puppets with the assistance of the Onmyouji, which forced Detective Matsudaira to seal them off inside a windowless, spire-filled prison.

Did they intend to infest the world like a plague, from Kuronue to Suzaku or even the Iwanbos of Gein and the Shikigami of the Onmyouji?

Hiei was sick of this clone nonsense but knew that using up his Kokuryuha wasn't in his best interests.

Kurama murdered several shadow clones of his partner, only to succumb to cuts and slices to his neck, abdomen, and thigh. This reminded him of his fight with the Fake Kuronue. That Meikai God did a convincing impression of his old friend.

But this time he was fighting the real deal, and none of his tricks were working against him.

"Rejoice, Youko!" said one of the Kuronues. "When the Chojin snatched me up from the depths of Hell, he told me he did so because he saw you as a threat. You were the only one who wielded the Demon Sword and used it to boost your powers to X-Level."

Kurama frowned, decapitating that one Kuronue and countless others with his Rose Kusarigama. "Who cares about being X-Level?"

Usui shook his head. "Fool! I'd jump at the chance to be as powerful as the Chojin himself! The only X-Level in existence at present! More powerful than the most powerful of the Demon World! You could've single-handedly killed the Shin Ju if you had that kind of power! Save everyone on the Human World you so love! Why do you deny greatness?"

The Youko inside Kurama chuckled, and for a split second his true form emerged. "What's the fun in that? Something given is taken for granted. Something earned is treasured."

The horde of Kuronues laughed upon hearing this and chorused, "Ah, now that's the Youko I know and love."

Hiei also chopped and burned the Kuronues before him with his Jaou-En-Satsu Ken. The sword had flames that, unbeknownst to him, were reminiscent of Shishio's Homura Dama.

The jaganshi did know enough about the Shin Ju to realize that doing the Sword of Darkness Flame would only entice Usui to fight even with his unfinished Tinbe.

The risk of fighting someone with the power of hypnosis was high, but as long as the brilliant and prepared Kurama had his back, Hiei had no fear against such hallucinations.

Whether they were from Kuronue or Usui.

Kuronue continued, "As one of the Chojin's Dai Kaijin, I then developed newfound abilities to help me take you out in the best way possible, Youko. Knowing you, the only way anyone can defeat you is if they're given unlimited retries to do so. You're a cunning fox. Most people would die a thousand deaths first before they can find an opening to take you down. So I chose to develop that kind of power."

Hiei had to admit that that sounded about right. You did not want the Youko as your enemy.

Using the brief rise of energy elicited by Kuronue's tempting words about gaining X-Level through the Youtou Shinnoken, Kurama turned a single stalk of bamboo into the Hydra Bamboo once more.

This weaponized plant of Kurama's was bamboo on "steroids" that multiplied twice for every stalk you cut down. Just like the legendary Hydra of yore. The only ways to kill it involved overcrowding it with other plants or by burning it to the point of carbonization.

The forest of bamboo pierced through the hearts, lungs, stomachs, muscles, intestines, livers, kidneys, and brains of the nearest gathered Kuronues while the rest scattered away like disturbed flies on shit. Or bats, since he was a bat demon.

"Hiei, NOW! While we still have the chance! Kill Uonuma Usui! I'll figure out a way to deal with Kuronue later."

The jagan user charged with his flame sword, able to keep the Hydra Bamboo at bay with his burning slices and cuts so that he wouldn't get overwhelmed himself by the deadly malignant forest.

He wasn't able to kill the half-healed Uonuma earlier but now he should be able to fare better against the blind man's half-formed turtle shield. His airtight defense earlier was now broken in half.

Usui's supernatural hearing and enhanced reflexes allowed him to block Hiei's 17 fire sword strikes in one second.

However, that one second of blocking was the opening the fire demon needed in order to blast a Dragon of Darkness Flame straight into the night sky before it came crashing from behind Uonuma while he busily defended against the Sword of Darkness Flame.

One of the Kuronues ended up protecting Usui from the rear, his chain scythe weapon turning into an iron mine's worth of steel that melted from the heat of the Black Dragon Spirit Wave Technique, which in turn flooded the bamboo forest with fiery molten metal.

Also, the Tinbe had by now reformed two-thirds of itself instead of only half, with it having a pie-sized opening left on an otherwise complete turtle shell shield.

They were running out of time.

The Spirit World Warriors would be back to square one or worse if the Onmyouji managed to escape Daiji's seal before Yahiko could get to him and neutralize his connection with the Almighty Chojin.

Again, Kurama used the Invasive Kudzu Grass to smother and eat the fire away, making it grow with the same uncontrollable rate as the Hydra Bamboo had over being sliced or physically torn apart.

Kuronue said, "I've seen that technique of yours before as well!"

