#they never end well but the idea of a person delusionally clinging to the hope of them both making it just | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yanderecrazysie · 3 years

Note

Hii Bestie !!

I wondering if I could request the Yandere Alphabet for Bokuto if you haven’t done that already.

💜

HEY BESTIE! I'd love to! Bokuto reminds me so much of an overeager puppy- it's precious-

Bokuto Koutarou (Haikyuu) -The Yandere Alphabet

🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉

Warnings: yandere themes, slight mentions of marking and spanking

A is for Affection: How do they show their affection for their darling? How often do they show it? 💖 Bokuto is the epitome of affectionate. This boy wants to cuddle, kiss, hold hands, WHATEVER he can do 24/7. 💖 Although he'll want to cuddle against you and hold you bone-crushingly close, this boy can also get a little rough. His kisses can be kind of bruising and he'll want to mark up your neck a lot. B is for Blood: How messy are they willing to get for their darling? Why? 🔪 Although I can picture Bokuto being willing to fight anyone who wants to hurt you or take you away, I actually can't see him trying to kill anyone. He's pretty sure he's the best of the best, so it's not like any of those other guys can steal you away from HIM! C is for Care or Cruelty: How would they treat their darling when they kidnap them? Would they mock them? 💔 Bokuto wouldn't mock you. In fact, he'd just be over the MOON about having you with him. You'd be smothered in kisses and crushed in his hugs. He's not going to want to make you feel bad! 💔 Bokuto is the BEST at taking care of you! He knows everything you love and he's willing to get/do ANYTHING just for you! D is for Delusion: How delusional are they when it comes to their darling? Do they believe their darling loves them? 💭 Bokuto is very, very delusional. Like, this boy sees a perfect future with you and he has no doubts that you're both going to get there soon. 💭 He's like the greatest??? You couldn't turn HIM down! He's the amazing ace- Akaashi thinks he's great so you do too! Right? Of course! E is for Expose: How much of their heart do they bear to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling? How much time will it take to trust them? 💧 Bokuto doesn't shut up about his feelings. Going into emo mode? Check. Whining about how much he needs your attention? Check. Letting you know just how much he adores you? Check. 💧 They talk about being an open book but Bokuto is a book you'd want to CLOSE after a while. Like seriously- he. Won't. Shut. Up. F is for Fight: How would they react if their darling fought back? 👊 Cue "kicked-puppy" noise. He's going to stare up at you with wide, watering eyes. You've gotta be completely heartless if you don't feel the TINIEST bit of guilt when you see his heartbroken expression. 👊 "I-it's okay (Y/n), I forgive you, I love you, please don't fight me, please..." he's all but begging you, even after you stop fighting. He's clinging to you and sobbing into your shirt. 👊 Your flailing fists and feet aren't actually going to do any damage to that buff man but just the idea of fighting against him leaves tons of emotional scars in your wake. G is for Guilt: What would it take for them to feel guilty about their actions? Or do they feel guilty from the start? 😔 Bokuto feels bad that he went to the extremes. He KNOWS it's so so so wrong... but it feels so so so right. He LOVES you and that's the best thing, right? That makes up for everything, right? 😔 He won't ever regret his love for you though. If he has you in the end it'll be worth everything and more! No regrets, WOOO! H is for Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them? 🔥 Bokuto can be a little... well... his emotions are extreme and can flip quickly. So if he's angry enough, you could get hurt. Like, he's not going to seriously injure you, but he'll be rough. You'll be shaking in your shoes for sure. I is for Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling? 👩‍❤️‍👨 If Bokuto has his way, you'll be his pretty little wife and mother of a bunch of his runts. This boy will want at LEAST 3 kids. Like I picture him being that "cool dad" that roughhouses with his little boys and carries them on his back and just jokes around with them. He's practically a giant kid himself sometimes. J is for Jealousy: How easily do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope? 💢 Bokuto gets jealous if your attention is taken away from him. Platonically, romantically, whatever. If someone's

taking your attention and it's not him, he's gonna be PISSED. 💢 Suddenly, Bokuto is 10x needier than he's ever been. He's trying to catch your gaze, interrupting your conversation, clinging to you, etc. 💢 I mean, this boy will get jealous of a video game or TV show or book you're invested in. Not just humans. Animals too... Your attention should be solely on him, ya know! K is for Kidnap: How would they go about kidnapping their darling? How much do they plan it out? 🔒 Bokuto doesn't plan- it just kind of happens. He knew he wanted to take you away from all those attention hogs (ironic) and keep you with him and him only, but he didn't really THINK about it. It just kinda happened. 🔒 Okay, but seriously, I think he might even be more surprised than you when he kidnaps you. Like this guy's just kinda like "WOAHHH This isn't a dream? I actually did this? HEY HEY HEY" L is for Love Letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling? 💌 One moment you're living your normal life, the next moment there's Fukurodani's ace cooing at you and you forgot to say your last goodbyes to that normal life you'll never see again. 💌 I don't think Bokuto knows how to court, to be blunt about it. Like, Akaashi might try to give him some pointers ("You're overwhelming her." "Give her room to breathe." "Try never saying that again. Ever." "Stop, you're crushing her.") but Bokuto's pretty sure he's got this in the bag. M is for Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they acted before? 🎭 Bokuto's emotions are so over the map that no one's going to really tell that he's kind of losing it. Akaashi might be able to tell, but no one else will notice a difference. 🎭 Other than his overwhelming happiness and affection for you. I mean, you'd have to be blind and deaf to not realize Bokuto has a huge crush on you. He's not even remotely subtle. N is for Naughty: How would they punish their darling? 🚓 Bokuto might try to isolate you a bit but if you make him angry- like really piss him off- I think he'd literally just bend you over his lap and spank you. Like, maybe that's weird, but I can really picture him trying to brat-tame you a bit. O is for Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling? What rights can be earned with time and trust? 📜 Although Bokuto's kind of overbearing and suffocating, as long as you're in his line of sight and, preferably, being touched by him, you can do whatever you want. Which... isn't a lot when he's hanging on you 24/7. P is for Patience: How patient are they with their darling? 🕊️ Patience is not one of Bokuto's virtues, unfortunately. If you take too long in the bathroom, he'll come bursting through the door. Like, this boy can't stand a full 5 minutes away from you. Having privacy is not realistic, so don't get your hopes up. Q is for Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on? 🏃‍♀️ If you die Bokuto will go into emo mode for the rest of his life. He will be completely broken without you. He's so lost without you. You know that story where the dog waited by his owner's grave for the rest of his life? That's Bokuto. 🏃‍♀️ "Escape"? Yeah, no. Bokuto gets it, you wanted a little freedom, but it's time to come home, okay? You've already had more than enough time to yourself, so he'll come find you. And once he does, you're sure as hell never leaving again. R is for Rage: How do they act when angry? How do they calm down? 👿 "Explosive rage" is the best way to describe Bokuto's anger. You CANNOT calm him down, so it's best to book it and barricade yourself in a room until he cools down. 👿 If he's mad enough, he could hurt you, so stay the fuck away from him. He'll be throwing and breaking things and just generally yelling his head off. Again, barricade yourself in a room, it's honestly your only hope. S is for Soulmate: What made them fall in love with their darling? How did they first meet? When did they realize they loved their darling? 💍 Bokuto truly is a

love-at-first-sight kind of guy, but he fell in love with you even more as he got to know you. You either met at one of his games or in some sort of shared class. I think that you would have stood out to him in a crowd. T is for Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves? 😭 Each tear falling down your face is another crack in Bokuto's heart. He really does want you to be happy and he can't understand why you aren't. His solution is to just hold you tight until you calm down, which may not help all that much... U is for Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

👌 Bokuto is already kind of different from the others in the way that he's not afraid to put you in your place and he has plans for the future that don't really require your cooperation. He's not changing his mind, no matter how strong your feelings are one way or the other.

👌 Not to mention, he's SUPER clingy. You can't pry him off of you. There's a strong possibility that you'll end up being very, very miserable with Bokuto. He loves you but he isn't willing to compromise or meet halfway on anything. His love is kind of selfish... more so than the average yandere.

V is for Visit: Would they allow anyone else to visit their darling? Do they trust their darling to talk to their loved ones (in person, on the phone, etc.) or not at all?

🧳 Akaashi will be over often. Like, I'm not even going to pretend like Bokuto will doubt his BFF. I really don't think Akaashi will be there to save you, unfortunately...

🧳 But Akaashi doesn't get to touch you. Sorry. You belong to Bokuto and, any attention you give Akaashi, you better give 10 times that to Bokuto.

W is for Weakness: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

❌ You're lucky enough if you can detangle yourself from Bokuto's grip for more than 5 minutes, but, if you do, you can use very few things against him anyways. He's nothing but determined.

❌ If you're delicate and careful about it, you may be able to take advantage of his emotions. Fake sadness to gain his pity or get him so happy that he'll be less likely to deny your requests.

X is for Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

🛐 He's a bit of a worshipper, but not the classic type. He ADORES you and thinks you're absolutely perfect but... he doesn't exactly put your needs above his own. Like I said, he's a bit selfish.

Y is for Yearning: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap? 😍 It depends on how receptive you are to him. If you're trying to distance yourself from him and keep your freedom (or you just aren't interested in him that way), he's going to snap FAST. You'll find yourself in his house before you can say "HEY HEY HEY". 😍 Otherwise, if you start dating him, it'll depend on if you realize the toxicity of your relationship. If you try to break up with him or loosen his suffocating grip, you're in the same boat as if you denied him in the first place. Z is for Zero Tolerance: What is the thing that always makes them snap? What things will they not allow their darling to do under any circumstances? 0️⃣ Leave him. If you deny his affection and love, he will not be happy at ALL. He wants to wrap you up in his arms and never let go. And he really doesn't care if you don't want that. 🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣 THAT TOOK SO LONG I'M SO SORRY- I feel like I portrayed him to be a little worse than he is- he really does love you!

#yandere #yandere haikyuu #yandere bokuto #yandere alphabet #haikyuu!!#bokuto

143 notes · View notes

ohmysparkle · 3 years

Text

🌙 Part III

🌙 Pairing: Jung Jaehyun (NCT) x Reader, Johnny Seo (NCT) x Reader

🌙 Genre: Angst, Soulmate au

🌙 Word count: 2.1K

🌙 Warnings: none in this chapter

🌙 Series Masterlist

🌙 Note: This series was sparked by an ask from my first account. It’s been collecting dust for a few months, but I’ve always had the intention of finishing it!! It’s been slightly rewritten.

🌙 Tag List: @justineasian @cookydream

Johnny glided between the shelves of 7/11, your 7/11. At the moment he held up a bag of savory chips and caramel popcorn, discerning them in an attempt to guess which one you’d prefer. What was your favorite ice cream flavor? Did you like milky or dark chocolate? What about gummies?

But the question that bothered him most was if he should be doing this in the first place. Wasn’t it all a bit… much?

Nah… he was just being friendly. Maybe he wanted to be more, did this give you too strong of an impression too soon?

Fuck it.

He got at least one of every item that crossed his mind, just for you. A bottle of wine too, since you seemed to like that. Some painkillers for your cramps as well. He found himself nervously knocking on your door a few minutes later. He hoped you’d be there, and he hoped he wasn’t making himself look like a fool.

You were there, and as soon as you opened the door he could smell all of those sweet and comforting scents that came from you and your home, and you flooded his feelings all over. Goodness, how could everything of yours smell so good - and so unique. And then seeing you, how your eyes widened in a bit of surprise then curved into a smile because you saw him, it made him swoon. You were happy to see him, and that made him happy too. He just wished he could make sure he wouldn’t do something to mess this up with his naivety.

You’re going through a similar ordeal, being greeted by an overwhelming sight. Johnny, all tall and broad, is wearing a classic pair of jeans with a shirt with its sleeves rolled up. He’s got a smile plastered on his face, and when you see him he just makes things seem brighter, happier somehow. You immediately notice a sharp refreshing scent coming from him, and you guess it must be so noticeable because it contrasts so sharply from the scented candles in your apartment. It’s a nice, plain scent. Definitely his cologne, but its quite clean and fresh.

“Johnny…” you say, smiling, but you’re a bit stunned so your words just cut off there for a moment as you both stare, smiling at one another. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi.” He smiles goofily, his nerves melting a bit, “I wanted to come say hello. And… uhm, I’ve got a few things for you too.” he hands them out but you don’t let him leave just yet.

“Oh, please, come in. Sorry for the mess!”

Your apartment was not at all a mess. It was clean, your little dining table was occupied with notes and pens and highlighters, and there was a fluffy blanket thrown on the couch. He’d love to spend time in a place as charming as this. His place with Jaehyun was always clean, sparkling, but it’s because neither of them filled it with anything homely at all. It was just empty and boring with the exception of some spot or another where they’d put personal items in their own rooms.

“Uhm… this is for you.” He said while shyly holding up two large bags from the convenience store. “You said you had ‘girl stuff’ so I hope some of this might help you feel better…”

You looked into the bags, it was like a treasure chest, every single craving you could have possibly gotten was in there. Sweet, salty, boozy, comforting - and all from Johnny, all for you.

“Johnny, you shouldn’t have! I don’t know what to say but this is all perfect.” It really was perfect. “But… I’m trying to dial down on the drinking. So, how about I save this bottle for the next time we drink together, hopefully on a happy occasion. Maybe… I can cook for you again sometime, as a thank you.” You say with a giggle.

He’s surprised to see that you already imagine spending more time with him. It certainly reassures him when he had thought that today’s gesture might have been awkward.

“Do you have any plans today?” You ask him.

“Not really… I just planned on stopping by.”

“Well, I’m up to my wits end with a paper I’ve got, and I was just about to watch a movie. Would you maybe like to join me and you can help me out with all of these goodies you’ve brought?”

“I really don’t want to bother, I just wanted to make sure you felt ok.”

“I feel better now thanks to you and if you want to… I’d be happy if we just hung out a bit.”

How could he say no?

Eventually the two of you do settle on a movie. While he’s still nervously checking your body language and reactions to his presence, the two of you get deeply engaged in the story and have an enjoyable banter as commentary. He enjoyed the movie, but more so, he enjoyed watching it with you. All the little comments you made, the clever quips, your reactions, the way you made faces at him to see if you were both thinking the same thing regarding whatever was on screen.

A second movie is proposed. You ask him if he wants something to eat, you insist on cooking and it all sounds perfect to Johnny. He’d like nothing more than to accept your offer. It’s like a dream, he feels

But he doesn’t.

Because at that moment he swallows the cold realization that he’s absolutely smitten with you, and he just can’t let himself do that. Not to you, not to himself, and not to Jaehyun. It wasn’t that he had much consideration for Jaehyun at the moment but nonetheless, that man still had a connection to you, and Johnny didn’t feel right about stepping in the middle of that - even if it was all wrong, even if you said you wanted to move on... Johnny wouldn’t let himself be the one to step in the way. He’d been on the other end of that once before, and it almost killed him.

“I’m sorry, it’s getting late and I’ve got a few things to do at home.”

“Oh… That’s ok. Just make sure to not be a stranger, I really do enjoy spending time with you Johnny.”

Your smile crushes him. What he decides to do after this encounter crushes him even worse.

It’s all a shame really, because you genuinely meant it when you said you enjoyed his company. The aftermath of it crushes you a little bit too.

Johnny gets home soon after, he feels like your scent is clinging to him.

“Johnny, can I talk to you?” Jaehyun asks him as soon as he walks in.

“Not today.”

Johnny slams his bedroom door behind him.

Ignoring Jaehyun was easy. Leave for classes as early as possible, get home as late as possible, lock himself in his room. Go out to eat as soon as he knew Jaehyun was gone or simply leave to eat at a restaurant. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Jaehyun trailed him everywhere with sad eyes like a wounded dog, and Johnny didn’t even feel his resolve tested when he’d choose to ignore him.

But, to ignore you was painful.

He’d run into you everywhere, you’d rush up to him with a smile. You had this horrible habit of rubbing his arm that made him want to crawl away from you and chant some mantra to get you out of his damn mind. Why was it that before the whole situation with Jaehyun, he’d never caught a glimpse of you, yet now you were permeating every waking thought and dream he had?

He tried hard, so hard.

So, so hard to not effortlessly fall into an entertaining conversation with you, impossibly hard to not smile when you did. When you asked for his number, he was so entranced that he mindlessly gave it to you, so now you could text him and ignoring you was a thousand times more difficult. You sent him pictures of animals you’d run into when you jogged. Screenshots of upcoming movies that you suggested the two of you watch together. Meal ideas for the next time you would cook for him. Meals! For him! From you! He wondered, would you still cook for him with love?

Was it only your cooking that had love for him?

“Johnny, please talk to me.” Jaehun pleaded at their breakfast counter. It had been three weeks since the punch, and the bruise was finally gone. In fact, Johnny’s own anger had subsided too, just a little, but he was still apathetic towards Jaehyun.

“You can talk, I’ll listen.” He said while sipping on some iced coffee. It seemed to be the only way he drank his coffee now, since you made one for him. Still, it wasn’t as good as yours.

“I want to apologize, again…”

“Apology accepted.” Johnny said apathetically.

“No John. I want to apologize for everything. To you, to all the people I’ve hurt. To her. I want to make things right.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I’m going to start by apologizing to those girls… but I’m gonna have to ask you to remind me what their names are, and maybe help me see how I can contact them.”

“I’d hate to help you with anything, but fine.”

“And I want to make it up to her as well.”

“Y/n?” Johnny sighed. He was fairly certain you’d want nothing to do with Jaehyun, in fact, you were blossoming in life since the day you told him you planned to move on. You were happy, your grades were great, you were motivated, making friends… Jaehyun didn’t fit in the beautiful picture you had made for yourself. In fact, you didn’t need him there. “What do you even plan on doing?” Johnny asked skeptically.

“I want to apologize first, and then, I hope that she and I can get to know each other. I… want to give it a shot.” He says. Johnny thinks Jaehyun is delusional, but he doesn’t want to crash his new found path to redemption just yet.

“Give it a shot?What makes you think she wants that?” Johnny says with a casual sip on his straw.

“I want to let her know I’ve changed, and that I’m gonna keep changing - for the better.”

“It’s not good to change solely for one person, Jaehyun. It’s about you first and the kind of person you want to be - the life you want.”

“I’m not changing for her. I’m changing because I’ve messed things up for people, people I could have loved, people who loved me… and I lost someone that meant more to me than anyone else and I don’t want to go through that again. I don’t want to hurt people to the point they hate me.”

“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t hate you.”

“I was talking about you.” Jaehyun said.

Well, he wasn’t wrong. There used to be a lot of love between the two of them, and now Johnny didn’t have an ounce of appreciation for the person that Jaehyun had become. It wasn’t hate per se, there wasn’t that active anger to it. It was dislike and indifference. Apathy.

“Well Jae, I hope you tell people all about how you’ve changed once you’ve actually got something to show for it.”

Johnny got up and went to his room. He closed the door but didn’t slam it this time.When he sat down on his bed and looked at his phone something came to his mind and gave him all kinds of butterflies in the wrong way.

Jaehyun didn’t know that the two of you had become friends. He didn’t know how much time you had been spending together. And he certainly didn’t know how much Johnny didn’t want him to speak to you ever again. You were too good for him, too precious to even grace his presence. But it wasn’t his place to meddle.

He could only hope, beg to some cosmic force, that you would not want Jaehyun’s presence in your life. He wasn’t sure if he could handle this kind of heartbreak twice.

A few days later, you hear a knock on your door. It’s odd, you weren’t expecting anyone, but the only person that ever came by was Johnny, so you have a bit of a spring in your step and a smile on your face as you go answer, hoping it's him.

It’s funny, how even the thought of his presence makes your disposition all sunny, the promise of your day better, and your attitude lighter.

“Hello?” You say as you swing the door open, but it’s not Johnny.

#nct jaehyun angst #nct jaehyun #nct Johnny fluff #nct johnny angst #nct angs #nct soulmate au #nct aus #nct johnny au #nct jaehyun au #nct scenarios

55 notes · View notes

sierraraeck · 3 years

Text

Ancient History and Open Wounds (Pt.3)

BAU x OC Aundreya

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Summary: In an effort to save Aundreya, the BAU has to turn to some unlikely allies before it’s too late. Story twenty.

Category: Angst.

Warnings: Cussing. Kidnapping. I don’t explicitly talk about torture, but it happens. Someone gets shot. Quick mention of previous sexual abuse and drug abuse.

Word Count: 3.6k

A/N: I hope you enjoy part three and how this “event” comes to an end

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

It was like one big nightmare. I felt like I was constantly in and out of consciousness, and I was having trouble remembering who I’d told what and how much they’d figured out since DeLeon opened his mouth. But the game was still on, and everytime he cut the feed, he recorded me trying to convince him not to shoot one of the members. What that recording consisted of? Me saying as many shitty things about them as I could think of in five minutes. And I had to be convincing, because if he thought that I actually cared, then he’d shoot them. Hell knows what he planned on doing with those recordings (I mean I had a couple ideas, like ruining what was left of those relationships or holding them over me as leverage), but I was able to get Roman, JJ, Hotch, Derek, Deen, Niko, Rossi, and Emily off the hook so far. Luckily, Tara was working on some other case talking to some criminal, so I didn’t have to worry about her. But when it got to Penleope, I guess I just wasn’t convincing enough.

But what bad thing could I possibly say about her? That she was the only person day one that didn’t judge me? That she was the reason I was on the team to begin with because she stood up for me? That even when I went to prison and could have been completely alone, she came to visit me? Even after the rest of the team decided they were done with me?

I tried, I really did try, because I knew her life depended on my cruelty. But I failed. I failed at what I was supposed to be good at. And when I heard the gunshot go off, I felt like it was me who’d been shot. I saw her body crumple to the ground, and Hotch and Deen and Emily rush to her side. I saw them call the ambulance, and rush out of the room onto the street when they arrived so the paramedics didn’t know what else was going on. But I had to look away when they put her on that stretcher, with all of that blood, skillfully pressing on her chest, trying to preserve the life I’d just destroyed.

I hadn’t even noticed the tears streaming down my face or the strangled cries coming from my chest when the little red light of the live feed turned back on.

“Aww, do you have something you’d like to say?” DeLeon mocked. He reached up and unchained my arms which came swinging down like a wrecking ball. “Why don’t you look at the camera and tell the two people who care the most about her what you’ve done?”

I didn’t know exactly who he was talking about, one was most likely Derek and everyone cared a lot about her, but it honestly didn’t matter. They would all be mad at me anyways. I croaked, “She’s been shot. Penelope’s been shot. And I couldn’t stop it, I couldn’t prevent it. I’m so sorry.”

“Heartbreaking,” DeLeon deadpanned, “But now we’re down to two. Do you know who those two are?”

I did. I knew he was going down the list, as if he knew exactly how close my connections were with each person, saving the closest two for last. But I didn’t want to admit that.

“I know you do. You’ve been keeping track of them and releasing a sigh of relief every time I don’t say their name. Well, it’s time Aundreya. And you know what, I don’t even want to record these. I want you to look at their faces and tell them everything you hate about them. And then I want you to choose,” his voice was much harsher now, no longer sounding like he was enjoying this game as much as he was.

I looked up at the screens in front of me. The first showed Spencer, the second showed Mateo, and the third showed the room they were standing in with the others. I couldn’t do this. There was no way I could pull off hating them. Even if I did, I was sure he would shoot them anyways, definitely the one I chose, or whatever.

DeLeon was getting impatient with my hesitation, “Start. Talking!”

But I didn’t. I couldn't. I would have to come up with something better. But I was running out of time. DeLeon walked over and unchained my legs, knowing I no longer had the strength to fight him. I didn’t even have the strength to stay standing. I collapsed to the floor, only barely catching myself on my hands and knees.

“Look at you. Some big, fearless leader you are now. Didn’t you tell me that you’d never get on your knees for me?”

“I’m still not. I will never be on my knees for you, DeLeon,” I rasped.

He grabbed me by my hair, forcing me to look up at him, “Now tell them all the things we know you’re really thinking.”

He released my hair and my head hung like a kicked puppy’s, and I knew I had to speak. DeLeon’s whole plan hinged on me being a cruel, heartless monster, who couldn’t care about anyone, and he was determined to keep it that way. So I might as well use that, and beat him at his own game. “If you’re after who I care about the most, or who I love so you can take an eye for an eye, it’s not going to work. I don’t love either of them, and not a single person working to help me right now. You think I’m capable of that? Capable of caring for another person, someone other than myself? Putting someone else’s needs above my own? Capable of loving you? I mean, did you really think we were ever in love?”

“Do not turn this on me,” DeLeon spat.

“Why not? That’s what this is about, right? The fact that you actually cared about me, but I had nothing but hate for you? The fact that the next person you were delusional enough to think loved you is dead because of me?” I pushed.

“I told you, you do not have any right talking about her!” DeLeon screeched. I was getting to him. This might actually work.

“Fine, then let’s keep talking about you. You’re just a sad little boy who’s never experienced love or compassion or empathy and is willing to cling to anyone and anything that shows you the slightest bit of attention. That’s why you went after me, right? Because there was no one else around that gave a damn, and even still you had to force me to-”

“Shut up!” His strength was wavering and it was obvious in his voice. His fist was at my cheek again, but I couldn’t pay attention to that. I was close.

“We’re the same. I’ve never learned any of that either, not from a single person in my life. Think about it! The first real passion of mine was hunting down and killing the man that destroyed my family. Then I went on to join a gang where it was kill or get killed, not an ounce of sympathy and everyone was rock hard. Then I took over a gang and transformed it into a ring at the age of 19, and from then on out, everything revolved around me. I was the center of attention and everyone praised me, no matter how many times I fucked up and how many friends I got killed in the process. Even after I went to prison, which was no cushy experience either and happened twice by the way, people were still willing to scrub my feet. And after all of that, you think I’m in love with not one, but two people?” I thought I had him right where I wanted him, fuming with both Mateo and Spencer off the hook.

But instead, he turned back to talk into his phone and said, “Shoot them both.”

Before I could think, I yelled, “Don’t!”

DeLeon smirked at me as he turned around, “And why shouldn’t I?”

“Turn off the camera,” I commanded. DeLeon just looked at me, and he opened his mouth, probably to remind me that I don’t get to make commands, but I repeated, “Turn. It. Off.”

There must’ve been something in my gaze that compelled him to do what I asked, because he clicked the live feed off.

“You have 30 seconds.”

“You want to take an eye for an eye, right? Get back at me for Xena? Fine. Don’t shoot those two, instead let me carry out my deal with Archer,” I proposed.

“And why is that better than my plan?” Surprisingly, he sounded genuinely interested.

“Because in yours, you kill at least two, maybe three people I care about. In the other, you destroy my relationships with everyone. I pick the BAU over the ring, there goes the ring, and then I carry out my deal with Archer to kill the vice president and pin it on Aaron and there goes my relationship with them. My life is wrecked, my eternal unhappiness is guaranteed, and your goal is achieved.”

He seemed like he was actually contemplating my offer, his face scrunching up in thought. “How am I supposed to believe that you will go through with it this time? You couldn’t last time.”

It was a valid point, but I had to confess, “Because I’d rather my life be destroyed than theirs.”

I could barely look up at him from my position on the floor, trying to retain even a shred of dignity, but when I did, his hand was outstretched in my direction. I was so shocked that I just looked at it.

“It’s now or never,” DeLeon prompted. I shook his hand, sealing my fate as the wrecking ball that finally broke the BAU and the ring I started. He leaned over to whisper, “As long as you can survive until they come and get you.”

I recognized a second too late what was happening, not like I could’ve prevented it in my state. He yanked my shoulder out of my socket, turned me on my stomach, and rammed his foot into my back. It was all I could do not to scream as he dragged a blade across my spine.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

I wasn’t sure how long it’d been. Minutes, hours, days. But they found me.

“Chambers. Chambers!” A male voice called out. I tried to respond, but all that came out was a groan. “Over there. Call the medics.”

I heard footsteps approaching me, and when they squatted down next to me, I tried to look up at them. The pain was so excruciating that I winced.

“Don’t move,” I could now tell it was Hotch who’d found me and he continued, “More help is on the way.”

“I can get up,” I insisted, moving to roll onto my side. It took me a few seconds, but it happened. Hotch gave me a stern look, about to argue but I pleaded, “Please, Aaron. I don’t want to be carried out on a stretcher like that.”

He knew what I was referencing and just gave me a small nod. “Dave, Deen, help me get her up.”

Rossi gave him a look, but Deen was not surprised. “Are you for real, Alionth?”

“Dead serious, Deen. You know me.” He smiled a bit at that, and the three of them helped me up. I could walk better than expected, but that could’ve just been because all three of them were practically carrying me. When we got outside, Niko, Mateo, Spencer, and Emily were all waiting. “Where is everyone else?”

“Morgan and JJ are with Garcia,” Hotch answered.

“And Roman is holding down the fort,” Deen added, “And Dalton and JT are at the hospital standing guard for Garcia.” I gave Deen a look. Usually he would send others, or ask me before doing that. He just shrugged and answered, “I figured you’d want that.” He wasn’t wrong, but neither was I.

My attention was turned back to the four people in front of me when both Mateo and Spencer approached me at the same time. “How are you feel-”

“Are you o-” They both started and then glared at each other. I wondered for a second what was wrong, until I remembered DeLeon making a comment about me having two boyfriends. And then them getting trapped in the same room together. That could’ve worked out better.

I didn’t have the energy to talk to them or figure them out right now, so I just said, “We’ll talk later. But I’m okay, thank you. Both of you.” Clearly that was the wrong thing to say, because I saw their faces scrunch up further.

“Hey, how did you get him to leave and basically let you go?” Mateo asked.

“I can be very persuasive,” I mumbled.

“Aundreya, what did you do?” Spencer asked, concern and slight panic in his eyes.

“I got out alive,” I answer, “And hopefully got everyone else out alive, too.”

“What did you-” he tried again.

“Stop. I did what I had to.” I couldn’t tell him about the deal I’d made and I certainly didn’t want to discuss it now.

There was a fire in Spencer’s eyes, “Why? Whatever you did, why would you? We were going to find you-”

“You would have died. Don’t you understand that? You both would have died,” I glanced over at Mateo who was surprisingly quiet throughout this. I teared up, “I already cost Penelope … god knows what, and I wasn’t about to add more names to that list of mine.”

“Aundreya-”

I cut him off again, “No, Spencer. If you need to know, I did it because you have something to live for. I’m tired of you not being able to see that.” With that, I hobbled over to the ambulance and sat down, waiting for them to shut the doors and take off.

When they didn’t, and everyone was looking at me expectantly, I looked to the nearest paramedic for an answer. She whispered, “If you want someone to accompany you…”

Oh. Great. I love decision making. “Um, Mateo?” The moment his name was halfway out of my mouth, he was sitting next to me. I didn’t look for anyone’s reaction to that, and then the door clicked shut and we were on our way to the hospital.

“Look I just wanted to-” we both started at the same time. I laughed and Mateo said, “Go ahead.”

“I just wanted to apologize to you,” I started. He looked bewildered as to why I’d need to apologize, but I kept going. “I’ve treated you unfairly. You’ve been here for me through everything, and I worry that sometimes you feel like I’m dismissing you.”

“No, Alionth, you could never-”

“I appreciate that, but I want to finish. When we started this, you offered just a little pushback, and I took it to the extreme. It wasn’t fair of me to threaten you like that, especially with that. So I’m sorry. And just so you know, I’d rather go it alone than do that to you. To you and Niko.”

“Thank you. I know you would never, but it’s nice to hear you say that,” he said softly, with a smile.

“Okay, your turn,” I prompted.

“I just wanted to tell you that despite everything, I was glad to hear that you still consider us family and the place you belong.” He hesitated for a moment, so I looked up at him. He swallowed, “And I do still love you.”

My heart melted, and I tried to ignore the sound of shattering in my ears, thinking about how I would have to return to the BAU to finish what I started. But, he didn’t have to know that yet. All he had to know was how grateful I was for him. “Can I say it now?”

He laughed, “There’s no one here to stop you.”

“I love you too, Mateo.” For the first time in a long time, I saw tears well up in his eyes.

I reached up to brush them away, and he held my hand to him, “God, I just want to hug you or kiss you right now, but I don’t want to mess anything up.”

I laughed with him, giving myself a once over and realizing just how awful I looked. And felt. So instead, I leaned my head on his shoulder, and he delicately wrapped his arm around me. “Soon.”

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

It’d been a couple weeks, and I was healing quite well, considering everything. Everyone visited me, BAU and ring members alike. It was unfortunate to get a visit from DeLeon in the middle of the night, and I couldn’t believe I had to remind him that before I could get back to my agreement, I would actually have to heal from everything he’d done to me. He accepted this, but reminded me he was keeping an eye on me.

Penelope and I shared a hospital room, and as great as it was to see her, everytime I looked over to all the machines she was hooked up to, I wanted to just curl up and cry. Which I’d done a few times. When she caught me, I profusely apologized for everything and getting her involved in all of this. She reached her hand out to me and squeezed it, letting me know that she was alive and recovering. Sometimes, when I couldn’t sleep, I would just sit there and watch her breathe. It was comforting.

Deen visited the most. He started out sitting next to me, and then gradually moved closer and closer to Penelope each time he came. I tried to hide my amusement, but for as smooth as Deen could be, he was equally as awkward. It was actually funny, to see him floundering whenever she looked at him.

One night, when he thought we were both asleep, he sat at the foot of her bed and was doing what I was often doing, just watching her breathe and hearing the beeping of her heart.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked. It was about 1am, and visiting hours were definitely over.

He looked at me, probably about to make up some excuse, but when he saw the look in my eyes and the smirk on my face, he relented. “You know why. Even after everything that happened to you back there, I knew you knew the moment you looked at me like that.”

“You gave yourself away by putting both JT and Dalton outside her door,” I wiggled my eyebrows. He just sighed. “You really do like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do. She’s just so…” he trailed off, gesturing to her general figure.

I offered a small laugh, careful not to wake her, “Don’t I know it.” And I did know how it felt to be around her. Not only was she a literal tech genius, but in the dark line of work she was in, and the usual depressive state of everyone around her, her unfaltering light was enough to keep her as an asset to the team. It was no wonder that a man, used to working in a ring like mine, would be attracted to someone so pretty, and sweet, and smart as Penelope.

“It’s never going to work, though,” Deen said, looking over at me.

“And why shouldn’t it?”

“Are you blind? Look at her. She’s … everything. What do I even have to offer her? More depressing news?” Deen huffed.

“Are you blind? She’s been flirting with you this whole time. She has a unique way of going about that, like teasing you and pretending to ignore you and only every now and then making a passive aggressive, backhanded compliment, but she likes you, too. Trust me. And don’t degrade yourself. Sure, you’re not as smart as she is-”

“She reminds me of that frequently,” Deen said with a smile.

“None of us are. There is no one else like her, but Deen, you are smart, you are handsome, and you work hard. You’re a leader, and you’re the Penelope of our ring. When things get really dark, you do your best to keep it light. The two of you would be good together,” I finished.

“Thank you, Alionth.”

“Always. Now you just have to build up the courage to ask her out when this is over.”

“Are you kidding me? I nearly choked when I saw her in her work attire, I think I’d have a heart attack and die if I saw her in a dress for a date,” Deen said, eyes getting wide.

“I’m sure you would,” I agreed.

After a while, Deen commented, “That was some pretty good acting, by the way.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Back when you were on that feed with DeLeon? All those things you said were all very convincing.”

“That wasn’t acting,” I sighed, and Deen's eyes whipped over to mine, “Actually, that was the first time I haven’t been acting.”

“Why? Why then?” Deen was inspecting me curiously.

“I just decided to stop hiding. It’s exhausting.”

“But you do still love them both, right?”

I contemplated that for a few seconds before responding, “I honestly wish I didn’t.” It’d make all of our lives so much easier.

I didn’t have to expand, because Deen seemed to get the message. Somehow, he and I were always on the same page. For the rest of the night, Deen and I sat there thinking about what was to come and thanking our lucky stars that Penelope Garcia, and everyone else involved, was going to be okay.

Series Taglist (open)

@justanothetfangirl @kris-stuff @blameitonthenight21 @wooya1224 @unded-bride @swiftingday @dezzxmx

14 notes · View notes

writeangstime · 4 years

Text

Changing your destiny (Eskel x Reader)

Title: Changing your destiny Fandom: The Witcher (All media) Pairing: Eskel x Reader Genere: Angst (well, it’s supposed to be..) Word counts: 4007 Warnings: Blood

A story that I wrote for @lovermrjokerr‘s challenge - go check it out because I think it is super fun to do something like that and it is so nice that a fanfic writer is doing something where others can try themselves!

It was read and checked by wonderful @mindowe that took some of her time and fixed all the mistakes for me (and apparently had the patience of the angel doing so)! She is also a wonderful artist - her drawing is amazing, check her tumblr and other social media for it!

The wind ruffled through your hair, bringing the tiny mites of sand to your face, forcing you to turn away and, spiting the dirt on the ground the mere seconds before the hove of your horse made its mark on the uneven path. Melitele must have overlooked this place when she was blessing the country because, as far as you could see, there was only a yellow plain of dry and broken grass that was being covered by sand with every stronger gust of wind. Yet, you could understand why it was a perfect hideout for any creature that would like to have some privacy - or for basically anyone who would seek solitude for something mischievous.

Your mount seemed to agree with your unspoken words, shaking its chestnut mane with what could you say was some kind of concern – under your legs you could feel the horse muscles tensing from something more than a weight on his back as his uneasy breath joined the cracking of the straws and the hitting of the hooves on the trodden path. Swirling reins around your left hand, you reached the other one to pat the animal’s neck, trying to ensure him of the safety of both you and him, though you had to admit it got you a little worried. It was no surprise that domestic creatures were more prone of being influenced by the magic – both good and bad, both strong and weak. Both new and old.

But you could tell that you were getting closer to the place you have been looking for the past few years – at first it was only a distant shape on the horizon, being so thin that one would think it needed only a blink of an eye to disappear in the thin air. But as you were riding closer toward it, the shape began to grow, climbing towards the sky and shifting into the central point in the wasteland. After what seemed to be a long, stretched hours but in reality couldn’t be more than a few minutes, you reached your destination and had to admit, that being present in this place brought to you more uneasiness than actual joy.

If anyone called you a scavenger, hunter or a raider you couldn’t care less. And sometimes fixing them a stern glare, sometimes completely ignoring their person and from time to time even going with some kind of the mean comment in return, but you never got yourself into the discussion. It took some of your precious time that was always in short. Or at least you felt like it was. It felt tiring in certain moments, knowing that your destiny was forged for you long before you could even set the foot on this world. But you weren’t going to sit idly and wait for the curse to swarm you and entrap you in your own body like a prison.