From there, one set of Kuronues served as gardeners who chopped and diced up the Invasive Kudzu before it could absorb enough energy to become a problem, with them even sacrificing several of their own in the process.

Another set of Kuronues kept the blaze of the growing forest fire alive, filling the air with smoke and flames that burned up the mutated bamboo before it could grow enough to become unstoppable.

Unlike the mindless puppets of Gein and the Nameless Yatsume, Kuronue's phantoms had a frightening hivemind that learned from every mistake they made and adjusted thusly with every new generation of himself.

One Kuronue branched out into multiple versions of himself, thusly exploring infinite possibilities.

The Quantum Kuronue.

Maybe Kurama should've gotten hold of the Demon Sword and finished all the Shin Ju off with one or ten slashes. A potential eleventh slash for the Onmyouji.

But that was the boring way of doing things. And Kurama loved a challenge. How should he solve this puzzle that Kuronue suddenly became?

Besides which, Kurama noticed that Hiei had been hiding one more ace up his sleeve all this time. An ace that the Shin Ju were probably also aware of, but had yet to experience firsthand.

Hiei backed off from Usui's Rochin stab, sheathing his sword and adopting the same battoujutsu or iaido (sword-drawing) stance that Himura Battousai was known for.

The whole park had become a mess. One part of it was composed of burning bamboo and molten metal that had started to harden.

The other part was filled with bits and pieces of kudzu grass reaped by scythes, with several of them allowed by the Kuronues to eat the remaining red and black flames, thus controlling the blaze.

That was one helluva landscaping job Kuronue did.

The army of Kuronues then remerged into one body, awaiting the next attack from Kurama to occur that they'd then dissect and deconstruct.

Once Uonuma's Tinbe was completed, nothing in their arsenal would be able to take down his defensive turtle shield.

The shell had already tasted every last technique they could throw at it, from Demon World Moss to Makai Flames. Everything but the kitchen sink.

Regardless Hiei flickered into action and Kuronue multiplied once more.

Usui lay in wait, his Shingan soaking in all the different noises surrounding him yet his supernatural senses able to distinguish which ones were the Kuronues and which ones were Hiei.

He also screamed, "Hey, Newbie! When you decapitate the fire demon, make sure to keep his Jagan intact! I need that!"

Kurama walked calmly towards the chaos of burning bamboo, chopped kudzu grass, a self-contained forest fire, and what seemed like an army of Kuronue converging into what appeared to the naked eye as empty space but instead was actually a supersonic Hiei.

He then snatched the jewel necklace hanging from the neck of (one of the many clones of) Kuronue.

The youko figured out the new powers that the Chojin bestowed upon Kuronue. All of his clones were the real him.

On a quantum level, Kuronue managed to exist in multiple planes of existence and manifest himself in one reality, allowing some of his selves to die and his other selves to live at the same time in an infinite loop.

It enabled him to interact in one dimension in a multi-dimensional manner, so that he could do one, two, three, or more things at the same time until he succeeded in a given instance, his realities branching forth endlessly as he explored every possibility.

For a schemer like Kurama who tended to finish off opponents with cunning and wit, this new version of Kuronue was an absolute nightmare to handle. He was like Yusuke. Creative. Unpredictable. Chaotic.

An honest demon who'd never attack you from behind but knew every trick in the book because he was an expert in unraveling mysteries, traps, techniques, and lies. He loved figuring out the truth behind everything.

The same bat demon who ended up dying, ensnared by the simplest and most primitive of bamboo traps due to his immense sense of sentiment, which was ironic and truly unbecoming of someone as clever as him.

Kuronue should've known better.

Kurama figured out that the Meikai God who impersonated the Fake Kuronue was a fake with the way he discarded the jewel around his neck.

In the same vein, he knew this Kuronue was the real deal when he... all of him... scrambled for the jewel with a high amount of sentimental value to him.

The seeming dozens—perhaps even hundreds or more—of Kuronues all jumped at grabbing hold of the jewel Kurama threw away in the same manner that the Meikai God Kaiki did.

This was the opportunity Hiei was waiting for.

"Jaou-En-Satsu KOKURYUHA!"

***

Thousands of years ago...

A bloodied young Kuronue cackled with gnashed teeth and a raspy throat at Youko Kurama and his bloodstained claws.

Maimed but not broken. His body scourged with lacerations. His limbs flopping uselessly on the floor.

His clenched teeth gripping the string of a necklace.

The leader of the demon bandits looked at the bat demon with disdain and confusion. The kid managed to steal a necklace from their haul.

"Why are you so happy? That's just a trinket compared to the countless treasures we've gathered," Youko Kurama said with a toss of his silken hair.

On shaky legs, Kuronue rose up, his bloody back on the craggy wall. "If it was so insignificant, you wouldn't have almost killed me to get it back."

Kurama raised his clawed hand, the constant lightning from Makai's dark clouds illuminating his silhouette. "Would you die for that necklace?"

Again, through clenched teeth, Kuronue spoke. "What an honor it would be to do so. Let me die a martyr. Let me be known as the one demon who outwitted the Legendary Youko Kurama."

Kurama changed his mind then and there. He put down his raised arm, turned, and walked away.

"HEY! Are you just going to let me go, you coward?" Kuronue spat, which led to him accidentally dropping the necklace. He then went on a mad scramble for it, willing his trembling arms to catch the jewelry.

"Rest up. Heal your wounds. You're now part of my bandits. Bring my jewel along with you," commanded the youko. "We hunt in the next earth day."

After finally grabbing hold of the jewel, Kuronue demanded, "And if I refuse?"

While still facing away from him, Kurama turned his head and gave the bat demon a sidelong glance. "I don't think you will."

From that point forth, the youko ended up with an ally more valuable than the trinket he stole from him.

***

The Dragons of Darkness Flames killed every last one of the Kuronue doppelgangers with its youki-infused flames from the Demon World burning them to sublimation at an atomic level.

Kurama went down on his knees, exhausted. He'd lost a lot of blood from his war with what seemed like a thousand Kuronues converging at him at once.

However, in the corner of his eye, he could've sworn he saw at least one Kuronue move out of the Kokuryuha's line of sight.

If a Kuronue had survived, then there was at least a one in a hundred/thousand possibility that if Kurama had thrown away that necklace, he wouldn't have gone after it.

Kuronue was learning. Changing. Evolving.

Kurama smiled. At least something good came out of the Chojin's plans to revive their dead enemies/comrades to use against them.

***

To Be Continued...

I based Kuronue's new powers on the version of Kuronue featured in my first-ever fan fiction, "Shonen". Something about the (watered-down for fiction version of the) Many-World Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics with a dash of Schrödinger's Cat thrown into the mix.

The boss battle is fast approaching, but those mini-bosses can be quite the handful!

Ciao, Abdiel

#king #king of fighters #hiei #kurama #yuyu hakusho #幽☆遊☆白書 #rurouni kenshin #るろうに剣心 #demon sword #youtou shinnoken #妖刀真の剣

[alternate-pokemon-next-gen]

Alternate Next Gen (Frontier Brains): Clarice and Cole Onion

Clarice and Cole are the twin children of Acerola and Allister. Clarice and Cole both have a soft spot for Ghost type Pokemon as both of their parents specialize in Ghost type Pokemon, they both felt close to Ghost types and decided that they would train to be Ghost type specialists like their parents. As the two of them are always seen together, they always partake in a double battle and they both work off of each other to the point they’ve been practically unbeatable. They both heard about a new Frontier facility open up and they both wanted to join, Lazarus was happy to let them both in and battle together. Clarice is the older twin, she has more of Allister’s personality, being very shy and fearful of others preferring to be by herself, with her twin brother or with her Pokemon. She’s starting to come out of her shell after being with her fellow Frontier Brains but she’s still as reserved as her father when it comes to being with other people. Cole is the younger twin, he takes more after Acerola when it comes to her personality, he’s friendly and is happy when he’s near kids younger than him. Cole also has a bit of a mischief side, he enjoys playing pranks with his Ghost Pokemon and with his sister. Clarice joins in for fun, both of them enjoys scaring others, especially anyone who challenges them to a battle. Cole is the one who plans the scares while Clarice executes the scare with their Pokemon, they both find great enjoyment in being with Ghost types and with each other. Clarice and Cole are very close to each other, rarely getting into an argument and they rarely fight with each other despite how different their personalities are. There are rumors that the two of them can talk through telepathy but those rumors haven’t been confirmed or denied by the twins, they are however, used to being around anything supernatural and rarely are surprised when something supernatural happens to them.

Clarice has a purple Z-Power Ring and Cole has a black Z-Ring. They both have Ghostium Z and Darkinium Z, Clarice also has Mimikium Z.

Clarice’s Pokemon:

Gourgeist- Gourgeist was originally Cole’s Pokemon but as Clarice wanted to have a Gourgeist, she had traded her Phantump for Cole’s Pumpkaboo which made both of them evolve under the care of their new trainers. Gourgeist is very shy much like her trainer, she also hates how people will think she’ll try to lead them into the spirit world when she has never done something like that before. Gourgeist is also very mischievous, she’ll often join in her trainer’s plan to give their opponents a scare by singing an eerie song and flashing the light on her stomach to scare them, she can also change the facial expression of the face on her stomach however she wants which adds to her scare factor. Gourgeist is the older sister of Cole’s Trevenant, she’s very protective of him and will always make sure he’s okay during a battle. The two of them were very happy when they were caught by twin siblings so they could stay together. Despite Cole not being her trainer anymore, she still enjoys being in his company and spending time with him and his sister. Gourgeist is Super Sized and mostly relies on various tricks during battle.