Stopping your mount in front of the entrance you couldn’t help a smirk crawling on your lips as you noticed how small the door in front of you were, left in good condition - though the tower looked like it could collapse in any minute, with the stones almost turning into dust right in front of you. But it was still holding, supported by what you could only guess was the magic that lingered here long after the mage who waved it had long been gone. Well, you hoped he was – meeting undead wasn’t exactly the plan for today, tomorrow and till the end of your life. Sadly for you, whoever inhabited this place decided that windows were not in their taste. If there was anything awaiting you in the tower, it had a lot of the advantage.

Swiftly gliding off the horse, you reached to your saddlebags, cursing under the breath as you hardly tried to memorize where you put the very thing you needed right now. After a while, you managed (or rather struggled) to pull out the small lantern, gently straightening the paper walls and making sure that the candle inside didn’t break during the journey. After you decided that it won’t be any better, you reached to retrieve the flint and tinder from your pocket, bringing a small flame that soon warmed on the candle and glowed in the warm but timid light. Well it had to be enough, you didn’t plan to linger in this place anyway. Pulling out your sword with a small cling sound, you moved to the entrance, holding the light in front of you.

It turned out that the doors were in much worse condition that they looked and, after a moment of trying to force them to open with your body weight, you practically barraged yourself inside, coughing strongly as the clouds of dust were brought to the air with your entrance. The doors slowly moved back to their original position, shutting that small amount of light that you brought from the outside. You managed to calm your breath down, though you still had the feeling that your lungs wanted to escape and you decided to look around as it seemed that there was no unpleasant surprise waiting here especially for you.

The interior of the tower looked less gloomy than you expected and to your surprise you could actually imagine yourself seating here in some kind of future when your bones are too old to move in proper way. You just could sit by the fire, not worried about anything that was happening outside. Though the area seemed small, mostly because being cramped by the horrendous amount of books and parchments, the unfitting furniture added some sort of cosiness. But it wasn’t the time to get some sightseeing and you had a job to do, so placing the lamp carefully on the table, you moved to search through the books for any information that you could use to your case.

You planned to start with the book on the wooden podium that seemed different from the others, but to your surprise the moment you touched the surface it vibrated under your hand, sending the wave of heat so warm it bordered on burning. Quickly retrieving your fingers, you furrowed your brows, deciding to leave it to the last in case you didn’t find anything in the other volumes.

The flame of the candle lowered, lantern brightened the room from a different angle and casted a longer shadow from your figure as the pile of the things you have searched through had grown bigger and bigger, the same as your frustration. What you by far stumbled upon was a very interesting research, some information about housework and even a bit of the poems, but yet nothing with your family surname or even the slightest mention of the magic. You were sure that this was the place, that there lived the person responsible for it all, and yet there was no a single clue that you could cling to. With every paper tossed aside, your doubts were rising and the feeling of anger creeping in your soul replaced the patience with bitterness of doing something in vain.

You reached for another book but stopped with the stretched hand as you heard scream so loud that it rang inside your thoughts, echoing unpleasantly. Whatever it was, there was no way a human being would sound like that. So that meant you definitely should find your way out before this thing plans to break inside, but as you reached to the door, the loud and agonizing scream of your mount froze you in place. With a beating heart you listened for any noise from outside and after what seemed to be only a mere second something started to push the wood, the crackling of the planks from the force causing the feeling of pure terror and panic.

Jumping away from the door, you hit the table and knocked over the lamp. It smashed on the ground and the scent of the wax burning the paper filled the air. Backing from the entrance in the complete darkness, you pulled out your sword once again, not at all feeling prepared for whatever insisted on getting inside but also not going to sell your soul for nothing. If you could put up the fight, you planned to do it for good. Hiding yourself in the element of the surprise, you stumbled once more upon the wooden podium. Deciding that now or never, you grabbed the strange volume, hoping that it would be at least some kind of weird defence.

But as soon as you raised it from its place, the cover opened, the pages going so fast in front of you that you didn’t even have a chance to read its contents. A blue light burst out and soon the darkness swallowed you, tossing you to what seemed as an endless fall.

***

The shivers were forcing your body to jolt, sometimes giving you the feeling that every inch of your skin is burning only to switch into paralyzing freeze of your veins – it was like every inch of you was torn apart to be once again build in the same way. From what you could say basing on the delusional state you were in, your body was laying on some kind of stone, but at the same time it felt like you were drowning in it, looped in endless falling that neither ground nor the very deepness of the earth could stop.

You weren’t alone though – from the bleakness of your surroundings you could catch the glimpse of the face. Though the scars covered most of it man’s yellow eyes were completely soft and caring, almost like nothing you ever saw in your life. Though the circumstances were more than unusual, you didn’t feel fear, maybe because you could find only a compassion in the way he kneeled beside you. Opening your mouth you searched for the words, but he gestured you not to speak, turning away to search for something you couldn’t see.

“Shh, it’s okay. I got you.”

***

You had no idea for how long you remained unconscious with your body still paying the price for a sudden teleportation, but for sure you realized after waking up that there is no more pain and you could get up as easily as if you just took a refreshing nap. The daylight didn’t shine in the cave but the small fire gave enough light for you to see the man sitting in front of it. He was the very same person that you remembered from your fever dreams and just as you moved up you noticed the cape sliding down on your lap – he must have covered you with it while you were sleeping. Your movement must have caught his attention, as he turned away from you, reaching for something to his right.

“I see you are feeling better now. Is everything well, do you feel you can sit up properly?” He asked with the hearable amount of concern in his voice. You could see him pouring something to the small wooden bowl before he moved closer, handing it carefully to you. Using your sleeves as a protection from warm surface, you nodded in a silence gesture of gratitude.

“Yes, I feel much better now. I assume it is thanks to you, mister…” you asked, rising your head from above the warm soup. It smelled delicious and you felt the clench in your stomach that reminded you that your last meal was probably a long time ago.

You could hear him laugh a bit at your last word, a pleasant, low vibrating sound that seemed friendly and yet strange at the same time coming from the man whose scars were for sure mark of some encountered hostility in his life.

“Eskel, just Eskel, without any mister. And you are?” The man now known to you as Eskel allowed himself to lean on the saddle. With small amount of shame you noticed that there was no other bed than the one you have been sleeping on, so it meant you had left him to sleep on the bare stones probably.

“I am [Your name]. I don’t know how can I repay you.” Well, you felt like you should. He could kill you or rob you. Or both. The list could go on but you got the idea. But as soon as you asked that question, the more urgent matter came into your mind. “Do you mind asking me how long I was blacked out and…well, where exactly I am? We are.” You corrected yourself almost immediately.

“No need to mention that, I was here anyway. And for the former, we are actually in the mountains near the Oxenfurt. We stayed here for a two days.”

You cursed loudly, causing him to give you a surprised look as you quickly shook your head in some sort of explanation.

“My apologies, I must admit you caught me here by surprise. My last position and the one I thought I would be is actually on the opposite side of the mountain.” You fell silent, wondering on the book that was a last object you’ve touched. The feeling of sadness woke inside you when you reminded yourself of a lost horse that you got used to and the saddlebags you will probably never retreat. Well, it didn’t leave you completely broke as you had your small savings in the bank but you still had some valuable knowledge in your personal things. At least, the sword survived with you as you glanced at it, resting by your side. You sipped the soup carefully, but overall the situation wasn’t bright at all.

“I can help you reach the town if you want, I will need to refill my supplies anyway” Eskel offered, breaking the silence between you two. Rising your lips in the smile that you weren’t sure he could see from his place, you nodded once again in thanking.

“I think I will accept the offer. And I insist, when we reach the town I want to somehow reward you for your help. You saved my life, and I don’t want to be in someone’s debt.” Placing down your bowl with a small knock, you stretched a bit, making sure that your muscles fully recovered. One more thing popped in your mind and you turned your face towards your saviour once again.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly are you doing up here?” You didn’t take him for a lost traveller and his equipment showed he was more than a mere shepherd – such person would not take two swords with themselves just to lead sheep up the mountains. He didn’t seem to be offended by your question, taking up your empty bowl and putting it away together with his own.

“I was culling some harpies in the area. Nothing too extravagant for a witcher, I’m afraid.” He laughed once again, slowly putting away the fire. These words made you look at him at more interesting angle as you were thinking over what he’s just said. Coincidence or that damn volume you touched, maybe this was exactly what you have needed – if you could convince him to come with you, of course. Slowly standing up and handing him his coat, you were taking your sweet time to start the proper topic as you attached the sword to your waist.

“Say, aren’t you maybe in a need for a work right now?” Trying to sound as innocent and not as clingy you slowly started to make your case. “Because I might have one on the hand.”

“Well, for sure there is a vacant for me right now, though I am afraid I would need more details.” He answered carefully, raising the saddle to strap it on the black horse that was calmly standing there.

“Let’s say there are not many…?” You half asked half stated, fixing yourself rather quickly when he raised his eyebrows. “I mean, I know this thing is strong, can catch the horse by surprise and kill it in one swing and has a scream so loud that you want to plug something in your brain just not to hear it anymore. It is the only thing that I’ve noticed before that damn book decided to threw me far away. Please, I will pay you as much as you want, but this is really important for me.”

He went silent for a while, focusing more on preparation for the journey than the reply to you but you knew he had to process it. Standing there rather silently, you stared at the ground, not saying a word not to seem too insistent. Finally, you heard him sight quietly and he turned to you.

“It will be much faster if we skip a visit to the town.”

***

Much to your pleasant surprise, it turned out that Eskel was a great travel companion, not only allowing you to ride the Scorpion (that, even if he loved his owner, decided to switch for the person he was nagging for extra snacks) but sometimes even leading you on it as you travelled through the sides of the mountains. It took little for both of you to unwind and tell stories about your lives, sharing a funny on embarrassing moments. He told you a few things about his job and you’ve never pushed too much for the things he barely mentioned. In return, you briefly told him what you were doing though you have never explained to him the true nature of your curse. It was for your knowledge only.

The small camps you were making on the way seemed a lot easier than you had remembered from your previous journeys – or maybe having two pairs of hands was working miracles. Not that you have ever avoided the company of others, but it was always easier to pack and take care of only yourself and your horse. At least, that is what you thought until now, knowing that you are going to miss the moments of building the campfire as Eskel was shocking you with his sense of humor, sometimes being even cheeky.

But all good things must come to an end sooner or later and that was no different case. As you arrived in front of the tower, your mood drastically dropped to the point your own voice lowered like you expected something to jump right in front of you. To your quite visible surprise, there was no trace of the horse blood, any of your things or even scratches on the door, like the events from your last visit have never taken place. But you were sure that this was the exact spot, the same tower and there was no way you could take the wrong way, memorizing the map so well you could draw it in your mind even while in deadly battle.

You had the feeling that the witcher that kept you a company had doubts himself but even if he did, he didn’t share them with you. He helped you to get off the horse and led him right behind the building. You watched in awe as his hands moved to the certain position and the marks you didn’t know before shone on the ground, gently surrounding the animal. He caught your surprised face with a hint of smile and took one of the swords with him.

“This is for protection. After all, I like him quite well.” Giving you reply for the question you have never asked, he moved to the doors and you helped him to push the old oak. Inside, you could actually see the marks of your last visit – the burned lantern, the books tossed in the pile and that stupid volume that laid where you’ve must dropped it after teleportation. The door behind you slowly shut with a loud creak and you could almost feel your heart beating faster.

“I was there. Sitting and reading. It is hard to tell what was happening and I knocked over the light. I tried to hide, grabbed the book…” You stopped, realizing that in this darkness he has no way of telling what you meant. But before the man could say anything, loud scream rang in the air once again, making you flinch and Eskel reach for his sword.

“If anything happens and I tell you to run, do it.” His voice was stern and calm and you were wondering if he was feeling confident, or he could actually cover his feelings and push them to the side.

“Yes” was the only word you were able to say before the loud noise came from the horse. This time, there was also a loud grunt, something you didn’t catch the last time. Maybe the thing wasn’t happy that the additional meal wasn’t so easy to get. Once again the door started to creak and you moved back a bit as you heard the witcher shifting from his place. Both of you didn’t say anything while you were waiting for this thing to come in.

Eventually, the wood gave in and the creature burst inside. It was like nothing you have ever seen – a humanoid and yet a wild creature, casting the ghastly light but being made of the swirling shadows. It had no eyes and yet, when it moved its head, you could feel it was gazing right into your deepest part of soul. Monster did not waste time, jumping so quickly you barely raised the sword that you held – and even that didn’t help.

The steel shattered like the sword was made of glass, not standing even one blow. The tearing pain went through your whole body as the claws cut through your clothes and the blood poured with you falling on the ground. The beast raised its paw once again, but this time the other sword stopped it from taking your guts out – Eskel’s weapon withstood more power than yours. Such resistance was bestowed with un unhappy growl from the monster that now focused on the man.

You could only watch the battle in front your eyes with amazement as the witcher moved in the way you wouldn’t believe anyone could. He was like a water, shaping and shifting in the recognition of the another blow, so the angry creature was either grasping the air or clinging to his sword. But the monster was quickly adapting to the fight, following soon after and learning things while it was mercilessly beating its opponent. You would be dead for sure if you didn’t open that volume earlier…

The volume! Looking around you, your eyes found it lying close to you. You felt pain in every inch of your body, the air on your open wounds giving you shivers, but despite pain you moved, reaching your hand towards it. It felt like you were moving at disgracefully slow pace, especially when you heard the battle sounds becoming more and more aggressive. You finally managed to place a hand on the book and it shoot the wave of heat to your skin once again. Taking all the strength you could gather right now, you grabbed it and tossed it with a swing of your hand.

The pages shifted when the book flew towards ongoing battle and you could see Eskel jumped out of the way. Bright blue light burst in the room once again, blinding you for a while before it all disappeared, taking the whatever attacked you with itself as the volume hit the floor. The adrenaline burst you got seemed to slow down, as the blood pumping in you seemed to run outside in a scary tempo. You laid down your head, closing your eyes as the pain was becoming stronger with every passing second. There was no option you could move, even when the witcher called your name. At least, you heard him well before you passed out.

“Shh, I am here. It will be okay.”

#Lovermrjokerr8kchallenge #eskel #eskel x reader #the witcher #mindowe #lovemrjokerr #writeatingtime #angst

83 notes · View notes

monomonomagines · 4 years

Text

Nagito in a Rainbow Girl Au

Hello once again everyone! Thanks for almost 30 followers. I didn’t expect to get so much traffic on this blog but I wanted to let you know I appreciate you all with another segment in Mod Toko’s Vocab Corner! I first messed up on this writing as I deleted it the first time I wrote it meaning my explanation was gone as well. For those of you that don’t know already by the title, “Rainbow Girl” is the title of an early 2000′s Vocaloid song about someone from the 2D world falling in love with a person in the real world. Because of the nature of this au I wrote it with some spoilers and angst. However, if anyone wants to I’m open to writing a second part to this with a happy ending. I hope you all enjoy it! Mod Toko and Kokichi love you all!!!

Abet- to actively second and encourage (something, such as an activity or plan)

Nagito, the Ultimate Lucky student always had to expect the worst in life due to his cruel talent and it's tendency to backfire against him but he couldn't have ever fathomed that his talent would ever have it out this bad for him. He was in love with someone that was a world apart from him and with his newfound feelings came that knowledge. The knowledge that despite wanting to he wouldn't be able to reach you even if he took drastic measures.

If Nagito could've he may have laughed at how unlucky he had gotten this time but all he could do was drive himself crazy with his thoughts. He wanted to always be able to see you, and couldn't bear the fact that he couldn't always gaze back at you with his own green orbs when you watched him with such fascination.

He loved whenever your eyes were on him but he hated how it felt as soon as you take your gaze off of him. It was somehow worse than anything else, even the thought of you possibly getting tired of him and throwing him away. Maybe it's because he assumed already that the worst was still come? He honestly didn't know. All he did know was that these feelings just wouldn't die out. He got it, and he got it bad.

He couldn't smile at you if he wanted to. He couldn't be there for you or support you when you were down. All he could do was let you watch him and even then he couldn't always watch you at the same time. The game's evil sprites wouldn't allow him even that.

How cruel his talent was he thought. How sick it was to finally realize that what he wanted was so close and yet so far. You were lightyears and centimeters apart simultaneously even though all that was dividing him from you was a simple screen. A screen that he couldn't even approach unless the game allowed him.

At first, he was glad to be in this game, if it was fiction then surely even he could accomplish something. Surely he can help hope triumph despair. Surely he can be of use to the ultimates somehow. He had been so excited, so filled with hope, but now he just felt so apathetic.

He wanted to bring hope to the world but he isn't even a part of the real world. He wanted to bring hope to the world where you resided, to you because for him you were his hope. You were beautiful, you were kind, and you even spent your time on the likes of him. How couldn't he have fallen for you? How could he have allowed himself to be stuck so far away from you? He wanted you and only you.

He realized this all with the notion that he's 2D as well. He realized it and yet he still had business to attend to in his own. He didn't believe in his original ideas anymore. He took his own world as a challenge by now. A quest to accomplish in order to prove to you how he's made for you. He desperately needed to show you before you grew tired of him and those silly ultimates. He had to show you before you threw them all away by starting some other game and leaving them all in some 2D purgatory. He knew he could do it as long as you let him try. He wouldn't fail you.

He swore to himself that he'd do whatever it takes to get to you. He'd do whatever it takes just to make you understand. He'd do it even if it broke him more than he already was. If you could see any value in something as messed up as him then he wouldn't mind falling apart more for your sake.

Nagito wanted to do so much for you. He wanted to do so much just to bring the two of you closer. He yearned to be able to put his hands up to that glass between you. He dreamed of somehow reaching his own bony ones to wrap around your plumper ones. He dreamed of so many scenarios where he could make these feelings evident that he nearly drove himself mad.

You were always there whether he was awake or asleep. You were always in his mind. He loved you so much he wanted to be able to scream it from mountain tops, he wanted to so badly but he couldn't even admit those feelings to himself. He couldn't whisper let alone open his mouth when he wished to. He couldn't do anything that he wanted to. All he had was the game and his own self proclaimed challenge.

He could only cling to his own delusional terms that by exploiting the ultimates in hope's name would make it so that you could be together. It didn't make sense as most of his ideals did but he was dead set on proving it to you. He was so sure you'd abet his idea, no you'd love it. You'd understand exactly what he meant to accomplish and as soon as you did there could be no way you'd tire of him. That way you couldn't possibly get rid of him even if he was so far.

He thought he could convince you if he did everything in-game correctly to just keep replaying his events over and over and over. You'd never be apart, not ever.

He was so busy with these plans, with these delusions as though he could change the game's bounds that he almost didn't understand why you were upset when you both learned of his fate thanks to a spoiler online. It was great, wasn't it? He could help hope prevail. He could fulfill his quest for you. He was so happy but you didn't seem to be at all.

Sure he'd die but he'd prove his love to you. He'd prove that these feelings were real for you. He thought you'd understand but instead you were crying? Crying for the likes of him? This wasn't what he wanted, he never wanted to hurt, he just wanted to show how dedicated he was.

He couldn't stand to see you cry. It was more unbearable than anything he had ever endured. He tried so hard to open his mouth, to move his hands but they just stayed clenched at his sides. Why was he so useless? Why couldn't he ever be there for you? Why, why, why, why? It felt so hopeless, like he was trapped in some never ending abyss of pain. He felt stuck but he needed to help you more now than ever.

He screamed against his unchanging mouth, he tried kicking and flailling, just anything to change this. He wanted to break that glass to somehow penetrate it's walls to break through to you. He needed to be there, to hold you, to tell you not to worry about the likes of him. He wouldn't ever hurt you if he could help. He needed to tell you so much in that small moment and yet he couldn't do a thing.

In the end Nagito was as useless as he always said he was. He couldn't break free of his world's binds to help you, all he could do was stand by and watch as always. He couldn't get a whisper or a sound out, couldn't even clench his hands tighter, all he did was watch as tear after tear fell feelling small and helpless.

He swore he'd prove himself to you and now his chance was passing him by as he was forced to watch. He couldn't his world from crashing down on him, he couldn't hold up a piece of rubble if he wanted to. Instead he had to make another promise to himself and to you. He would escape from here. He would escape if it killed him just to tell you all of these thoughts that plauged his mind.

Nagito would tell you how he always wanted your eyes on him, how he hated being so far away from you, how you brought joy to the likes of him. He was going to tell you it all before he died. It might go against his past promise but he was determined not to fail this time now that he knew how you really felt about him leaving you.

#Mod Toko's Vocab Corner #danganronpa #danganronpa imagines #dr2 #danganronpa goodbye despair #danganronpa x reader #x reader #nagito komaeda x reader #nagito komeada

51 notes · View notes

natsubeatsrock · 4 years

Text

Why I Still Ship Nali (Even if Most of the Rest of Fandom Doesn’t)

I wasn't planning to do this now. But, I got a few messages that made me think, "I gotta do this now!" Don't worry about it, I'll talk about it a month from now. Anyways...

I want to talk about Nali. Why do I still ship it? I mean the series ended, they don't seem inclined towards a relationship with each other and Mashima seems more likely to make it fade into obscurity than do anything with their relationship.

For those who don't know, in one of my first Nali posts on this blog, I said the difference between those who do and don't ship Nali is the weight one places on their relationship. (Funny how my intro was similar, albiet for different reasons.) If you think it still is relevant, you likely ship it. Most in the fandom people don't and therefore... don't. And if Mashima continues to take the course he is, it’ll be a while before it becomes popular to still like the ship, if such a thing is even ever going to happen. I may be seen as delusional for making their relationship more important in the rewrite.

Well, considering I'm still here and still care about Nali, I figure it's worth talking about this. Like, it's not like anyone else is going to stop me. I'll be borrowing from some of the stuff I've said in rewriting Fairy Tail a bit. Though, some of those posts borrowed from what I've said about the ship in the past. I've been talking about Nali for years and it should show in a lot of what I do.

One of the weird things to me about Nalu is the difference in Natsu and Lucy's relationship with their respective families. Natsu wants to be closer to his family and Fairy Tail as a step towards his family. Lucy wants a better connection than her family and Fairy Tail is a path towards that. The weird thing is that these are different from each other on a fundamental level. Even as Natsu comes to see Fairy Tail as a family and Lucy sees her spirits as part of her family, I find it interesting to see times when these differences play out.

An example of this comes from one of my favorite chapters in the series: Dear Kaby. Natsu is mad that Kaby would resent anything his father would make. Lucy is the one to calm him down on the situation. Even knowing Lucy knows the purpose behind this, it's interesting to see this play out knowing their paternal relationships: Natsu wants to be with his dad and Lucy is running away from hers. That serves as a reason behind their actions.

The thing that makes is weird to me is that the fandom seems to downplay this kind of thing. Like, I get an appeal to Nalu being the fact that they grow closer together over their time together during the series. But this feels like a bigger issue to me than I've seen people make it. I bring this up a lot, but, Natsu and Lucy's desires as late as Tartarus falling in line with this doesn't feel like Mashima "delaying Nalu becoming canon". The idea that their desires actually should have been for each other is beyond ridiculous to me.

The more I think about Tartarus' epilogue and Natsu not apologizing to Lucy, the less I want to ship Nalu. Of course, I've been an ardent supporter of Natsu apologizing to Lucy for years now. Though, I've noticed that my logic has been different from others, over the years. Where most people cling to the fact of Lucy being abandoned, I cling to the hypocrisy of Natsu's motive and action.

But even that shows the difference in their lines of thinking. Natsu is focused on the promise made to Igneel and Lucy wants to be surrounded by as many of her friends as she can. One rebuttal to the wish for Natsu to apologize has been that he's justified in his desire, even if Lucy thinks it's unfair to her. Even as I don't fully agree with the end trajectory of this logic, it points to something important. Both Natsu and Lucy's actions and motives make sense for them. It a fundamental disagreement with characters. (As I see it, Chapter 424 almost reconciles it, but it goes nowhere and I hate it.)

What does "Why I want a Nalu apology" have to do with Nali? More than you think.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: most of fandom doesn't know what to do with Lisanna and it shows. I don't know how you have a character like Lisanna in a series and not do much with her. A character that's been shown to have a great love for her family gets separated from them, has to pretend to be her clone for two years and is abruptly brought back to her real siblings. Of course, Mashima didn't do a whole lot with her. But for a series people call a sandbox for fan interpretation, the fact that this isn't talked about beyond "should she have come back" by most fans isn't just a missed opportunity. It's an outright shame.

What this setup also does is place her in a special place to understand Natsu. Like, people think that Nali only worked as a childhood thing and I couldn't agree less. About the only person who would understand how Natsu feels about his search for Igneel is Lisanna after she returns. She gets the desire to be with your estranged family. She gets wanting to hope against all odds that you can be with your family. While Mira and Elfman could be argued to have a similar perspective, their arcs lend towards different directions.

You'd think this would click with more people. Like, I'm biased in this and Nalu would never likely have been unpopular, regardless of how much Mashima would wish otherwise. But that the potential of what Nali beyond "Natsu and the Dragon Egg" or even just Lisanna after Edolas is as simple as taking their character drives to semi-creative ends and people say they couldn't work after she comes back is a great source of frustration. (To be clear, I still do like Nali as a childhood relationship.)

As an example, let's play out two scenarios for a bit. One will be just Lisanna and the other will involve both of them.

The first is inspired by an ask I got involving Lisanna. What if during the beginning of the S-Class exams, we see Lisanna coping with her separation from Edolas? She spent two years with the Fairy Tail of Edolas. Chances are that, as she sees the members of Earthland Fairy Tail, she'll have some lingering feelings for the connections she made on Edolas. Of course, this will be true of her siblings. But something as simple as Lucy and Levy being friendly might be enough for her to be reminded of Edolas and miss it, even a little. The end goal would be Lisanna coming to a place of accepting she is "truly home", without resenting her time in Edolas.

The second is one I've been playing around with for myself. What if Lisanna tried to comfort Natsu in between chapter 415 and 416? Even as the other dragons were lost, the way Natsu loses Igneel is particularly tragic, if you know my thoughts on Lone Journey 2, you know I don't think he "just gets over" losing him. However, I often imagine what it would be like if the two of them talked about what happened and how it would go about. Would Natsu try to convince her to come with him? Would he mistakenly say she has no way of understanding him? (I've been working on this as an independent story and I may release it some time.)

In Conclusion:

Even as I doubt Mashima will do anything serious with their relationship anytime soon, I think that there's more to Nali that just a childhood friendship.

#fairy tail #nali #anti nalu #anti fairy tail fandom #ish? i guess?#big bang story is coming up tomorrow #you guys aren't ready...#fav

38 notes · View notes

chimswae · 3 years

Text

Untold Bonus Part 3

Foreword:

Some stories are better left unsaid.I couldn’t change anything for the world, although the fame part of this industry is tough to handle.Do i have a life? Yes I have my fans.Do i have friends? Yes the members that I cherish. Do i have love? No I have to let go.Life always offers you a second chance. It’s called tomorrow. But do i have any tomorrow?

Pairing: Jimin x OC (Other characters: BTS, OCs, Lee Taehwan)

Genre: Idolau, Fluff, Romance, Father!Au

Word Count: 2,324

Author Note: I totally forget to finish update Untold! forgive me ;; This is an old story of mine i think i wrote it in 2017, so please ignore my clicheness and the excessive usage of clicheness~ that makes u cringe haha

You can check full masterlist below :)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Part 3

Although their camel tour ended a little comically, everyone had fun. Hoseok on the other hand was salty the whole day because of the poop incident. As soon as they reached their hotel, Hoseok spent at least two hours in the bathroom alone taking super long bath just to get rid of the smell or whatever he thought it was. He claimed it was to stabilize his mental state after the horrifying event.

Hoseok could be a little too dramatic sometimes, no one could stop that guy.

Leaving Hoseok with his delusional thought, others went to get dinner at nearby restaurant and bought takeaways food for him to savor later on. Enjoying the night city view, the stars sparkle in the night sky.

“I love the city when it shuts down” Jimin whispers.

Yeoul smiled upon hearing that low and raspy voice of his, so enticing. They both strolled the parks pedestrian pathways following others from behind silently. The streets was empty, there were minimal number of people around and most of them were couples. The emptiness was strange and magnificent.

“This is perfect” she squished their hand tighter.

In front of them, there were Taehyung with his cameras and his loyal assistant Kim Namjoon, his eyes fixated on his gadgets. These two guys sometimes stopped in the middle of their walk to take good picture and admiring them afterwards. Or ended up bickering over Vante’s photos.

Maknae and Jin on the other side were busy scanning the city and finding good spots to shop, though there were fewer shops opened past 11. The couple did not give up on whatever they were planning to buy, more like souvenirs.

Taehwan and Yoongi went back earlier than them since they wanted to catch up their sleep, with that they offered to bring Minyeol together. Poor Minyeol being dragged around by the adults. Not to mention, they still had to feed loner Jung Hobi, that guy must be starving.

Yeoul and Jimin took their time to enjoy this night stroll exchanging funny stories or stealing glances. Being with Jimin taught Yeoul how to swoon him with a simple flirt and playful kisses. She was taught well.

“Baby..Let’s ditch them” he tugged on Yeoul arm preventing her to move.

“Are you crazy? They will flip out” raising her eyebrows with a questionable look, she watched Jimin took his phone typing something in his phone.

Jimin grinned “Done. I notify them in our Kakaotalk group,so lets go” he pecked her lips, intertwining their hand together. Yeoul could only smile at his randomness and followed him wherever he wished to go. Anywhere with Jimin is everywhere she wanted to be.

Like a flash the couple disappeared from their vicinity for their own oh-not-so-romantic midnight tour. Jin and Jungkook had so much sense in them that they did not even care when they left unlike someone who insisted of following those two. Another reason how they ended in Morocco anyways, Kim Taehyung really need to stop pursuing different career in his life. The preferred V and Vante for now.

Please don’t turn him into Varazzi or something.

------------------------

There sitting side by side, two pure soul enjoying each other company under dark sky accompanied by the heat from the bonfire across them. Being drawn by the warmth of their body heat, Yeoul snuggled in Jimin’s embrace smiling as he rested his chin on top of her head.

The fire glimmered and gleamed, its warmth drawn people in creating an atmosphere for sharing and making memories. As the night grows, they wished to linger around just a little longer in the warmth and contentment around the fire.

Everything about tonight was perfect.

“Aren’t you tired?” he was the one who first broke the silence between them.

Jimin felt Yeoul shifted a little in his embrace and soon he heard she replied “Tired of what? You? That is impossible.. I prefer to cling onto you for the rest of my life” she teased while wrapping her arm around his waist tighter.

“You cannot be tired of me. My charms are overflowing” he gazed down into her dark orbs. A pair of eyes that never failed to draw him in into this crazy world. World with unspeakable love. World that fills with hope. World that fills with happiness.

If she were to list down her weakness when it came to Jimin, his gaze would definitely on the list. In fact, that’s her utmost weakness.

“Aren’t you being a little over confident right now Park Jimin-ssi?” she ran her thumb over his lips, stroking it softly.

“I don’t mind if it is you I am trying to win over” caressing the back of his hand along Yeoul’s soft cheeks, Jimin closed the gap between them and locking her into a long endearing kiss. A kiss that he wished to give everyday.

Their lips move just perfectly in sync following their rapid heartbeat. He stroke over her back in a light touch that sent tingles in her heart. Every time their lips touched the spark ignite anew. Yeoul placed her palm upon his chest over his heart and felt it strong steady beat. The kiss deepened as she could feel with every stroke of his tongue latching onto hers.

They broke the kiss to catch a deep breath “You are irresistible Park Jimin” Yeoul mumbled against his lips.

“I am sorry. You have to deal with it until death do us part” nuzzling her face, Jimin chuckled softly.

“I don’t mind” this time Yeoul was the one who initiate their second round. Locking her arm around his neck tight, she pulled him down for another kiss. Who knows a kiss with Jimin can be addicting? Well Yeoul had her whole life to deal with it.

----------------------

It was time to get back to reality. Everyone was physically ready to be back in Korea but not mentally. They will be missing Morocco for sure. Nonetheless, thanks to Kim Taehyung unexpected plan Yeoul and Jimin stays in Morocco was extra fun than they expected. Creating new memories with their loved one especially Bangtan, Taehwan and Minyeol, it was beyond perfect.

Boarding the plane on time, everyone got into their seat. First class seat as they said, but Jungkook was stuck with Jin for the whole journey, how unfortunate. He liked his hyung but sometimes he’s a little too bubbly for someone at his age. Considering he is in the hyung line, Jungkook felt he had slowly shifted toward the maknae line.

Welcome aboard Kim Seokjin!

Even before the plane took off, Jin insisted to sit on the aisle and made Jungkook stay in the middle. They had no idea who would take the window seat but scratch that, he hoped that person wouldnt snore that much.

Jungkook eyes wandered at the direction of their seat and noticed the window seat was already occupied. He couldn’t get a full view of the person but he’s sure it was a girl. So, he sank in his seat carefully not to startle the girl whom seemed engross with her reading. She had earphone plugged in both of her ears got him less anxious to sit behind a stranger some more a girl.

The older boy came few minutes later with a triumph grin plastered across his face, more like mocking Jungkook for sitting beside a girl.

Maknae grunted under his breath feeling unfair as he sent death glare at Jin’s way “If it weren’t for you……” Jin dumbfounded look was even annoying.

As the plane was ready for take off, Jungkook stole a glance at the girl beside him. He admired her long eyelashes, and her soft fluffy cheeks which again reminded him Jimin’s puffy one. Her fingers were beautiful and those accessories that she wore fitted perfectly around it. He tore his gaze from examining her feature even more like a creep. Jungkook had no idea why was he so nervous when the girl beside him showed no interest to start a conversation even a simple hi.

You are so stupid Jungkook. He grimaced.

The first hour of the journey, Jungkook had decided to pay all his attention on the games in his phone. His mind sometimes was too wild and he tended to over thinking too. The girl snapped the book closed as she stifled her yawn, stretching her aching muscle.

She loved window seat since she had more space for herself and most importantly she didn’t have to deal with strangers on plane. Engaging into unimportant conversation was one thing, but she hated people who snore in the plane.

Thank god, the two guys beside him seemed normal. She totally forgot to take a glance at the guy beside him and only to realize he’s quite good looking. Not an average look for a man at his age, but his eyes and those visible veins were her weakness.

Reaching out to her hair, she’s about to tie it into a bun but only to lose grip on her red hairband. It landed just few inch from Jungkook’s feet. Jungkook realized that and put away his phone. He bent down to pick the hairband up but at the same time the girl was already reaching for it. Their head were hitting each other, earning a low gasp from both Jungkook and the girl.

Jungkook straightened up with a baffle look “I am so sorry” he apologized earnestly.

The girl took the hairband and rubbed her sore head with a small smile “It is alright. I am sorry for dropping this” their eyes met. The girl grew anxious at the sudden staring battle that they had right now. She touched her face in case she smeared her lipstick.

“I am sorry? Is there something wrong” she inquired.

He was brought back to his sense as he blurted without he realize “Nothing. You are just pretty” Jungkook himself couldn’t believe what’s coming out from his sinful mouth. Clasping his hand over his mouth, he patted it giving it a scold.

The girl blushed upon hearing his compliment as he watched him in horror “W-hat…” she faked a laugh and averted her gaze from Jungkook.

“I mean..I didn’t mean to say that. That is just weird. I am sorry again” He bowed a little hoping he would not scare the girl away. What’s wrong with him anyway? This stupid filthy little mouth gave away compliment so casually especially to a stranger like her.

She shook her head “It is alright. It must be the gravity” she reasoned.

Jungkook bit his lower lips to surpass his chuckle at her silly reply “Urm.. I am Jeon Jungkook by the way” he flashed her a charming smile not trying to win her over but that’s just how he smiled.

The girl was taken aback at first not expecting the guy beside her would introduce himself. This was the start of every conversation, how she hated that. Therefore just to be polite, she replied Jungkook casually “Nari…Son Nari” her eyes gleams.

“Nari.. Nice to meet you Nari-ssi”

“You too Jungkook-ssi”

Interestingly, this Son Nari girl seemed to not recognize him. Not to sound like a superstar, but to be frank everyone knew Bangtan Sonyeondan but for some reason this girl had zero idea of his existence as one of famous idol members.

After exchanging their names, they fell into silence again. Nari exasperated a sigh of relief knowing Jungkook was not a talkative person, so she could enjoy this plane ride with ease.

Little did Jungkook know, Jin was actually faking him being asleep. He heard it all up until those little innocent conversation made by Jungkook introducing himself to some random girl. It was a rare sight but he’s proud of his dongsaeng mustering his courage to talk to opposite sex.

Jungkook stiffened in his seat still contemplating whether to ask questions or kept his mouth shut. Part of him wanted to prolong this conversation as he was curious of this Son Nari person. A soft sigh escaped as his fingers fiddled nervously.

“You should be thanking me later Jeon” a soft voice whispered awfully low and close to his ears causing him to jerk backwards accidentally hitting Nari again.

“I AM SO SORRY AGAIN” he looked over at the confused girl and threw a nasty glare at Jin, grinding his teeth together.

“You seem to have the knack of bumping into others clumsily” she chortled.

The corner of his lips tugged into an embarrass smile “I thought there was a bug on my seat” he lied. Studying her facial more clearly know, he could tell she’s judging him considering how hard she tried to hold back her laughter.

“Actually you kinda remind me of one of my friends.. he is..” Nari couldn’t believe with her own eyes that she actually felt comfortable talking to a stranger exchanging their stories and life which was she rarely did every time in public.

But..Jungkook. Something about him made it feel different.

Was it his smiley face?

Was it his perfectly round eyes?

Was it his giggly side every time he got shy?

It had always been a start of something new. Nari could use new friends.

Previous | Next: Epilogue

#untoldseries #bts fic #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #jimin x oc #jimin idolau #jimin father au #park jimin father au #bts series #jimin parenthood au

2 notes · View notes

blackheart-skz · 5 years

Text

Ateez as Yanderes.

TW: Mentions of abusive behaviour, toxic relationships, violence, self-harm and other topics that might be triggering.

Note: I am, in no way, trying to romanticize or portray the persons involved as heroes. The behaviour of the characters is not healthy and extremely harmful. If you or someone you know sees such characteristics in someone, do not overlook it. Furthermore, this is a work of fiction. I am not trying to represent the idols through my writing.

Ahhh I'm actually not very good at doing reactions. I feel that for some of the members I did a sort of a mini scenario but then for others it's like a description oof. Hope it's not super bad.