Caught in a Dusk Ball.

Ability is Frisk.

Moves are Phantom Force, Mystical Fire, Power Whip, Destiny Bond, Nasty Plot, Hex, Trick Room, Double Team, Seed Bomb and Confuse Ray.

Alolan Marowak- Clarice had caught her Alolan Marowak after he had evolved and while she was in the Alola region with her family, she had trained with him to help him evolve into an Alolan Marowak at night. As a Cubone, he was very lonely and would always cry when he was afraid or if Clarice wasn’t with him. Clarice had comforted him a lot when he was a Cubone, making her the only person he was close to and wouldn’t cry near. After he had gotten more comfortable with training and battling, he had opened up and had become more independent than when he was first found by Clarice. He had evolved at night while they were in the Alola region, despite having the chance to leave and take care of himself he instead wanted to stay with Clarice as she had trained and raised him when he was still a Cubone, Clarice agreed and caught him. Marowak is a loyal and brave Pokemon, he always makes sure to protect his trainer from harm as a thank you for how much he helped him when he was still young. Marowak is also a bit possessive over Clarice, which was something that first occurred when he was a Cubone as he didn’t want his “mama’s” attention away from him and while he wasn’t as bad as when he was younger, he still has traits of being possessive when he sees a boy talking or flirting with Clarice and he will quickly whack the boy over the head with his club. Marowak’s battle style has him rely on using his bone to block attacks as well as using fire dancing to dodge attacks, making him unpredictable.

Caught in a Dusk Ball.

Ability is Cursed Body.

Held Item is a Thick Club.

Moves are Shadow Bone, Will-O-Wisp, Bone Rush, Flame Wheel, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Shadow Ball, Brutal Swing, Focus Blast and Flare Blitz.

Mimikyu- Clarice caught Mimikyu after she had completed her mother’s trial, she found Mimikyu on a shelf and mistook him for a plush toy but was happy to have him either way and managed to catch him. Mimikyu is very shy when it comes to meeting others, he only really warmed up to his trainer and his trainer’s family as they all were nice to him and they understood him. Mimikyu enjoys sewing in his free time and will often make different disguises for himself instead of just Pikachu, he’s always happy when his costumes are complimented by others by how well made they are. Mimikyu does have a very bad temper that comes up when someone breaks the neck of any of the costume he makes and he gets even more upset when the costumes he works hard on rips while he’s in a battle, he’ll often wear a replacement costume until the ripped one is fixed by his trainer. Despite what many people think, Mimikyu gets along with Lazarus’ Pikachu and the two of them are very close friends and there’s no bad blood between them, the two of them even train together when they aren’t busy. Mimikyu doesn’t have much of a plan when it comes to battling, but he does try to be as sneaky as possible when it comes to battling against anyone else.

Caught in a Dusk Ball.

Ability is Disguise.

Moves are Double Team, Shadow Sneak, Play Rough, Shadow Claw, Drain Punch, Phantom Force, Thunderbolt, Copycat, Dazzling Gleam and Hone Claws. 

Cole’s Pokemon:

Trevenant- Trevenant was originally Clarice’s Pokemon but as Cole wanted to have a Trevenant, he had traded his Pumpkaboo for Clarice’s Phantump which made them both evolve under the care of their new trainers. Trevenant is a sweetheart despite how he looks intimidating, he has a childlike wonder about him that was there when he was a Phantump. Trevenant is kind to Pokemon that dwell in forests and actively gives them any berries he grows or finds while he’s on a walk, he also is very protective of forests and will protect them even if he gets injured or burned in the process. Despite how kind he can be, he still enjoys playing pranks on people with his trainer and will often use his ability to control plants and roots to give people a scare, especially if someone is threatening the forest. Trevenant is the younger brother of Clarice’s Gourgeist, he’s very protective of her and will always make sure she’s okay during a battle. The two of them were very happy when they were caught by twin siblings so they could stay together. Despite Clarice not being his trainer anymore, he still enjoys being in her company and spending time with her and her brother. Trevenant mostly relies on his strong attack as well as moves to stall his opponents while he’s battling, he also figured out how to counter Fire types by using Will-O-Wisp to absorb the Fire type energy.

Caught in a Dusk Ball.

Ability is Frisk.

Moves are Will-O-Wisp, Leech Seed, Shadow Claw, Horn Leech, Destiny Bond, Phantom Force, Ingrain, Rock Slide, X-Scissor and Giga Impact.

Cursola- Cole had caught his Cursola when she was a Corsola. Cole had spotted his Galarian Corsola while he was in Galar with his family, he found her to be cute and managed to catch her. As a Corsola, Cursola was very shy when she was spotted by others as she thought that people would freak out if they saw how she looked. When she saw that Cole wasn’t freaked out by her appearance she was happy that he liked her and caught her. During her time with Cole, she would do her best to train with him and his other Pokemon. She does often miss how she looked when she was a normal Corsola but after being with Cole long enough she had grown to accept herself in her new form which is how she managed to evolve into Cursola. As a Cursola, she no longer cares what others think of her and is happy to battle for her trainer who cares for and loves her. Does her best during battle and is happy when she manages to win for her trainer, she works well with everyone on Clarice’s team and is glad when she’s partnered with one of them. Cursola relies on her special moves as well as using Reflect and Harden to boost her defense and weakening her opponent’s attack with Strength Sap.

Caught in a Dusk Ball.

Ability is Perish Body.

Moves are Ancient Power, Curse, Strength Sap, Mirror Coat, Reflect, Harden, Giga Drain, Shadow Ball, Hex and Meteor Beam.

Golett- Cole caught Golett when he was on a walk with his sister. Golett had let himself be caught by Cole as he was looking for a trainer but most people had passed him up for a different Pokemon so he was happy when Cole had sent out his Trevenant to battle him and was happy to be caught by Cole. Golett is an easy going Pokemon that’s okay with pretty much anything that happens around him, he’s also eager to please and he does his best in battle so that he could earn his stay with Cole. Deep down he’s worried that if he doesn’t do his best in Cole’s eyes, he’s going to get released and replaced by another Ghost type so he takes a lot of time to train himself to be as strong as he can as a Golett. Golett doesn’t like the thought of evolving as he wants to be strong as he is, he also doesn’t want to be as tall as his evolved form is as he’s afraid he could accidentally hurt his trainer and his trainer’s sister, so he holds onto an Everstone to keep himself from evolving. Golett’s battle strategy is to use various punching moves as they get boosted by his ability.

Caught in a Dusk Ball.

Ability is Iron Fist.

Moves are Shadow Punch, Rock Polish, Focus Punch, Stomping Tantrum, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Phantom Force, Heavy Slam, Iron Defense and Mega Punch.

#Pokemon #Next Gen #Pokemon Next Gen #Clarice Onion #Cole Onion #GhostShipping #Frontier Brains #Fan Kids #Pokemon Fan Kids

[madamhatter]

act 0. observer’s notes your name is….. occult, the remnants of antiquated ‘ichor’ theory meta.

Rugged and torn leather cover, its moss green color held a title that most eyes wouldn’t be able to translate; if anything, the words read more like markings as opposed to a formal and recognizable alphabet.

- ACT. ????, outlandish occultic occupancy. 

*For clarity purposes: Read ichor as having two forms: its material concentration (used primary by machinery nowadays) and its emitted energy emitted that has flow and connection to living matter and reality. 

At pivot of magical ingenuity was the equally technologically breaking and devastatingly powerful Order and ichor-infused knights. While the prestige of the Order’s influence has long since dissipated from dominant culture of Topaxi alliance, and the fallout of the empire it originated from, they remain the most commonly recognized basis and symbol of the empire’s advancements into the future. 

However, the development of ichor manipulation and human subjects is one that rests upon a foundation of modern and scientific findings and research into the stability, security, and utility of ichor. expanded much into the golden era of the Empire. Though, what is imperative is to realize that all foundations to greatness once preceded another that would soon be lost to time. It is the larger bank underneath the modernity of the times. A long since recognized and theoretical unbound.

This time period we will formally refer to as the “antes de mecanism” or AM for short.

During AM, salvaging and refining ichor wasn’t a conquest but a partnership between both unrivaled and untouchable power and humans. The usefulness and depth of ichor to be a human enhancer  hadn’t been recognized during this time; it was seen an untapped and respected entity of sorts, only those capable of respecting and devoting time, blood, sweat, and every mortal fiber of their person to it would be able to be ‘granted permission’ to use it. 

Most of what can be harnessed wasn’t completely possible without the creations of a language. Just in the way that humans have created speech and scripture, accumulating each utterance and reference to have meaning in a common symbol, humans developed a language around magic. This will be referred to as raíz.  Just like common languages differed, as did raíz, as the concentration, nature, and flow of ichor varies differently throughout the world and has more specifics to how it must be used.

However, the bridge between ichor and humans wasn’t completely raíz, as it was only a human equivalence of translating the true nature of ichor and how to conduct it. Under raíz is the universal laws of ichor, all of which cannot be given phonetics and cannot be pronounced normally like how a human would practice their common language. 

Understanding this true nature meant to coast around the immaterial, uncontrollable reality that existed between planes ; it is paper-thin and invisible to humankind. It exists between the boundaries of all life forms and the planet they inhabit. It is the subspace that ichor naturally travels and the same space that ichor, at its core, can be channeled through.  