Kim Hongjoong = Over-proctective

- Hongjoong's caring and protective personality was what made you like him and now the same personality makes you despise him

- Hongjoong does not trust you at all

- He thinks you're incapable of doing things without him

- He treats you like a porcelain doll that could easily break

- He has put a lot of restrictions on where you can go or what you can do

- He will not let you go anywhere without his permission or go somewhere without him

- He doesn't trust you with anyone

- People are evil and they could hurt his precious one

- He is very afraid of something bad happening to you

- If you even get a minor cut, he will freak out and will not even let you move

- You do not have the freedom to do anything

- If you ever say that you want to leave him, he will lock you up

- He thinks that you're not mentally strong enough to know what's good for you

- And that's what drives him become your guardian and imprison you in your own house

Park Seonghwa = Dominant/Narcissistic

- Seonghwa has a huge ego

- Rejection is one thing he never accepts

- He expects everyone to worship him and you're no exception

- You wouldn't have been forcibly taken away and chained in his basement had you not uttered the word "no" to his face

- If you do anything that he even feels was disrespectful or if you try to leave him, he will severely punish you

- He sees inflicting pain and other severe punishment methods a way to mold you into his perfect slave

- You have to be really careful to not displease him cuz his anger is unpredictable

- He will reward you if you're obedient at all times

- He also makes sure he is the only person you invest your time and effort in

- He is your master and your life should revolve around him and him only

Jeong Yunho = Jealous/Overly-sensitive

- Yunho started off as the best man ever but then as time passed, the good in him started fading away.

- He started getting jealous a bit too often

- And now it's a daily occurence

- He does not trust you one bit

- He downloaded a tracking app on your phone so that he can keep track of where you go

- You talking to any guy or girl makes him go absolutely nuts

- he threatens people behind your back

- He also twists your words a lot which is rooted from his lack of trust as well

- He thinks that everything you say has a hidden implication behind it

- Like seonghwa, he wants your life to be about him

- He doesn't like you giving attention to anyone else be it a person or a hobby

- So if you want to talk to your mom or write a bunch of poems as a hobby, too bad.

Kang Yeosang = Sadistic/Cruel

- Yeosang was very good at hiding his sadistic side when he first met you.

- He used his charming looks and soothing voice to make you fall in love with him

- Once that happened and you entered into a relationship with him, his true colours started showing

- He slowly started getting both physically and emotionally abusive

- His initial reason was to keep you with him but eventually he started enjoying it

- As much as he loves you, seeing you helpless and at his mercy pleasures him to no end

- He prefers using physical punishments over emotional anytime you disobey him

- He loves seeing you break piece by piece

- But he also likes peppering you with kisses and telling you how gorgeous you are

- which makes him even more scarier

- Trying to leave him is not a smart idea at all

- You try to run away and he breaks your legs

- He will never hesitate to use excruciatingly painful methods to keep you from leaving

Choi San = Manipulative

- Just like Yunho, at first, he treated you like a king/queen

- But then slowly he started becoming a bit too obsessive and wanted to be with you 24/7 and know everything that you did

- He wants to know every single detail of your life

- If you ever try to reject him, he starts guilt tripping you

- He says that you're ungrateful for all the things that he does for you

- Afterall, he did treat you like no one else in the beginning

- Your family and friends slowly start cutting ties from you

- You don't know why but San knows very well

- If you find him being too burdensome and call out his behaviour, he blames it on you instead

- He targets your weaknesses to justify his behaviour and make you feel guilty

- No matter what, he never admits that he's wrong

- If you try to blame him, he starts playing victim

- He makes himself seem so pitiful that you can't help but feel guilty

- If you ever try to leave him, he would threaten to kill himself

- He will make you feel like you're the bad one in the relationship

- And you'll not have anyone to go to either so it's a win for him

Song Mingi = The clingy/stalker type

- Mingi was absolutely mesmerized by your beauty when he saw you for the first time

- He wanted to talk to you but he didn't have the courage to so he just start following you around and keeping track of every move you made

- He found out everything about you from what school you went to to what your pet peeve was before he made a move

- It took him a year worth of courage to eventually talk to you and of course considering how much he knew about you, he also knew what he had to do in order to make you fall for him

- And it worked

- Once that happened, Mingi stuck to you like gum

- Now, he does not leave your side for even a minute

- He wants to be with you 24/7 and sends you over a 100 texts everyday

- If you try to leave him for even a second he'll throw a tantrum and cling on to you to you like a koala

- Has become too dependent on you and you would actually believe him if he says that he would die without you

- coming back to him biting his nails to the point that his fingers were bloody and him literally jumping on you when after you left him alone for not even 3 hours is enough proof for you to believe him

- He has never and never will hurt you but he wont hesitate to hurt others

- He hasn't yet but he surely will if you don't take his threats seriously

Jung Wooyoung = Delusional

- A very dangerous yandere

- but more than that a pitiful yandere

- He isn't able interpret your words or read your emotions

- He mistook your gesture of kindness as an invitation for love

- After helping him once, you started seeing him around a bit too often

- He started talking to you as if you guys were close friends

- You ignored him but he never stopped

- After a while, he started treating you like his girlfriend/boyfriend though you barely knew him

- At that point you realized that this wasn't normal and you needed to do something

- You told you friends and were planning to contact the police

- Wooyoung started noticing how people looked at him weirdly and he thougjt its cuz they were jealous of your "relationship" and want you guys to break up

- You had come to the final decision to report him but before you could, he kidnaped you and locked you up in his house claiming that he's trying to "protect" your relationship

- The more you try to push him away, the closer got

- Be it physically or emotionally

- None of your attempts to snap him out of his imaginary work

- His imagination is too far gone for him to come back

Choi Jongho = The selfish/violent type

- A bit of what you would call a spoiled brat

- A lot actually

- What he wants, he gets

- Even if that means hurting others in the process

- He's a selfish man and he isn't scared to acknowledge that

- Kinda like Seonghwa but not quite

-Unlike him, Jongho is aware of what he's doing

- Seonghwa's ego leads him but Jongho leads his ego

- Jongho doesnt hesitate to get violent either

- You disobey him, he punishes you

- But the fact that he remains calm both before the punishment and after shows that he isn't actually bothered by your behaviour

- He just likes the power he has over you

- To him it doesn't matter if you love him or not, you're something that he admires therefore he has to have you

- No matter what you do, his heart will never go soft and even if it does, it will only be to an extent where he let's you breathe freely

#yandere ateez #yandere kpop #yandere hongjoong #yandere san #yandere seonghwa #yandere mingi #yandere yunho #yandere jongho #yandere wooyoung #yandere yeosang

413 notes · View notes

forallyourikemensengokuneeds · 5 years

Text

Something every person should read.

Tonight was one of those waking moments when my daughter came to me to go over a moment she was writing about for her English class. They read a book I do not know the author, but the name of it was “Stranger in the Village.” All I could think about when she told me was the weird coincidence that I was writing a story titled the Village. Weird, I know, but this is my life.

She went on to explain the paper was a time when they, the students, felt like they were a stranger in the village. I thought how apt. She is the oldest child of a military family. She more than the others moved around, had to start new schools, had to deal with being a stranger in a new place many times. She chose to go a different route. She went to the fact she is a taxidermist. How the online people went after her for being one. How she had to deal with the masks of people calling her horrid names and even calling her a serial killer to be. This was a difficult time for her, but I do have to say she handled it with a grace that I am glad I inspired. I told her that it was a good paper and that she should be happy with it. It did meet the requirements that her teacher asked for.

I told her after she explained to me why she chose to do that instead of the cliché moments of being that military brat I, of course, laughed and said I was surprised she didn’t chose her freshmen year and the events that unfolded near the end. She looked at me and said I didn’t even think of that. She and I talked about those few months we lived in terror, and she went off to write a second essay, which included the series of events that made her an outsider in a place she should feel safe.

As we discussed the events, one thing kept coming up. The fact she didn’t want to tell me what was going on. She repeated it over and over again. The reason she didn’t want to tell me was she thought she did something wrong. It was somehow her fault any of this happened.

She went upstairs of course with the knowledge that she didn’t do anything wrong, that it wasn’t her fault, but even knowing it, it took a few years for it to finally sink in.

This is personal, and I do have permission from my daughter to share this. It has to be addressed, and I know I have many younger followers, so this needs to be said. Any of my followers should read this. It does have some touchy subjects, but here is the thing, if you don’t read this, if you don’t hear this, it will always be something that haunts you.

*Names changed*

Alex came home from school and didn’t want to leave my side. I had a few errands to run, and they usually came with me but that day was weird. They were almost clinging. Alex never clung. It was a joke between us that she never wanted to hold my hand since she had become a teenager. I never expected her too, she was after all fourteen going on thirty. For all the differences we had we were close. Alex wanted to speak, I could see, but like me she could not be pushed. She had this tell that warned me that something big was going to be dropped on me at some point in the next few hours. Something that she thought was huge in her fourteen-year-old mind but was probably not a big deal. She had a boyfriend. She had a girlfriend, she was failing a class. These were the things that ran through my head. I was not prepared in the least for the words that came out of her mouth.

“Mom, Hypothetically…..” Alex began, and I stopped her about halfway and asked if her friend that hypothetically was really her. I told her it was more important that I had the details from the start so I could help with whatever was bothering her.

“Yes. Mom. I am scared.” She said. That was my first warning. This was not going to be a typical nor a straightforward teenage problem. The words started pouring from her mouth as we sat outside and I simply listened as I tried to piece together from the ramblings of a teenager that did focus on all the wrong things. A boy in her school, another freshman, was stalking her. She had turned down his advances repeatedly and politely, but he could not accept the words for what they were. That by itself was bad enough, but then she started to go into more detail, and things started coming up that she was glossing over. I would ask questions and pry more information out of her which lead to more questions. After hours of talking I sent her to bed. She was tired and the weeks of worry that she had dealt with this on her shoulders alone had taken their toll. Now it was on my shoulders.

The reality was my firstborn, my headstrong look-alike daughter, had stumbled headfirst into a nightmare. Now it was my nightmare as well. As a parent you are somewhat prepared to deal with bumps and bruises, cuts and scapes, broken hearts, bad grades, and a whole host of other things but never this. I sat on the front steps of my house, smoking a cigarette trying to figure out what my next step was. How was I going to fix this for her? There was no answer. I had nothing. I was now scared in a way I did not know could happen. My daughter was a target of not only a stalker but a highly delusional boy who was making death threats toward her and the school. It was not just about my kid anymore but hundreds of kids.

She had told me she had proof, but somehow I neglected to ask her for it. So I walked up to her room to find her next closest sister, putting a blanket over her as she was asleep. Her sister then told me she hadn’t been sleeping and she was glad that her sister had finally told me and she now could. I left her and went back downstairs comforted that she had told me, and she could now sleep, knowing full well I wasn’t getting any that night. Instead I made a phone call. One of my good friends was the one person in the world who could help me, and he dropped everything and raced over to my house, and we sat outside and discussed every possibility and what I had to do. Fifteen years as a cop and a child task force officer he was now a lawyer and my personal advisor on all things in the legal system. He was a blessing.

The next day I asked her to send me every screenshot, every conversation, every detail she could gather to me. As the day unfolded and the more I read, the more I knew what I had to do. By the last screenshot that was forwarded to her by a friend I was already on the phone with the school and the police in that town. After dealing with that for a few hours I waited until she got off the bus and had printed out the screenshots and we went to the police in our town. It seemed there was a disagreement on whose jurisdiction it really was though it was clear there was something very wrong. The school was also notified by me in both an email and a very long phone call from the principle and the vice principal. Two people I will be forever grateful for in the next coming weeks.

Now we had two soon to be three police districts involved, the school was actively involved, and at this point, only one police officer had seen the proof. He was also a godsend. He questioned her for over an hour, realizing this was not a he-said-she-said thing, and he began the report. He also made it so she could get a restraining order in the morning. I already had the paperwork because of my friend, who was waiting for me to say the word. I called him, and within the hour, he had a closed chamber meeting, and she was granted a special order of protection.

Everyone saw the same thing I did. Sandy Hook happened a few years before that only thirty miles away. The idea of another tragedy like that was simply too much when there was this much evidence at hand and a mother who would fight this hard to get people to listen. The school’s part was the most critical and I was hoping that they would take it seriously. I know had the backing of a few other friends behind me who were telling me everything would be fine. Everything was going to fine. I knew everything was not going to be fine. This was my kid. My demon child. It was words people could say, but nothing can express the fear I had those days. My husband was more laid back about it. He is always laid back out things like this. It is his military training. Don’t panic. Don’t react. I had the same training. That flew out the door when I hear that my baby has a bulls-eye on her back.

The next day was nothing short of walking into hell. Alex, upon arriving at school was whisked away into the office to hand over the proof. She was then locked away in a closet while the administration had the police there, members of the school board, and her. They kept the boy micheal**Not real name** away from her. He gave his statement, and whatever he said was determined not to be the truth. His parents refused to come and get him and refused for him to be questioned by the police further.

The school then came up with a detailed plan to keep Alex safe while in the school. This was nothing short of a miracle in itself. They had a guard with her at all times for the next three weeks. She was given a map of the school with all the “Hidden” rooms students aren’t supposed to know about. They were her safe places. Micheal was suspended for the rest of the school year after a week of looking further into him, due to active threats made to the school. He was taken out yelling they all would pay.

We had the schools backing. We had the help of the PD, we had the PO, but we still lived in fear for a while. It wasn’t until after the school year ended, and that principle retired that I found out more when he called to tell me so I would be aware. Michael had been expelled from the school, but they had to wait till after the school year to do it for some reason from the school board. The police had been called in after a few days after the major breakthrough again because of threats being made online towards the school. This was his second offense for doing this, and they got a search warrant. What was found when they searched his house still send chills down my spine.

They found fourteen handguns in his room. They also found pictures of her plastered on his wall with his blood dripping down the pictures. He had taken her eyes out of most of them, and they found those next to his bed. He had an article that had been written about her for a local newspaper the year before and it had not only our address but also pictures of her sisters and brother under it. He had a notebook. It was not a manifesto it was a record of his stalking and everything about her.

EVERYTHING. Her shirt size, she dress size, her pant size, her ring size, her friends, her classes, her likes, her dislikes, my name, her fathers name, her siblings names, her birthdate, her classes, and the most disturbing thing, her period cycle “So he could make sure to get her at the right time.”

It also had the routes drawn out to her classes, when she would go, who she talked too. The days she had not spoken to him was tallied. This was all the proof they need to charge him with stalking, threats to a school, plans of discharging a weapon in a school, and the arranging online for the kidnapping and torture of a minor.

He is locked up in a juvenile facility. One that is supposed to focus on mental health as well. We are okay with that. She walked away alive, and though she has her moment, she is mostly normal though she can’t be in crowds for long. she is also hyper-aware of who is around her, and she will not go out of her way to make friends.

The point is she somehow thought this, all of this was her fault. It is not. It never was. If you or someone you know is going something even remotely like this IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT or THEIRS. Do not try to go through this alone. Find someone, anyone to tell. A teacher, a friend, your parents, a friends parents, hell me just tell someone.

That day we went to the police, the school, and everything else we did probably prevented a school shooting. He was prepared. He had a plan. He was doing everything step by step. He was only two steps away from his ultimate goal. Two steps. She prevented a school shooting. She had to live it. No one at the school knew the full extent of what was going on. No one knew what she had done for them. To this day, a lot of those kids are alive because she had the realization to tell me this was going on. She is really my hero.

Don’t be afraid. Say something.

#stalking #possibly school shooting #real life #this happened #everyone should read this #it is not your fault

30 notes · View notes

alsodiplodocus · 4 years

Text

Denbora Makina (2020)

Another short story inspired by MGMT, this time it’s this beautiful video:

youtube

Once again, it’s pretty obvious where I got my ideas from! If you do watch that video, google “Ako at si Michael” and “Границы Мира MGMT”, too. It’s wild.

---

Damn it, Michael… how often have i already tried to banish you from my head?

You keep finding new disguises. You keep sneaking behind the scenes and pulling the strings. My last memories of you are your tool, and you‘re building a wall, little by little. The only thing coming through the wall are these miserable, numbing questions. They all go in a circle, and i am increasingly unable to concentrate on anything else.

I watch the rain.

It‘s rhythmic drumming polishes the steel and concrete of the city, and calms me hypnotically. Far below, small dark spots swarm around, all of them in a hurry, absorbed in their thoughts. Are you hiding somewhere in there? …No. Surely not. Nobody is up this late, only sick or crazy people.

But who is supposed to sleep with this noise? Forgotten promises and last words echo through my narrow four walls like a broken record.

If you at least had the decency to be honest… at least put the final nail in the coffin. Nothing is worse than a soundless ending.

I look away from the window and my alarm clock brutally shines into my face: Three in the morning.

One thing can still save me. The same thing that saved me in so many of these sleepless nights. I stumble over to my piano and play a soft chord. The comforting sound lets me think of something else for a second. Each chord whispers to me where the next one is hidden, and i lure a few more warm, enveloping tones out of the keys.

If i just play for long enough, maybe i will still find some peace this night. I let my hands glide, and almost by itself, my piano tells me a consoling story. It‘s lofty heights, somber lows and tragic riddles and twists let me forget everything else.

I let the story rest for a bit, take a deep breath. Mechanically, like in every one of these sleepless nights, i reach to my right and grab my camera. Click. I‘ll have it listen to my story, and then maybe my aimless playing around is not completely for nothing.

I continue, but the gentle distraction keeps my restlessness at bay only for a short while. Open questions and loose ends crash in on me, bury me under their flood. Your last words. Your timid manner. Why did you behave like somebody different? What are you hiding?

Almost completely passively, i let the tormenting beasts loose and translate them into sequences of notes. Their blind attacks self-assemble into harmonies, follow each other as melodies.

I hope you‘re listening, Michael. This is my goodbye.

I let my seething anger guide me and rush over the keys, faster, rougher, more violent. Damn, this feels amazing. I can‘t quite follow it myself anymore, my confusion drags me across the keys. Back and forth through bygone melodies and new outbursts, each note banishing you from my life a little more, every swipe across the keys directed against you, and slowly, almost leisurely, a tiny little melody crystallizes in all the chaos. It‘s plain, inconspicuous, almost drowns in everything else, but i keep coming back to it. The eye of the storm. I passively indulge in the sounds a while more, until i slowly but surely reach a certain calm – and there she is again, my small innocent friend. I bring her back and let her fade away, again and a gain, letting my head be a little more free each time, until everything gently fades to silence. Real silence this time.

The sudden energy leaves me again, and I am reminded with full force of how long I‘ve already been sleepless. I grab my camera again, clutch it close and and collapse a little. I will make sure you hear me loud and clear this time. With my last strength, I stagger over to my laptop, its contrast beams at me with the perceived force of three suns, and I navigate over to my channel - “AnnaInsomnia2“. Embarrassing. The first name was taken. The video joins countless other recordings of my nightly piano escapades, and in just a few hours my few loyal followers will ask themselves what on earth has gotten into me. And you Michael, you probably do that already anyways. Farewell.

I stumble out of my channel and through the internet for a bit – who knows, the world could have ended in the last few hours. I would not have noticed, deeply secluded in my personal tiny little echo chamber. Passively, I skim through one post after the next. Angered voices shout into the void and are self-absorbed enough to demand an answer, too. Between those, there‘s the usual polished faces, cat pictures of course and – hey! A comment.

“wow wow wow… you keep getting better! <3“

Of course, Lisabear25. You say that every time.

After some more aimless scouring, my nose hits my keyboard and I finally drift towards dreams.

Sunlight tears my eyes open and my body pretends to be awake. What the hell was that just now? What a strange dream. Flute players with masks, someone helpless and fettered… well, if I‘ve ever slept well, today was not that day. But whatever, I didn‘t really have plans anyways. I stretch myself and – oh, seems like I’ve fallen asleep on the laptop again. Damn. I look over the screen briefly. Wait a minute, am I still dreaming? My channel is littered with comments, hordes of fans. I barely recognize my little corner of the internet – I’m not alone anymore!