This language does exist by human hands, but it was written by ichor itself. Devotees of acquiring knowledge, known as magi, were able to create writing instruments that could temporarily channel ichor at its raw state. Onto paper, the instrument would begin writing and creating shapes for whatever object, person, other material forms were nearby. Each material form is known to have a glyph. There are variations of glyphs that exist to indicate actions, movement, and change too. One can then create a unique sigil through combining glyphs that behaves like a pre-coded command. 

Access to glyphs and knowing of its existence was very far and few in-between. Most populations relied on raíz and were only aware of the secondary language. 

As a sword to its knight, as too was a grimoire/tome, scroll, and tablet were to the magi. These were the tools necessary to exchange knowledge and glyphs, as well as use them. It is required for them to use these tools. Other variations existed but they weren’t as safe. In current times, and MUCH earlier in this age, most of these artifacts were destroyed. As to why they were, well, it was considered mainly ‘unsafe practice’ and ordered to be destroyed by major empires. However, this can very well be a ploy to remove knowledge and power from civilians and keep such power available only for the elite and wealthy. 

Only very few ancient writings remain and all are written in these dead languages (sometimes all in regional raíz , glyphs, or a combination of the two) that a normal person would find useless/unable to be understood. It’s basically the equivalent of them seeing chicken scratch and nonsensical scribbles.. 

In the time before mechanical ichor handling was possible, there were several forms created that were attempts to harbor its power. These would be the ‘lost arts’ that varied by culture, location, etc. 

Lost arts would include, but are not limited to: 

Possession of a cemi on the person, acting as a concentration and anchor for ichor. This used either raíz or glyphs -- sometimes both (which is possible to mix in order to cast magic). Considered one that has greatest outcome for the type of spell casting. However, it is the most demanding on the subject and tends to greatly reduce their life expectancy. Lost texts have also described a personality shift in the person and distinct change in features like having a ‘glassy look’ in their eyes. It is almost as if the original life had been sapped out of the body in place of the magic. 

Sundials that have raíz inscribed around the round base, all of which are related to the unique function and purpose of its wielder. It is one, however, that isn’t transportable and has to be fixed into the ground. Depending on the time and weather, and where it shadows landed, was considered the most opportune time to partake in particular magical spells that is heightened by ichor. This method was popular mostly for artisans, blacksmiths, and other careers that had a ‘home base’ for work from. 

Tattooing transmuted ichor into one’s body, allowing them a range of casting possibility and ability to bend elements around them. This technique used glyphs. The particular ‘hot spots’ to tattoo would be centered around the five senses (face, hands and feet). This one fell out of fashion as quickly as it was introduced due to the horrific ramifications of overexerting ichor through an unprepared and unfit subject. It ended with human combustion, sudden suffocation/collapse of the lungs, spontaneous and rapid growth and decaying of limbs, etc. 

Ichor, as previously mentioned, was portrayed by most to have its distinct characteristics that placed emphasis on the the power it has over people, rather than the people having power over it. Alluded to in the ‘lost arts,’ there were many effects for those who tried to overwhelm themselves with power and tried to exploit the capability with ichor. It is by the fact that ichor carries an immaterial presence and its energy exists the spaces of reality and acts as a conduit between living matter and magic. A space that not humans do not naturally exist in, but only around it. Avarice can lead to negative consequence, especially for beings not made to survive in that plane. 

Miasma refers to the repercussions of ichor usage/magic casting. Back in AM, the term specifically referred to the repercussions of unregulated and overabundant that ichor would do to the ‘soul’ of a being. It’s commonly depicted in tales and art as a seed; it is a corruption that slowly reveals itself like a plant growing inside the person’s body that takes a toll on their physical form. Miasma does not appear the same for everyone during that time, but there will always be the fact that the affected areas revolve around where the magic is concentrated (hands, eyes, ears, mouth, chest, etc). In the case of which ichor was used for internal improvements, for example,  the flesh could have discoloration over vital organs.

"Depues de mecanism” (DM) finds that miasma can be referred to any repercussion that ichor has on a subject. This extends away from only being about ichor usage/magic casting. . 

There isn’t a supernatural element or ‘corruption’ theme surrounding it anymore, as science theorize it as the body reacting to overexposure to ichor. Instead of corruption, however,  it is now referred to as ‘rot’ by common people and not all supernatural connections were cut from it.  

Modern medicine has helped those who suffer from miasma with things like sedatives, pain relievers,  psycho-pharmaceuticals, or any other drugs to specifically alleviate symptoms. Miasma, in this case, isn’t seen as permanent for those generally exposed to it .

However, not all miasma can be handled with drugs. Those capable of ichor usage/magic casting* still suffer permanent psychological and physical scarring and alterations to their psyche/body. Thankfully, these cases aren’t as extreme and deadly as they were back in the day. 

( *coming up soon w/ explanation )

In the current state of the world, most countries under the Topaxi alliance have forgotten. Most instead look towards more updated and published works, a great amount unaware of the antiquated groundwork. One would find that in reference to ichor, most would only reference creations and discoveries made during DM and only a handful of AM creations (ie: sundial) that existed at the end of AM/beginning of DM. 

Current countries under the Topaxi alliance long have forgotten these customs and practices. However, it is commonly found in smaller countries that pose no militant threat but get ichor concentrations. Similarly, however, a lot of the theories and practices have long since out-of-fashion and magic casting isn’t as typical or sought-out anymore (unless in cases of specializations, academics, and high-ranking officials).

However, in both the Topaxi alliance and remaining countries, there are still remnants.  Language integration has happened in Topaxi that has combined raíz into local dialect.  The same could be applied for glyphs, but they are only used as symbols to refer to particular buildings, and guilds. These languages do not possess any power unless if they’re being used by the trained magi or certain people.

These ‘certain people’ were once the subject of debates for scholars and researchers during AM. The future that was theorized for them, however, was lost to history. 

The innate, those who were adept in ichor channeling without needing to dedicate themselves to academics or use glyphs and raiz to use magic. Innates were considered the ‘path of the future’ as their bodies are naturally possessing abilities to have ichor flow through them (not that they are born with it, but think of them as prisms). This, in itself, is a mutation; they transcend the need to use the magic languages to cast spells, do not need spells to use ichor, and their ability is usually naturally occurring and always active.  

This ability is extremely rare and the chances of having it if there’s an extended family history of ichor exposure (or genetics, give or take). The innate usually have one of these senses altered by the ichor and provides them a unique ability to interact with living matter and reality. Sometimes, the ichor allows them enter/see/hear/talk in ways humanly impossible. The innate, as well, can naturally translate/read/understand glyphs.  Raíz is a different case, given that it varies per region and still functions in the sanctions of human languages. It has to be learned just like any other language. 

Tose who are innate are often not aware of such a mutation or even the title they possess. All information are kept by magi and made exclusive to them. It is without saying, however, that these gifts are often kept quiet about and are not usually shared with anyone. Tales of those naturally controlling ichor are usually ones that end with disappearances, short lives, and worse fates. These are stories that not all know, but it is the risk of standing out that would usually keep others on the alert and secretive.  

The innate, versus the acquired (anyone else who can channel ichor/cast magic), have uncharted possibilities and growth available to them. And it is the fact that they’re unbound that makes them terrifying, even profitable. 

However, in the rise of new history awaiting to be made, the remainders of the past have not always slumbered peacefully in its death. The innate still linger in a society that will soon be met with tides of great change in the city of Topaxi. 

A once ancient civilization, perched upon a sky-breaking mountain, is now home to another presence. But the spirit of the ancestors have never left. All are bound to the past and all are as capable to be subjected to meet the phantoms past in present day. 

“I felt that..” A shiver down their spine, a phantom sensation embracing their mortal coil. They turn their cheek, locks of silver dancing in the autumn breeze, eyes wide and intent on discovering the source.

“Whatever that was.” 

The phantasm arts, will it make its undead return? 

NOTES:  This only one school of practice (and theory) used to understand and channel ichor. Not all countries and cultures would have the same developments surrounding ichor. (This is basically me saying this isn’t cemented and more pathways are available and you can write your own interpretation.) 

Topaxi residents will not be aware of this extensive history. This should be considered something entirely scholarly and academic that is branched from others. Those from smaller countries (as described before) would have familiarity with the customs, but not the complete story. 

Yon mentioned this before, but magic is STILL not at all common with people. It is completely rare and the same can be said for ye ol’ days. It was just more accessible to the lower classes and was vastly present in conversation (but not practiced). 

#( verse: ¿cual tu vas a ser? dentro del espejo ves; ¿algiuen más en ese cuerpo? | yni ) #( in which we learn about the eldest ; headcanons ) #[ I got plenty of world building hcs for yni + hcs for locations/npcs scattered ; might as well make a focused post ] #long post tw #long post

[merelliahallewell]

Heartsbane Magic: Ruin

While Soultwisting may be the most vile magic the Heartsbane perform, and Thornshaping the most corruptive to the land, the third type, known as Ruin, is the most dangerous and present threat to the Order of Embers and the people of Drustvar. Should the witches flee Kul Tiras, then it is this vile magic that will first be turned upon the rest of the world.

Ruin magic is the direct usage of power drawn from Thros in an offensive or defensive manner. It is used to conjure bolts of power, create powerful curses, or even inscribe runes and marks onto their enemies. To one untrained magically, casters wielding Ruin present the largest threat of all. 

Major spells are listed below- this is not a complete list, but some of their most-used weapons.

Ruinous Bolt - This bolt is the primary offensive spell. A gathering of dark power drawn from Thros, it can sear flesh like a flame but possesses no heat, only a cold emptiness. This evocation can be used for a number of sources- from blasting open a door to flinging at an enemy. It is the most multi-purpose spell in their arsenal.