All of my videos have more views than I could have ever dreamed of. Paralyzed, I stare at the little number under “Michael”, the newest video. That’s more people than could ever fit into my room. More than ever listened to me in my entire life, more than an entire concert hall, just for my strange mental breakdown on the piano at night. And all of them are strangers.

It feels like I stole someone else’s place. Someone sympathetic, someone that people listen to. Someone that understands others.

Thousands of unknown faces, and all of them seem to congratulate me – for what? I stumbled into somebody else’s skin. Whoever deserves all this, she is very, very far away from me. Speechless, I click through my notifications, really want to look away and understand what is going on, but the flood of praise and attention seems to have no end. I should be thankful, but instead there is just confusion and this feeling of being an impostor. My phone vibrates and forces me out of my trance, and the next message brings me to a halt completely. I hold my phone in both hands, trembling, clinging on to it like my future is going to dissolve into thin air if I let go now. I read the first few lines again and again to convince myself they are real.

An email from Cadena, the record label that I’ve been religiously following for ten years now. Each of their artists has practically become part of my flesh and blood. I feel like I owe their music my life with how often they have pulled me out of the abyss.

“Hi, Anna!”

So far, so good.

“We saw your latest video.”

Surreal and basically delusional, but I already reconciled with that idea.

“We (that’s Jeff and Carissa)” – my god, it’s really them – “are pretty blown away by it and think you would seamlessly fit into our little family over here. So come visit us! We look forward to getting to know you.”

The following are Cadena’s usual formalities which I have seen so often at this point that they have been burned into my brain. I close my eyes and lean back. This is real. I often went through similar scenarios in my head, indulged in the fantasy of being in the same boat with my heroes. To do for others what they did for me. It’s hard to get rid of the thought that all of this is just a huge bluff and I will be figured out once I arrive. But I have no choice anymore, and no time to lose.

After way too many botched attempts, my hair is tamed, my best shirt is found – not too obvious, nobody likes fangirls – and my hand is on the doorknob.

Just one last swing, and – really? A phone call? Who would – oh. I press the green button. “Yes, mom?”

“Sweetheart! I think I’m dreaming!”

“Y… uh… yeah, me too. Listen, can you maybe –“

“And you never did tell us about this You-Tube thing, did you? Darling, you know you don’t have to have any secrets with us, right?”

“Yeah, sure. Look, I need to –“

“You were on TV today! I could not believe my eyes… we’re so proud of you!”

“I – wait, seriously? When was that?”

I have not owned a TV for years. My dad violently snatches the phone: “You’re not running away this time, we have not heard from you in so long – hey, they’re showing you again! –“

My mom yanks the phone back.

“I never thought I’d see the day! Oh, what are they saying now…”

I can hear the leather chair crinkle as she leans forward to read better. She probably misplaced her reading glasses again.

“AnnaInsomnia2, the overnight You-Tube sensation… was… whaat? Was… accused of plagiarism by… Dehn…bohr…?”

My dad interferes from the back: “Denbora Makina… huh? Anna? What’s going on…”

I can’t do anything except pause and look for answers, but there’s nothing. My mom keeps reading: “The Spanish rock band accuses the You-Tube-star of ripping off their melody from the song ‘True Face’, and demand… Anna? Can you explain?”

No. No, I can’t. The phone slides out of my hand and slams against the floor, the lump in my throat feels like a huge ball made of iron. Impossible. That melody… I found it yesterday night. It was a part of my story. Nobody else can have it. Nobody else was in my situation. The concentrated rage of yesterday comes back to me. That melody was my friend, my path into the future… I am not a thief, and I am not a fraud. “NO!”. My fist slams against the door. “NOOO!”.

“Calm down over there”.

Who the fuck��? I slowly turn to my couch, and a laid-back guy with a hoodie and a mask is making himself comfortable on it.

“What the –“

“Psst!”, the guy interrupts me with a finger on the mask, right where the lips should be. He calmly conjures up a flute, and plays: In just the first few tones I recognize the melody I found yesterday. I shiver violently and the only thing I can think of is escape. I turn around to the door, but there is nothing anymore. And I mean absolutely nothing. Everything is black. Everywhere. Just the melody is left. I get lightheaded, my sense of balance fails me, and I fall to the ground where a wall should have been.

Tumultuous applause. Thundering lights. I’ve melted somewhere into the horde a long time ago. It stomps and screams: “En-core!”

I am a face in a sea of many. “En-core!”

As an e-guitar starts droning, the horde is getting louder, more enveloping.

„So the story leads us to a new place…“

The frontman's mouth is moving, but the howling voices of the mass overrule him.

„But you know I‘ve seen this all before“

The warm air around me is vibrating. The smell of sweat overwhelms me. How long have I been standing here?

„Show me your True Face, girl“

No, god damn it. Not again. My melody!

„Show me your True Face some more“

What an irritating, ear-piercing chorus.

„And light the torch!“

God, what an atrocious song. Shallow, pompous radio rock. Why do people even dig this stuff? It feels like someone stole my melody and raped it. And a last time, the horde repeats in unison:

„AND LIGHT THE TORCH!!“

The crowd of people around me melts away, and only the stage is left, with the grinning visages of the band, and the melody that’s fading away. In the middle of it stands the relaxed dude with the flute.

“So there you are. Don’t run away this time, you hear?”

The rest of the band disappears behind the curtains, dragging their instruments with them.

“You’re really making this difficult, you know… normally people are a bit easier to get through to. You have to understand, I’m just trying my best here. I tried to give you a friendly visit, but it seems you didn’t want that. Well, and now we have it. Come on, get up here. On the stage.”

“W… uh… what… who are… D-den… Makina? Am I dreaming?”

The lanky guy calmly puts his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and chuckles to himself.

“Nah, not really. Denbora Makina are in the middle of nowhere right now and getting filthy rich off of your ad revenue. Just stole their appearance for a bit. That’s the good part of having a mask like this! Not their biggest fan, but I like their style. So easygoing. Well, come now, up on the stage with you.”

Nope, no chance.

“I’m just trying to free you, you know. This is not how it works. Believe me, you can’t do this alone. For fucks sake, you’re flying back and forth between aggressive episodes and numb melancholy like a god damn ping-pong ball! What are you staring at me like that for? If you go on pouting like that, nobody here is gonna move forward.”

No movement, just don’t give in.

The guy in the mask turns around resignedly. “Boys, seems like we have to lure her out. Bring it in.”

In just a few moments, a few masked men heave a gigantic grand piano on the stage, as if someone grabbed it straight out of my dreams. My whole life I imagined sitting in front of a real grand piano for the first time… oh… oh no. I want to touch it. “What… what is all of this? What do you want from me?”

“We just have to summon somebody – oh, don’t look at me like that. Believe me, this is best for you. Before we do that you won’t leave this place.

I try to move away, but something winds around my hip and ties me down.

“The more you try to resist, the more it will hurt. I can’t do this for you. So come on, make it painless.”

I’m tangled tight in a rope that reaches up on the stage, behind the grand piano, and through the curtains. No matter where I try to move, the rope pulls me forward. “What do you even mean? Summon? Who? Why? I just want to –“

“The only thing you have to do now is play. Sit down and play – the rest happens by itself.”

I give in to the rope and follow it to the front of the piano. I don’t need to ask. I know exactly what is asked of me. Let’s do this.

I conjure up everything once again. Michael. The rainy night. The prison of yesterday which I thought I escaped. And once I again I perform the entire play. The lofty passages, the breakneck turns. All of it once again. I feel like an old lady whose grandkid is shouting “Again, again!” for the third time now and reluctantly bringing the same old story to life again. And again I come back to the then so innocent sounding little melody, again and again it resounds and floats away. This time, it no longer leaves me with freedom, but feels like a heavy brick in my stomach.

The masked guy applauds wildly, and I slowly open my eyes again. “I knew you got this down! And now the last act, the reason why you’re here.”

The gigantic piano disappeared again, and I feel somebody is reluctantly tied to the other end of the rope and fighting back.

“You never learned to let go.”

The masked guy pulls the rope, and my counterpart stumbles through the curtains, immediately trying to avoid my eye.

“M-Michael… what… how did –”

“Not my fault, you did this to him.”, the masked guy interrupts. “If you knew how many times I had to go through this scene. All strokes of genius have been on my canvas already, and all stories have been lived through by me. And always the same lesson: Michael belongs to no-one. In plain terms: What you found yesterday, this idea you’ve been clinging to as if it would save you – it’s not yours. And just as little does it belong to some band from País Vasco.”

Michael stares into the air next to me and gulps. “What the hell is this guy talking about?”

The guy in the mask sighs. “Why am I even telling you this? You’ll see it eventually. If you have the honor of finding something really meaningful, don’t make it your prisoner. Be happy to have met it. None of your stories are ever really new. What matters is how you tell them, and who is listening.”

Michael stares at me, inquiring, but I don’t have answers.

The masked guy seems to enjoy the awkward silence for a bit, and then turns to me: “You don’t really believe you got rid of each other yesterday night, did you? You packaged him up, put a neat bow on it and shoved him into a drawer at the back of your head. It will never end this way, trust me, a real goodbye looks different. Here.”

The guy with the mask reaches into his hoodie’s pockets and brings out a burning torch.

“Either you let this rope between you hang there forever, or you finally put an end to things. It will be excruciating, but you’ll survive. Trust me, I’ve seen it enough times.”

He presses the torch into my hand.

“But.. should I… ?”

“Yeah, the rope burns pretty well. Alright, I gotta go free somebody else. Adieu.”

And so the masked guy steps back into nothing, and I feel a second hand on the torch.

“You know, I think that guy did have a point. I was never good at letting go either.”

Michael tears the torch from my hand.

“It’s been a pleasure.”

6 notes · View notes

mimiplaysgames · 5 years

Text

A Powerful Enough Dream (Ch. 1)

Pairing: Terra/Aqua Rating: T Word Count: 10,597

Summary: Terra braves the Realm of Darkness to find her. And he does.

Read on AO3.

A/N: If you are returning reader, welcome back!! If you are new, then welcome!! This is a sequel, but I will write it so that you do not have to read the first story to enjoy it. But there are a two (2) things you will have to know going in: 1) This is very much an AU. Here, Terra and Master Xehanort still share a body, and 2) I used the rules of how the Realm of Darkness functions before KH3 retconned it.... again. Joy! And being such an AU, there are certain unorthodox choices I have made. Why? Because I. Will. Not. Stand. For. Aqua. Being. Treated. This. Way. How she never interacts with Xehanort at all in BBS? How villains treat her like she’s unimportant and doesn’t exist? No thank you. She is a brilliant character and should be explored deeply as well (and she should, with all that trauma). That being said, YES I will address Anti-Aqua and the Guardian - but in my own time and way. Think of it as an AU where Terra is the one she meets instead of Ansem SOD xDD. If you have read “Sonne,” then you’ll have an idea of what I’m trying to go for. Either way, I hope you enjoy this!!!! It’s been a long time coming!

Light

The Realm of Darkness likes to choose her adventures for her. She’ll try to keep track of where she’s wandering, and take back what little agency she has. But it still gradually changes environment without her knowing it, even when she pays attention. It’s as if the Realm nicks away at her memory.

There isn’t any record, then, of how she finds herself wandering down a dark, endless hallway from a world she’s never visited. Led by a red rug that stretches and disappears into a void, Aqua continues to walk, only able to see directly in front of her. The carpet leads to more carpet, though there is a peculiar amount of furniture in odd places: a couch in the middle of her way, a chair facing the wall, and three tables stacked on top of each other.

Every once in a while, she’ll pass by a unit that has been ripped apart, cotton pouring out of the cushions like it’s been ravaged by a beast in a fit of rage.

It’s characteristic, but that’s exactly what the Realm likes to be.

What she chooses to ignore this time is the suspicion that she’s being watched - she passes by displays of full sets of armor, and the metal creaks and snaps behind her like they are turning their heads to peer at her footsteps.

The walls are adorned with sculptures of weeping gargoyles, who brandish weapons anyway as if they exist purely to be on the defense. There’s a scent in the air, an aura – something angry exists, or used to exist, in this world. And that pain lies within these statues. She swears that sometimes she’ll hear them gasp. The sound of a throat swallowing to her left. A sigh to her right. Scratching, like a chalk writing on a board, surrounding her.

It’s why she doesn’t touch them – she knows better by now than to play these games. Though the stalking doesn’t stop. It’s like there is a something staying close by her.

The carpet finally stops at the foot of two doors, and it’s a blessing. Doors in a place like this always take her to somewhere else.

A loud thud from behind her, like a metal object has been dropped.

She whips around to see a (new) table in the middle of hallway, a lit golden candelabra placed atop it. She is right – the armored statues have all turned their heads, staring her down with their spears in their hands like they’ll surely ready for a war.

There is a moan and a grumble, like the something believes she is trespassing, and she outstretches her fingers to prepare for the split-second she will need to summon her Keyblade.

The hallway she has already traversed comes from nothingness, but if she takes the candelabra, she can see what is waiting for her to discover it.

This is the Realm’s doing, always trying to initiate the one moment where she will finally stumble.

But failure isn’t an option. Not here. Not this minute or the next second. Not ever.

The hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Call it instinct. Whatever is there is outlasting its patience, but it still waits for her to make the first move.

The Realm has played many games on her, and this one is weak.

She has survived this long (however long that is) because she chose her battles. Keeping her head high, she throws the doors open, not caring how disappointed the Realm or this monster might be.

A library awaits her on the other side, and it’s massive. Fit for a princess, this would put the library back home to shame. Three stories tall with several extravagant spiral staircases, it must have been a beautiful sight in its prime. Gold embellishments line the walls, and emerald-colored draperies hang over the windows. But it’s all dull, now. The curtains are ripped at the ends, and the gold is faded.

It’s much quieter here. Through the window panes, she sees a dense forest that reach beyond the horizon. This castle, in its original world, used to be very isolated.

And it’s snowing. Aqua flattens her palms against the glass.

She just wants to feel the cold, but the Realm won’t let her. Like everything else, physical or emotional, it’s numbed out. What she has left is a memory, a faint coolness that is mostly a figment of her imagination made real.

The snow is gray, like falling ash. It lands on the gargoyles that sit on the balconies outside the window, all contemplating their regrets. The clouds overhead (more like smoke) are dark and stormy. This world has only recently just fallen.

And she’s stuck here, powerless to do anything about it.

Books here vary by color, all leather-bound with filigree engravings on their spines. None of them have titles. Maybe the Realm will give her a break and let her read something to pass the time.

Which is a silly idea, but a desperate Aqua at least needs something to do.

She thumbs through the pages of the first book she takes. All blank.

The second book she takes is blank, too.

Aqua doesn’t know why she keeps trying. There must be at least something here – the other fallen worlds she’s been through gave the Realm the means to tease her, after all.

The third book has one line in one page. You want to read me.

Is that the best the Realm can come up with?

The fourth book: Ven will continue to sleep forever.

It’s like hearing fears from a different person: this invisible writer’s validation of her biggest fear makes it more real that it will come true.

But she won’t let Ventus sleep forever because she will not allow herself to fail.

Another one reads: Have you ever considered yourself beautiful?

She goes through book after book, each one carrying just one line.

The stars won’t shine tonight.

I’m the same as them.

Are you sure the Master was proud of you?

You weren’t the favorite student, you know.

I just haven’t noticed it before.

They flicker and they won’t stop.

What if I made you ugly?

You’ll never hear music, again.

She doesn’t bother to put them back into their shelf, and lets them fall open. She grabs one more, though she doesn’t know why she’s doing this to herself. Maybe it’s because she needs to snap herself out of the hope she’s delusional enough to keep.

Or good things will surely come if she holds on. Either way, there is a book with a message she hasn’t read. So she opens it.

Terra has better things to do with his time than to come find you.

The first thing that always comes to mind when she thinks of him are his eyes. Deep, like he has been swept away by the ocean and is still out there on a journey to find something profound. There isn’t a time in her life she can think of when she has been alone and he hasn’t found her.

When her parents died, a man with a nine-year-old boy with bushy, thick brown hair arrive to give her a new purpose.

When she failed an exam for the very first time – something she never considered was even possible – she ran off into the woods to be alone, only for that thirteen-year-old boy to follow.

When missions went awry and she’s trapped somewhere with an injured leg, a nineteen-year-old man cracked jokes about her indomitable strength as he carried her home.

Terra was always the first to find her.

But now, he’s not here. Where is he?

At first, there is a sickening churn in her stomach, like she’s only realizing that the worst news is true. He’s not here because he doesn’t want to be. Or he never escaped from his fate, and she wasted her life over a sacrifice that did nothing.

Then it fades away, and it’s relieving if she is to be honest, to have the Realm sometimes take her despair and make it disappear. Like a faithful friend, it spares her from many hours of crying.

And like a pest that clings too much, it makes sure to remind her that it will be there, wherever she goes.

She casts the book aside, throwing it as it falls on top of another, landing with blank pages facing upward. She fares better believing that Terra would spare the energy in finding her – after all, that’s what she would do if he was left here. She silently wishes this world blessings as she walks away. Hopefully it will have better luck with going finding its way back to the light than she’s had.

Whatever road she is on now goes on forever. The ground floats amidst empty space, the edges of the road teetering off into literal nothingness. She has experimented before and explored the road backwards, only to find that wherever she came from has gone missing. And many times, she cannot see where she’s headed until she’s already there.

Aqua stops in her tracks to take a break for a moment and stretch out her arms, listening to the quiet. There is really nothing for her to feel – no wind, no presence of another being here. She can take a look around, seeing if tonight will be one where she will be hunted relentlessly, but she knows they aren’t coming. The Heartless only come when she’s hopeful or looking for a way out.

Soon enough, she’ll get back into that mood.

For now, she hums – she doesn’t remember where the song comes from, but it’s become the only one that will stay in her head. She’s certain she’s completely out of tune and gets some of the notes wrong. At least humming makes her seem less crazy than talking to herself.

The one thing she benefits from singing is coaxing herself to dance. To bend the spine forward and let her head hang until she comes back around to swipe her fingers in the air around her. To practice her pirouettes. Her sky kicks. Her leaps and backflips, and her deep lunges.

When she’s had enough, she will brandish the Master’s Defender and strike, keeping her form and technique in check. She slices it into the open air as she sings the melody at a faster tempo, throwing a spell here and there to measure how much of a sting she can deliver.

After this, she’ll have to continue walking and repeat the process.

“Might I share this time with you, my friend?” says a deep voice, rumbling through her mind.

“Xemnas!” she nearly cries, her ease breathing out from deep within her chest. She relishes the feeling, before the Realm sips it dry. “Thank goodness, it’s been so long.”

“Indeed, it has.”

A voice in her head for a friend. He has a special room to himself, one he discovered has a connection to her. She doesn’t understand how it works, or where he truly is, but it doesn’t matter. Time with him makes the Realm seem distant.

He likes to speak slowly, almost as if he tests whether the listener is attentive. Not the best company she can hope for, but it’s endearing when he comes to check on her. His tenor is smooth and lulling - not that she can ever fall asleep since the Realm doesn’t allow her to. It’s just really a voice, but in a world of silence, this psychic link is the best gift she can have.

“Would that I be with you more often, and stay for longer,” he says, and she can hear him sigh like he’s settling himself down.

“Are you in trouble?” His latest visits have been sporadic, and he often has to cut them short.

He scoffs, and she realizes that she’s never heard him laugh. “My affairs are dangerous.”

… And then there is that roundabout way he speaks. He’s forward with his work for as far as she can tell – a man burdened with the responsibility of chasing monsters who have corrupted people’s hearts. From the sound of it, the worlds outside are in a terrible situation.