Counters: A shield or buckler made of steel or monelite can survive hits by several of these blasts- but the magic will eventually break through it. Silver will dissipate these bolts, but I would not advise trying to destroy them with a silvered blade unless one had no other choice. A poorly-timed swing could mean death. Silence the caster as soon as possible.

Dread Bolt - This spell appears to simply be a shadowy version of the Ruinous Bolt at first- but the moment it reaches its target the difference is made clear. It has the ability to send most people fleeing in terror, inducing feelings of pure and utter terror in the target. 

Counters: If you see a witch flinging one of these at you, dodge as best you can. If you cannot, steel your mind and heart. Only those of the strongest will can withstand the impulses one of these causes- the desire to flee and turn one’s back to the enemy. Try and put solid objects between you and the caster if possible, as they dissipate upon impact with one. 

Runic Mark - This ability is one of the more painful used by the Heartsbane. Selecting a cursed Drust rune, they reach out over a distance of ten feet or less and begin to etch it into the very skin of their victims. This etching infuses the rune with dark energy. Each moment the rune etches into them, it causes incredible pain- and slowly saps their body of vitality. It cannot be removed save for magic. If dispelled, the rune explodes with dark magic, causing pain to all nearby but removing the effect on the original target. 

Counters: If this is used on you, retreat immediately unless you wish to see your vitality drained away as fodder for a witch’s spells. The effects can be disrupted with silver being held near the etching, but it can only permanently be dispelled by a magic user or a priest of some sort- who should be warned about the effects beforehand. 

Dark Mark - Similar to the previous mark, this dark rune is etched into the skin from a medium distance- up to ten feet. Once etched into the target’s skin, it begins to sap their strength from them. Their attacks are weakened to nothing, and they lose the ability to continue on. This has no effect when dispelled, but will persist until action is taken. 

Counters: Disengage immediately if you find the dark mark being etched upon you. Try hard to break their line of sight and foil the spell, for the further the etching continues, the more strength you will lose. 

Aura of Dread - This magic is akin to the Dread Bolt but deployed in the form of an aura wrapped around a witch. Consider it akin to a paladin’s aura- affecting all those nearby save for other witches. All those within a five-to-ten foot radius will feel an unsettling feeling in the pit of their stomach that builds further the more they stand near the caster. Those within five feet feel absolute terror and the need to flee. This aura is easy to spot, as it is like shadowflame rolling off the witch’s form. 

Counters: The magic feeding the aura must be disrupted. The spell itself is constantly woven from the witch’s primary effigy. If that is destroyed or moved more than one hundred yards away from the caster, the aura will dissipate. Only a silvered weapon or projectile can pierce the aura if the effigy cannot be reached. 

Do not close into melee range until the smoke evaporates. 

Aura of Apathy - This aura appears more akin to the ruinous bolt in color- taking on the general appearance of the Throsian magic rather than the shadowy or sickly hues of the other auras. It has two effects- first, it dampens any magic cast within a ten yard radius that is not Throsian in nature. Spells are more difficult to cast and they are more likely to fail, as the death magic chokes them out. Secondly, those closer to the caster are struck with an intense apathy towards everything- life, death, danger- none of it matters in the face of what their mind tells them is the certain death coming.

Counters: The magic feeding the aura must be disrupted. The spell itself is constantly woven from the witch’s primary effigy. If that is destroyed or moved more than one hundred yards away from the caster, the aura will dissipate. Only a silvered weapon or projectile can pierce the aura if the effigy cannot be reached. 

If you or any around you are struck by this aura, aftereffects of a lesser nature may persist for several days after. See a healer using the Holy Light to dispel whatever is left, lest they suffer needlessly.

Darkened Lightning - This is among the most powerful spells a wielder of Throsian magic can use, and the most likely to kill an attacker instantly. It is unknown how this magic works, but it has torn holes in the bodies of seasoned inquisitors when used on them. 

Darkened Lightning is raw destructive power from Thros- but it is difficult to control once cast, and appears to be incredibly draining to do so. Most witches cannot handle more than two or three sustained blasts or channelings of it. 

It is believed this magic can be reflected or redirected using mirrors. 

Counters: Extremely few. This spellwork can even defeat most holy wards- only a proper casting of Power Word: Barrier could hope to deflect or deter a blast of this lightning. It can blast through wood and thin layers of stone. If one is facing known wielders of this spell, it would be prudent to bring a mirror shield with runes of protection and strength inscribed upon it. If such a shield cannot be obtained, then a polished, reflective surface backed with silver may have some chance of turning the blasts in another direction, though likely it will not hold for very long. 

#Drustvar #Order of Embers #Heartsbane Coven #witchery #Witch hunter #dark magic #Kul Tiras #Thros