Especially for his sake, as a man without a heart. Off to find a solution to his unique problem, one that she doesn’t know how to help him solve.

He is always very confident about his work, but… there is that nagging sensation he chooses his words far too carefully.

“I’ve kept myself safe here, so far,” she says. “You have to promise me you’ll do the same.”

“A promise fit for someone uncertain of their fate.”

“Your hubris will be the death of you, one day,” she says, like a mother giving her child a reminder.

“And what of you? Is the night pleasant?”

“Well…” Her surroundings are bare, but what she’s really surveying is the sky. It shifts for every area she trudges through, constantly warping the fabric of space and light with it. Every world that falls leaves behind stars, and the Realm will either swallow them, cut them up and piece them together incorrectly, or murk them.

This time, she sees just one spot where remnants of stars shine alongside huge swirls of debris in an otherwise black and purple sky. They are dim, but if she squints, she can see the sparkle.

“I see a couple of stars,” she says, finding a boulder where she can sit comfortably. “They look so far away. I think they’ll disappear soon, but they’re beautiful in their own way.”

It’s her favorite part of his visits, being able to replicate star-gazing with a friend. And this the Realm can never take away from her.

“Would you be interested in a world where the night never retires?” he asks.

“It’s always dark here. Why would I visit a place like that?”

“You’ll have all the hours to gaze at the stars, so long as the storms rest.” He pauses, his timing anticipating her reaction. “I will finally be able to join you.”

“I have friends to find first, but if your world is on my way, I’ll stop,” she teases. She’s glad that he gives her moments to daydream about life beyond darkness. “Maybe I can help you get your heart back.”

“Can I offer nothing to convince you further?”

“You’ll need to have vanilla cake ready for me, with chocolate chips.”

“I expected a more complex taste palette.”

Aqua nearly laughs, but the feeling is gone as soon as it comes. “Well, how do you expect me not to indulge if I get out of this hellhole?”

She takes a moment to think. Something she truly wants…

“Xemnas, there is something that would mean the world to me if-”

“Ask, and I will grant it.”

“The next time you’re here to visit, can you please bring a radio with you?” she asks, unsure why she’s so apprehensive about it. Perhaps because asking for joy is risky. With the wrong mindset, it’s a trap set to remind her of her devastating reality. “Maybe if you listen to it, I’ll hear it too. I want to dance to music again.”

“I shall. You have my word.”

This is enough to get her by. The promise of music, like a light leading her through a murky lagoon, gives her a pep in her step as she continues to wander through the Realm. She dares not lose to the swarm of monsters stalking her, because she needs to hear that music. Just one song, is all she asks. And she’ll hum it to herself for the rest of time until she is freed.

But he never comes. It’s a slow realization, as she tells herself he must be busy, or maybe his next mission is a ferocious one. But for each reason she gives herself, her heart sinks.

It hits her when she’s lying on a patch of grass. There aren’t any stars in the sky here for her to watch. She nearly starts to hum to herself, when she suddenly realizes that it isn’t fair to do this by herself.

Maybe he also doesn’t want to find her.

Maybe his dangerous job has finally caught up with him, and she’ll never hear from him again…

She would cry, but there is only a faint trace of disappointment.

“None of it was real,” she says to the environment around her. “You made him up, haven’t you? It’s not enough to kick me when I’m down, why do you have to give me false promises-”

A sob nearly escapes her throat, but like a sneeze that won’t escape, it stays trapped until she has no choice but to swallow it.

The Realm won’t allow her to grieve the loss, and she starts begging it to make him up again, just so she has someone to talk to. She promises she won’t care if he isn’t real.

In a time beyond Mickey’s promise to come back to her, after she finds a beach where the moon shines upon black waters and she meets an older man named Ansem, Aqua fiddles with sand. She builds a cone with it, only to strike the top of it with a flick of her fingers. She watches the grains burst out and fall back onto the beach.

The soreness in her body is faint, but it’s there.

With a deep breath, she stands up, reaching her arms to the sky before swiping down to brush her fingers against the ground as she encourages movement in her spine.

“Restless again?” Ansem asks, who is more than happy to sit idly.

She kicks back her shin, grabbing it with both hands as she slowly lifts her ankle above her head, feeling that stretch start on her abdomen and go through to her thigh.

“Waiting is a tough job,” she says. Letting go of her leg, she swings her arms back and forth, barely humming some broken melody to herself as she starts to pivot on her feet.

She isn’t particularly inspired to dance right now. Mickey isn’t going to come find her.

Aqua pushes these thoughts out of her mind, and figures that it’s better to stay busy.

“Will you take one of your walks?” He sounds amused at least, and she promises to herself she will not turn into an old lady who sits in a rocking chair for the end of her life.

They have promised each other that they’ll stay for someone to come find them, in a space between light and dark. Though how Ansem doesn’t go mad with boredom, she doesn’t know. He is also a companion she would never have chosen in any normal circumstances. He carries a heavy weight of remorse in his heart, and conversations with him are usually depressing.

Aqua already has too many regrets, and she’s too young for that. Not the least of which is losing the chance at telling Terra everything she thinks of him: that he’s generous and kind. Trustworthy and safe. Beautiful.

Mickey has said to her that it’s been a decade. And her feelings have stayed as frozen as the time that refuses to age her. Though if it’s been that long, whatever her heart wants doesn’t really matter anymore. He may be grown up, finding himself a different family.

“It’s much healthier for you if you move,” she says, coming closer to the old man with an arm stretched out. Eraqus has managed to live as long being so active, after all.

“And what if someone comes?”

She sighs, wishing he would take better care of himself. “Then you’ll wait for me.”

“It’s much safer if you stay here. What of the Heartless waiting for you beyond these shores?”

“I am a force to be reckoned with,” she says, giving him a smile that feels like nothing.

He huffs with disapproval. “Be safe.”

She would prefer to have someone to talk to, but protecting a man who is completely defenseless is probably a worse idea anyway.

The beach makes way into rocky terrain, leading uphill until she shuffles through wheat stalk that are almost as tall as her. On a pathway that juts through the slough, she finds herself a dirt road, where she can see the beach from far away downhill, and enormous towers with no power lines abandoned in the fields beyond. Just like she is.

The wind blows the wheat here, but it offers no cooling relief nor does it tickle her skin. It just is.

It’s true there are Heartless here, who will watch her from underneath the ground until they feel compelled enough to show themselves. They’re mostly unremarkable compared to the horrors she’s already been through.

But tonight is different.

Heavy stomps head for her direction, repeating quickly and with a vibration like a clank of metal. It’s sprinting towards her.

Her heart jumps at the sound, and she steps backward as she summons her Keyblade, holding it out in front of her as she plays through various tactics in her mind. With the speed it’s going, she will not be the first to attack.

A man in a full suit of armor comes running straight at her, and in his abrupt stop he skids and flails his arms around. They stare, and her chest could burst with how shocking it is to see.

This armor.

“Aqua…” a voice underneath the armor says. His voice. She’s heard it before, when he was a figment of her imagination and he acted delirious. She watched him disappear into chains, just like everything else in this accursed place.

It can’t be real. She lowers her Keyblade by merely an inch, refusing to let her guard be down for an attack. “Terra?”

“Aqua, it’s really me.” His armor erupts in orbs of light, and underneath is him.

The thing about false hope is that the fool can only be tricked so many times. When it’s finally time to face the truth, how else will the fool react except to protect what little dignity it has left?

If this isn’t real, she will scream. She marches up to him and snatches his hand in both of hers –

To feel the flesh under her fingers. It is warm and clammy.

His expression, almost exactly what he looked like when they met in the Keyblade Graveyard all those years ago. Tired. And the saddest she has ever seen him.

His eyes are weary, but they are that same shade of blue, like the bottom of a wave. His hair is damp and stuck to his forehead and his strong jawline drips of sweat, the muscles on his neck tight with anxiety like he’s unsure what she’s going to do.

He hasn’t aged at all. “It’s really you…” she croaks.

Throwing herself onto him, she finds the space in between his shoulder and his neck, letting her face nestle into the folds of his shirt, dampening her face in his sweat. This is the first scent she is experiencing in more than ten years. He’s warm, and she’s surrounded in it like he’s a blanket that protects her from the numbness. He runs his hands along her back, brings his fingers through her hair, and she can feel every inch of it enough to make her want to wish this can be the last feeling she will ever experience – just so she won’t have to exist again without it.

It takes her back to a day when a blizzard drowned the Land of Departure in bright snow. Despite that the sun was shining, she couldn’t keep herself comfortable. Except when he wrapped his arms around her, and she wished she could find excuses to be this close to him again. Like being home.

Since home is unattainable, Terra offers something more: a refuge.

“You found me,” she weeps, and her eyes burn. Burn. Like they haven’t in a decade, and she lets the tears fall as they rub off on his shirt. The relief burns her chest. It burns through her stomach, years of all the pain that couldn’t leave her body, and in this safe haven within his arms, away from the Realm’s grip, she can finally cry.

“I’m-” he chokes. She feels his tears fall onto her forehead, and they’re cool. “I’m sorry it took so long to come see you,” he says, like a child ashamed of never visiting an older relative. The truth must be too hard for him to bear as well.

“I don’t have an excuse,” he continues in between sobs. “I should’ve done something sooner. I should’ve-” He stops again, and she can feel how frightened he is through the way his chest expands, like he’s about to leap off a cliff. “Please don’t hate me.”

She smiles, and raises her head to feel his neck on her cheek. Sweet Terra.

Caressing the back of his head to comfort him, she says, “I’m so glad you’re here.” It’s surprising how much calmer she is, but it isn’t numbness. “It’s been so hard. I’ve missed you so much, Terra.”

He shakes in her arms, like he’s been needing to hear that for years. “I’ve missed you, too, you have no idea how badly.”

She squeezes him tighter, and nearly asks him to say it again. “I thought no one wanted to come find me.”

Terra stirs. He gently pulls away from her embrace. Thankfully, he stays close. If she lets go, she’s certain – certain – he will disappear. She keeps a tight grip on one forearm, and the other on his chest.

“You don’t sound like yourself,” he says, studying her eyes like he’s making sure she isn’t sick.

“I’m sorry… It’s this place-”

He wipes tears off her face, and she nuzzles into his palm, needing to hug him again. She doesn’t want to forget what it feels like.

“It gets to you.” Like he understands what kinds of adventures lie in a place like this. And now he’s trapped here to suffer along with her. A part of her aches at this, she’d never wish this punishment on him. And at the same time, she’s not alone now.

Is she a horrible person for thinking this way?

“I’m sorry you’re now stuck with me in the darkness,” she says, wishing she is smart enough to have left this place on her own so he wouldn’t have to come here.

“As if being stuck with you is such a bad thing,” he scoffs. That humor. She has forgotten what it’s like to laugh, and to smile at this, in his arms where the Realm cannot touch her, is a moment worth having. Maybe they can keep each other protected for the rest of time.

He smirks at her, like he has a special secret. “Either way, I opened a Door to Light. I’m getting you out.”

A what?

Terra chuckles, his toothy grin widening more and more as she tries to understand. “It’s true,” he says, eagerly waiting for her to smile back. “You’re leaving this place.”

“Now?”

“Yes.” Confidently. With a nod to seal the deal.

“And we’ll find Ven?”

He grabs her arms, like he’s trying to get her to realize that she’s walking free. With him. Finally. And they’ll be a family again.

“Definitely. But first we have to get you out of here. We can talk about everything later.”

There is a fluttering in her chest, her heart pounding like it’s egging her to take leaps. Excitement, and she nearly doesn’t recognize it. “Lead the way.”

They won’t be able to embrace while they’re traveling, but clasping her hand around his is good enough. They’ll stay connected in a world that will work to split them up.

“Do you know how we’ll get out?” she asks.

He turns to face her, like none of the rocks they’re treading over can trip him. “I have friends waiting for us. We’ll be okay. I’m thinking I’ll just conjure a door from within, out of the darkness around us. It’s how I got in, anyway.”

None of that makes sense, but it’s fine. As long as she’s free. “I have a friend waiting for me at the beach. I told him I wouldn’t take long.”

“We’ll bring him with us.”

The wheat stalks shrink in size as they jog downhill together, the size of the moon growing larger the closer they arrive.

And the happy feeling shuts down. Not a gradual fade like it usually does, but it pauses abruptly, and she feels thousands of eyes on her.

If she listens quietly, she’ll hear the Realm whisper that it won’t let her go.

The warmth he left on her is the first to go numb, until her heart shivers on the inside. She knows what’s coming before it even arrives. She stops, pulling him back into a halt. “Terra, wait.”

“What is it?”

There it is, a deep rumble that shakes the small rocks at first until the entire ground quivers hard enough to make them unstable. And like a tidal wave coming to engulf them, the Heartless swarm bursts out of the ground, shaped like a slithering tower of pests. But it’s the most familiar force here, following her around like it needs her to stay.

Of course the Realm is going to try to take him away from her.

Terra has never seen this before, throwing his arms around her while his mouth hangs agape. “Aqua,” he warns, and she feels him pulling her back like he wants to run.

“We have to.”

Pushing through his embrace, she summons her Keyblade and starts throwing magical shots of ice toward the swarm. This fight is dangerous, and if they lose all their advantages, pain will be the least of their problems.

So she evades, like she does each and every single time she has run into this thing. Casting highways of ice to slide across to get herself up into the air, she throws herself to land quick, simple strikes, slicing away like it’s meat. It’s not the most straightforward method, but it keeps her safe. When she conserves the energy to do so, she will spin, using her Keyblade to swallow the air around her and crystalize it so it creates a more hostile environment for the Heartless.

Terra has a much harder time, learning how to fight this for the first time and being grounded as he is.

What she doesn’t expect is that he has learned some spectacular new methods.

Like a combustible bomb system, he conjures it with a gripped fist in the air as it builds and builds in size until the swarm runs itself through the giant fireball. And with a flick, he gets it to continually explode.

She’s never seen magic like this.

And it’s too distracting. The swarm circles around to ambush her in retaliation. Several claws from the Heartless that make up the storm rip at her all at once, pushing her downward until she hits the ground and rolls over, the Master’s Defender falling off her hand and bouncing away.

It comes for her again.

She has half a mind to crawl to her Keyblade as fast as possible and conjure a Reflect shield around her, when Terra slides over in front of her and waves his hands in a swoop from the ground to the sky.

From that gesture, a straight energy shield grows – the strangest barrier she’s ever seen.

Weirder still is that he is able to keep it erect, and the Heartless tide runs into and gets electrocuted from the impact. He struggles to keep it up as it continues to crash into it, and he nearly stumbles on himself. She hugs him from behind to keep him standing.

The Heartless tide, free from the electric barrier, circles back around when he’s too tired of holding it up anymore. Now it goes for a direct attack on them.

Terra waves a hand at her to stay in place and he summons his Keyblade. Earthshaker – now so much larger in mass, or is she remembering it wrong? – expands and breaks into parts, realigning itself to create an entirely different shape. A huge canon now sits on his shoulder. Kneeling, Terra silently commands it to create a globe of light, building energy much like the way her pirouettes can do, until it bursts into a searing bolt of wrath – right into the swarm.

The swarm finally leaves them alone.

It would be a peaceful victory, but Terra collapses into his hands, whimpering as he grips his forehead and runs his fingers through his hair like he’s about to rip it off.

“What’s wrong?” She kneels by him, one hand caressing his shoulder while she inspects for any injuries he might have sustained.

He slowly whispers pep talks to himself, like he needs to give himself the will to go on. Once his breathing slows enough, he mumbles “just a headache.” Which is a complete and total understatement. He continues, “I’ve been dealing with them for quite a while now. They get really bad here.”

“We need to get you out of here,” she says, realizing again that he is actually here. He is here, his pain is real, and she is feeling an instinct to protect. It’s been so long since she felt this way.

“I’m okay, I just need to rest for a little,” he grunts.

It doesn’t look like rest will do him any good, but voicing her concerns won’t do much except provoke him to insist he’s fine. She reaches a hand to cup his face, and he nearly leans into it to kiss it. Stopping himself short, he takes her hand in his, and gazes into her eyes. There is something he wants to say, and in that moment, she knows what it will be about, but cannot feel it coming.

At least let her have one more hug so she can actually experience this in full, with the fluttering of the stomach and a heart that beats senseless that young lovers are supposed to have, according to the books she has read in her childhood. Or better yet, set her free so they can both share this together.

“There’s so much I want to tell you,” he says, licking his lips. It’s almost funny: he’s usually so brave in facing whatever scares him. “We have to talk. About what happened. About us…” His voice hitches with that one, which makes it nearly true. Maybe time hasn’t moved for him either, and his feelings are just as frozen as hers. “About the Master.”

The Master. They have never really spoken about his death and Terra’s part in it. Just that he took the blame. Which is a hard one to have – there’s so much she would have changed if she had the power to do so.

“I know,” she says, calming herself. This is the worst place to do any of this. “But… I want to talk with a clean mind. Away from the darkness, you know? I don’t want to spend another minute here. Please…”

He jumps a little. How quaint that he has forgotten where he is. “Of course, your freedom comes first.”

Hearing him reassure her is almost like hearing it again for the first time. She may always be skeptical she will leave, until she sees the proof right in front of her.

She helps him up, getting his arm to drape around her shoulders while she acts as support.

“You’re going to love Traverse Town,” he says, resting his head on hers. Here she can see how blue his eyes really are. She allows herself to daydream of making a dress that color once she gets her hands on a sewing machine again.

She nudges him back. “Where?”

“I came from there.” He smiles. Who knows if it’s intuition when she imagines herself in his arms once they are free. “It’s a beautiful city. The cuisine is delicious, and they have these colored lights that shine every night.”

Yes, it sounds like the sort of place to have a romantic night. And she knows she’s being very childish in letting herself get excited over the idea, but screw it. If it isn’t the case, there’s worse things.

Terra’s steps sink in the sand when they reach the beach, so she lets him sit on the nearest boulder. It’s hard to let go of him.

Like he’s reading her mind, he squeezes her. “I’ll be here. Don’t worry.”

Moving away from him, she tries her hardest to let her fingers linger for as long as possible on his, until they have no choice but to split. She hurries over the where Ansem is waiting for her, and the sight of him is like an alarm that is blaring in her mind – they are leaving. They are free.

She keeps looking back to Terra, sitting alone on that boulder as he catches his breath. Just to be sure.

Ansem, too, notices they have a visitor. “What’s the special occasion?” he asks when he sees her grin.

“We’re leaving,” she whispers, as though she would yell it if she allowed her voice to make a sound. She checks to make sure Terra is still there. Good. “That’s my friend. He’ll get us out of here.”

“You have some rather powerful friends.”

She checks on Terra again. Still there.

“They’re amazing friends, yes.” And the statement nearly makes her choke. “Come on, I’ll help you get up.”

Is Terra still there? Yes.

Ansem grunts as starts to move. “Can you spare me the time to stand?” He chuckles. “My back isn’t at its prime.”

She allows him to lean on her, stealing glances toward Terra. When Ansem gains his footing, he takes slow steps like he has no time to lose. How the darkness doesn’t drive him crazy, she’s completely blown away by it.

But he stops, holding her back from getting closer to Terra.

“That man,” his voice deepens, and he speaks it loud enough for all to hear. “We mustn’t go with him.”

“What, why?” The grip Ansem has on her is surprising, like he’s trying to protect her. “Terra is my best friend. I grew up with him. If he says-”

“A clever trick to play on a vulnerable girl, Xehanort,” Ansem says to Terra, his words rolling like he’s suddenly gained the nerve to stand up for himself.

Terra shakes his head furiously, his eyes building tears at the statement. But he’s disoriented when she straightens himself.

“I’m not Xehanort,” he barks, but it sounds muffled, as though his tongue is incredibly swollen. Then he moans in pain and grabs his head again.

She rips herself from Ansem’s hold and jolts over to her dear friend, holding his forearms as she watches for signs of harm. “Terra, tell me how I can help you.”

He grabs her arms – so desperately that it accidentally hurts her. “I’ve left the door open for you,” he says, his words so thick that they are barely understandable. “Don’t give up. Keep going. We’ll be together-”

He yells louder, one hand holding his forehead and the other gripped around his neck. Her cure spells cannot help such pain like this.

The worst comes. He digs his fingers into the roots of his hair, and they turn into a brilliant white.

He breathes loudly, gagging like he’s trying to grasp for air. No, not air. He cannot speak anymore. He looks up to her, his eyes now a piercing gold.

But it’s still him, his eyes soft and pleading. He’s terrified of what is happening to him.

And she is, too. So much that she’s speechless. She can’t lose him again. Not here. Not like this.

Terra digs into the pocket of his pants and pulls something out which he then shoves into her palm. A star-shaped object. She hesitantly grabs hold of it when she realizes that he wants her to take it.

She nearly says something. But he interlaces his fingers with hers in her free hand, and brings it to his chest. It brings her in closer, and when she gazes into those gold eyes, she doesn’t know if she wants to stab him through the gut outright.

Aqua has been staring down yellow eyes for ten years, and it is a lie to say that she hasn’t prayed to never see this pair again.

He cups her cheek and kisses her on the forehead, and she lets him linger there. Xehanort would never do this.

“Terra?”

He doesn’t answer. He relaxes as he presses his lips onto roots of her hair, like he’s trying to breathe her in.

Until he finally lets her go, looking at his surroundings in a daze.

“Terra, is that still you?” she asks.

He stares at her lips, like he’s trying to read them. The scowl on his face tells her that he cannot hear what she is saying, and defeated, he gives up.

Something catches his attention, and he fixates on something past her. Out onto the water, where the rocks stop the waves from crashing. But that is all that is there. What is he staring at?

“Terra,” she calls again, out of instinct really. He continues to stare at whatever it is, until he finally notices that she’s talking to him.

His gaze is slow moving, like he’s unsure who he is looking at. It’s intense, looking right into her and understanding the very nature of her darkest fears. And it condescends.

She pulls back.

But he grips her tightly and twists her arm.

And a fist throws itself right into her temple, propelling her into the sand below as her head pounds.

“To breathe is to know freedom,” a rich, deep voice says. “What a glorious conundrum to find you here, Master Ansem.”

She shakes the blurriness away. Terra’s orange Wayfinder shines brightly in the saturated sand that surrounds it.

Ansem replies, his voice contracted and laced with disgust. “I’ve blamed myself of all the atrocities that have been committed under my watch. But this – there are certain things with you I cannot take responsibility for. You are truly mad.”

“I shall take that in stride,” Xehanort says, amused more than anything. “Far more important, however, is that I’ve actually found you.”

“And what do you plan to do with me?”

“Plans,” he corrected.

Aqua grabs the Wayfinder and ties it around her waist. She throws herself as a barrier between the two men, summoning the Master’s Defender.

“The young Master finds herself trite with power,” Xehanort says.

“I’ve beaten you before,” she says, her voice low. Why this, and why now? Don’t they have a door to go through? “It was easy.”

Xehanort opens his arms to showcase the grandeur of the beach. “And you were rewarded handsomely, I should say.”

Her eyes boil. Her teeth clench enough that she can actually feel them crush a little. And this power of rage, she will not let the Realm take from her.

“You were actually so scared of losing to me, you resorted to stabbing yourself with your Keyblade,” she says. This shuts him up. “Now let him go.”

He smiles like he’s amused by a pet. “I have no interests in doing so.”

“Then I’ll make you,” she growls.

She lunges forward, the first to strike against the heavy weight of the silver Keyblade he conjures.

Light here has a disadvantage, surely. But the creatures she has fought have been far worse than this excuse of a man, so she pays these warnings no heed. Even if the brutal swings of his weapon are doubled in power in the Realm of Darkness. Even if he combines the power of his manipulative magic with Terra’s sheer strength.

In the end, large enemies are all the same. They overestimate themselves, coming in close in a blind stupor when they convince themselves they have the upper hand. And that’s where she dodges and strikes in the small areas they leave exposed.

Xehanort laughs a hearty hurrah at her attempts to hit him. It sounds foreign coming from Terra’s mouth, who prefers to keep his chuckles soft and to himself.

However… he’s still Terra. He was just here, speaking words to her mere minutes ago. She was hugging him, she felt his touch. Maybe he wasn’t real and she’ll need to hear his voice again, just to be sure. They have a door to find. They may even have a future together, so why, when they are just about to see it through, did he have to leave her in a place like this?

Their Keyblades grind together, spewing sparks that burn brighter than the moonlight. The darkness from his weapon laps at her skin, and it’s unnerving just how far it emanates. A cold force grips on her wrists, and it’s too late when she realizes that he’s taking control of her movement with his mind, before he throws her off of him.

And he cheats. Cheats.

Using a speed that is completely unnatural for a human, Xehanort closes in on her to deliver a pounding blow.

The pain on her side is immense, and she whispers a Curaga to get most of it to melt away so she can at least stand up.

“Let the girl be, I beg you,” Ansem says, standing close to her as he’s just about to contemplate getting in between them.

“It’s remarkable,” Xehanort says, towering over as she clutches herself. He studies her face, his gold eyes icy like he’s observing an experiment. “It’s been twelve years,” he continues, his face lighting up like he wants her to know exactly what she’s been sacrificing. “Yet you continue to exist.”

“You underestimated the strength of my heart,” she spat, wanting to see the look on his face when she shows him just what she is capable of doing.

But he rolls his eyes.

“When darkness plagues the being of every man, you’d think that as a Keyblade Master, you’d understand what it should mean when it grows on you.” He smirks. “And you wear it more than I think you realize.”

“Let’s hear you say that when I get out of here,” she says through her teeth.

“Keep in mind that I am darkness in a dark world,” he says, his voice getting more potent as he lavishes in his power. “The only one gasping for air is you.”

He loves hearing himself talk, and Aqua takes the chatty opportunity to rest, keeping her mind on her Keyblade so she can rely on it as quickly as she needs it to be. The fact that she’s still hurting too much to stand properly isn’t important. It will fade, eventually.

As though he expects her to do just that, he aims his Keyblade toward her, keeping the end of it close to her neck. “A shame I’ll have to spend effort to enlighten you.”

It’s like a gravitational pull, a stretch deep within her chest like there’s two different forces trying to pull her heart apart. His silver Keyblade has the instinct to call something deep within her despite that he hasn’t commanded it to do anything yet, and the longer it hovers near her, the faster it drains the life out of her limbs.

But she doesn’t allow herself to be intimated by the tip of the blade. Her fingers outstretch to call upon her own – and maybe he’ll strike her before she can even get to it. Maybe this is a losing battle after all until she can get herself to a new advantage.

Either way, neither of those questions will be answered.

A young man takes the scene instead, raising his own Keyblade up high. He leaps from behind her as he throws himself onto Xehanort, yelling all of his girth into the strike and forcing the both of them to stagger backwards.

“Aqua!” a squeaky voice chirps. A rather large mouse, with ears the size of his face, jogs over to her side and starts to heal her with his magic.

“Mickey?” Her voice shakes, half-surprised, and half-exhausted just from having that Keyblade near her.

“Funny to see you here,” Mickey says to Ansem, like greeting an old friend. “Do you think you’ll be able to carry her out of here?”

“No,” she interrupts. The magic has at least restored the feeling in her legs, and she drags herself to her feet.

Running to the young wielder’s side, she throws shards of ice, tracing the circumference of the air around before twirling to send orbs of light upward to strike. And it’s powerful when it hits. Light has some nerve to it, even in the darkness. So the old man is wrong, yet again.

Pinned in between two wielders now, Xehanort scoffs. “So be it.”

He ignores the other wielder to come after her at once, parrying her direct strike before disarming her, and raising his Keyblade to jab directly at her chest.

But he stops with a yelp before his blade can pierce her skin, his torso drawing inwards as he clutches his face. Another yell, and a bright light shines from the ground below him. The earth rumbles and she and the other wielder fall onto the sand. Golden chains, tremendous in size, shoot upward, wrapping themselves around his body until he’s too constricted to move, and he drops his Keyblade while he attempts to wiggle himself free.

“Wha-” The young man twitches as he watches in horror while failing to get himself up. “What are those?”

She doesn’t have a good answer. She’s only seen these chains once, when Terra tried to gain control back. “They’re Terra.”

Her voice suddenly reminds the young man that she’s still there. He scurries to her, and holds her by the arms.

“I remember you,” he says. His hair a darker shade of silver, his turquoise eyes soften when she thinks hard about where she’s seen this face before. “Do you remember Sora?”

“Riku!” Mickey calls.

Riku… no, he was a small child the last time she saw him. Twelve years.

He pays no mind to the mouse, and shakes her out of her stupor. “You need to get out of here. Sora is waiting for you. Think of him.”

Xehanort pulls at one of the chains to try and break his twisted arm free, prompting another to wrap around his neck in retaliation.

And leave Terra behind? “Out of the question,” she says.

“He left the door open for you.”

“I’m not leaving him.”

With a yell, Xehanort unties the one around his head and now has an advantage in pulling the ones around his hip off.

Riku shakes her firmly. “Listen to me, this is the worst place to do anything for Terra. You should go back to the Realm of Light, where you’ll be stronger.”

Mickey, with his Keyblade now in his hand, nods in agreement. “Don’t let it be in vain.”

It’s peculiar, the word he purposely skips in that sentence. Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain. Do what Terra wants you to do.

“Aqua,” Ansem calls. “To unbind a mistake is costly and unbearable. You’ll need a proper will and mind.”

Summoning his Keyblade, Xehanort finally has the movement to strike against the chains, breaking them into tiny pieces until he’s free.

Riku shakes her again so she’ll look at him straight in the eye. “We can figure something out, together. But we can’t do that here.”

She takes one more glance at Xehanort, stumbling on himself from his re-gained freedom, watching her with those cold eyes. They are angry and hungry, like he is about to lose a lifeline. A thought passes through – did he once look at Terra with eyes like that, like his life depended on it?

“I’ll make sure he won’t get to you,” Mickey says - mostly to Riku, who seems to be the one everyone agrees to have the most sense here.

If the Realm doesn’t take her, Xehanort will.

She throws herself off the ground and wraps one of Ansem’s arms around her shoulders. He’ll need the support at the speed she’s about to run. Leaving Riku and Mickey behind to fend Xehanort off, she sprints forward, not knowing where to go, where this door is or how to see it.

All she knows it that it is open. And Terra relied only on faith. So maybe she just has to believe that it’s there.

Do you remember Sora?

The two of them climb over the rocky shores of the beach as they follow the coastline. The water stays still, like it has the patience for them to fall.

A shockwave reverberates from behind her, though she tries not to look back. Keep forward. But it’s so forceful that it shakes the entirety of the beach, and she hears a horrendous crack as though something is breaking.

They fall forward onto their stomachs. She finally looks back. Riku is on his back, clutching his side. His Keyblade is in several large pieces. Mickey is chanting some protective magic. Xehanort encircles them like a predator.

“Are you alright?” Ansem asks he picks himself up.

But she can’t join him. Her foot is wedged deep into the crevice in between the rocks underneath her. It twists enough that she can’t pull it straight out.

“Let me go,” she says to the Realm. She commands it to. No more begging.

In response, the rocks shift apart, further and further until she falls through them. She grabs hold of Ansem’s hands, but the water is starving. When she hits it, she immediately sinks. Her fingers slip, and into the dark depths she floats downward, the light of the moon barely visible from down here.

Just so that the Realm can finally say it wins.

It calms her to sink, like she is safe enough to finally let go. Then it will get easier, and she can finally feel the freedom without needing anything else.

It’s cruel, to let her touch her best friend and then take him away. How much is she expected to pick herself up after this? Who would put such presumptions on her? Is there anyone out there who cares enough to give her a break?

Something bright floats ever upward, attracting her attention to snap her out of staring at the surface of the water.

His orange Wayfinder, making its way back to where the moonlight hits the water.

“Terra,” she says out loud, waving her arms as she starts swimming, “don’t leave me here all alone.”

It dances, spinning in place like something is playfully pulling it up.

“Wait.” She swims harder against the weight of her body, which is dragging her down.

The Wayfinder stops, like it’s hoping she will catch up, before floating back up again.

She reaches for it, and just as her fingertips brush the surface of the orange glass, the moonlight shines brighter.

Bright enough to illuminate the shallow water around her. Enough to really make his Wayfinder look like it’s alive.

A shadow walks on the surface of the water, nearly passing over her.

“Aqua?”

The voice sends a jolt through her spine, despite that the water tries to muffle it quiet.

“Ven?” She grabs Terra’s Wayfinder and swims furiously, aiming for the surface. He just needs to see her hand. She yells at the tops of her lungs, “I’m here, Ven! Look down!”

And the higher she swims, the heavier she is, and she doesn’t know if she can ever get her fingers to pierce the surface.

A hand cuts through the water, grabbing hers. Light surrounds his round face – it does not belong to Ventus, but to a boy with unruly brown hair and bright blue, large eyes that speak of the wisdom of youthful optimism. His smile is that of a dog welcoming its owner.

Sora.

“You’re coming with me,” he says, and pulls her in to his embrace.

The light sears, and she clenches her eyes shut because it hurts to see. She is being pulled into two different directions – one, wherever Sora is taking her. The other is a burden, dragging her back like she needs to stay and make a home there.

That weight slowly loosens but it never really disappears, until the momentum propels her forward at a tremendous speed, but she keeps her arms around this boy’s waist – if she lets go, she’ll sink.

The light retracts its overbearing presence, eventually calming to a dim room, and the two of them crash into very shallow water. Very shallow, very cold water.

Voices surround her, but she cannot pick out any words. If anything, she hears anxious emotions. She opens her eyes, but her vision is so blurred that she cannot notice shapes or movement.

Sora loosens his grip on her as he gently leaves her on the ground. “I have to get Riku, now,” she can clearly hear him say.

“Wait,” she mutters. Her voice is completely dry and can barely produce a sound.

The person who comes for her picks up her head and rests it on a lap.

“You must be Aqua.” It’s a woman’s voice. The accent is posh and stilted, almost like the embodiment of someone high-class.

“Where am I?” She forces herself to make a sound, but it comes out as a wheeze. She can’t make out a face, but the long hair that falls is black.

“You’re in Traverse Town, dear.” The woman gently places a hand on the back of her head, a bright light emitting from it.

Immediately, Aqua hisses from it. It’s too bright. The woman firmly holds a gloved hand over her eyes, as if to shush her to sleep. This light is healing magic. A warmth spreads down her spine, massaging out the tension in her muscles.

Someone else takes Aqua by the shoulders and moves her to sit up against a slimy wall of brick. She’s sitting on water still, and it soaks her shorts.

The voices further away clear up.

“This thing is getting bigger,” a tired and rusty voice says, like he hates to spend the energy speaking. And very nervous at whatever he is looking at.

“Has your father never bothered to teach you the value of patience, Noctis?” This is the woman who just healed Aqua.

A grumble is the only answer Noctis gives her.

“Hmph,” a different, gruff voice chimes in. It is corrupted by too many cigarettes. “If you want my opinion, we shouldn’t have left the city in the care of a duck and a dog-thing.”

Aqua opens her eyes to make sure she is hearing the right words. Her vision clears up a bit, but that light – torch light, from a flame one of the men is carrying. It’s dim and soft, and should only be able to illuminate the people surrounding it.

So then why does it hurt so much to look at?

“Rise and shine,” someone says to her. He leans down in front of her, and she can only really make out red hair. Very, very big red hair. “Name’s Lea, uhhhhh…”

“Mmm?” Her skin only gets colder, and eventually she starts to shiver.

“Looks like you’re not going to be able to memorize anything tonight,” Lea says, and she feels solid hands on her shoulders, trying to keep her sitting upright.

His eyes come through the blur, a bright green that are inquisitive yet distant. Like he can only spend so much of his personal effort to get involved before he becomes disinterested.

“What?” is all she can say. Pressure rises in between her eyes, and her stomach churns.

Hunger. She is actually hungry.

Then it shifts suddenly and she’s in terrible pain. Twelve years of hunger catching up with her?

“Relax,” he says, “you’re completely safe.”

“I need food,” she says, but the thought of eating makes her want to throw up.

“Well, why didn’t you mumble that before?”

He leaves her behind while the other men share observations. The man holding the torch, with blond spiky hair, talks about how there aren’t any Heartless roaming the passageways anymore. The gruffly voiced man holds a large toothpick in between his teeth, and the third, Noctis, crosses his arms as he listens intently to the others, eyes darting all around.

They all seem to be underground, and they stand ankle-deep in a large puddle that spreads through the entire floor. The walls are made of stone, slimy and slick with moss growing on them. Traverse Town, the beautiful city Terra promised her.

The woman is on the other side of the room, bent over Ansem as her hands trace the outlines of his body, healing him with that bright light.

To her right is a large, black mass that covers nearly the entire wall. It moves, much like the slither of the Heartless tide, wisps of purple smoke spitting out every so often. A golden doorway encloses it together and stops it from spreading it further. A Door of Light made out of darkness, just like Terra said.

But why is there a portal to the Realm of Darkness in a sewer?

It is then her heart stirs. Sora and Riku spit out of the portal, thrown into a heap together in a frenzy like they’ve just been running for their lives.

“Sora, you need to seal it,” Riku says immediately.

This warning freaks the others, Noctis coming in close to get involved.

“I’m not going to do that!” Sora swipes at the air, like he’s made his decision final.

“What does that mean?” Noctis juts in, putting his hand specifically on Sora’s shoulder. “You can’t leave this thing open.”

“But the King-”

“Has already sealed his side of it,” Riku says. “He can’t come through anyway. You have to trust him.” His voice betrays his confidence. He’s a wreck, but he’s good at hiding it.

“We can’t just leave them,” Sora says.

… Terra isn’t with them.

“This is what Mickey wants,” Riku says, the inflections of his words wishing it is the opposite.

“Sora,” Noctis says, his tone dark and serious, “you can’t leave us out to hang like this. You have to seal it.”

The others watch him intensely, like their heartbeats are jammed in their throats and they may be sentenced at any moment.

“No,” Aqua says, but she isn’t loud enough to be heard. “We can’t leave Terra.”

Sora, surrounded by people who expect him to be the prime example of a Keyblade wielder, reluctantly summons his calling, and points it at the wall of dark mass.

“No!” Aqua squeals, fumbling over to her knees. Her limbs shake with movement, and she can’t imagine if there is a warmth that exists out there to keep her from turning into ice.

Lea notices her squirming, running over to her to pick her up in his arms. Sora already starts the process of sealing this entryway into the most famished realm that can ever exist. As simple as that, she’s cut off from Terra again.

Laying down on her back like this, she’s too weak to keep the heaviness in her eyes open. Twelve years’ worth of lack of sleep forces its way on her. Letting herself sink is easy.

#terraqua #aqua #terra #kingdom hearts fanfiction #kh fanfic #terranort #xemnas #riku #sora #OMG #i can't believe i'm finally starting this series #it's so damn surreal #i can't explain it #anyway #i'm nervous as all hell #this is a very risky choice for me to make #yikes #my fic

63 notes · View notes