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pinkczennie · 3 years

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Incubus | Ten (m)

Summary: According to urban myth, if you had sex in your dreams and it actually felt real, it means that negative entities are having sex with you while you sleep. You’re sex deprived, so a sex demon helps you with your little problem.

Pairings: incubus!Ten x female reader

Genre: smut

Word Count: 4.1K

Disclaimer: This is just purely fiction and does not accurately represent how incubus’ work. Anyways, brb I think I need to go to church to purify my soul because this is just absolute smut.

Italics= inside the dreams

Quarantine has been rough for you.

At first, you didn’t think this would be a problem, but now it’s starting to take a toll on you because you’re slowly starting to lose it.

Because you are trying to follow quarantine guidelines and maintain as little physical interaction with others as much as possible in fear of contracting a deadly virus, you’ve become a little pent up. In other words, you haven’t been able to have sex in a while.

The last time you got intimate with another male was about almost a year ago. Who would have known this global pandemic situation would have happened because you took physical touch for granted. Had you known this was going to happen, you would have tried to fulfil your sexual needs when it was still socially acceptable to be around other people because you are just suffering at home right now.

Sleeping around with other men right now would probably not be a safe idea, especially since you live with your parents and would not want to risk their health over your needs. Besides, your parents temporarily forbid you to see any friends or bring anyone over until the situation is over anyways. You don’t blame them, after all, who knows where other people have been and who they have interacted with, so it’s only safe for everyone in the house to restrict human interaction for a moment except with people living under the same roof.

You try to convince yourself that you can wait until the pandemic is over, but as the days go by and days turn into many months, you’re absolutely touch starved. To be more precise, you’re sexually frustrated.

Masturbating has helped to a certain extent but it just wasn’t enough to satisfy you fully. You wanted to feel another man’s touch again.

In fact, you were so sexually frustrated that you began to experience having sex dreams.

The room was dark and it was empty except for your bed. You laid in bed on your back completely naked and your pussy was soaking wet as an attractive looking male hovers over you. You don’t recognize the man in front of you because it’s not a face you have seen in person before.

He had raven-black hair that covered his forehead, cat-like eyes, and flawless skin. The first few buttons of his black dress shirt were unbuttoned, practically exposing his chest, and you spot the number 10 tattooed by his heart. His shirt sleeves are rolled up to his wrists and his ears are covered in piercings. His pants were partially removed to only expose his dick and he rubs it against your slit, causing more wetness to secrete.

“Ahhhh-” you let out a long moan as he suddenly enters you in one fluid thrust thanks to your slick.

The initial pain of his girth stretching around your tight walls soon turned into pleasure after you were able to adjust to his size.

His hands were holding each side of your hips in place while his length begins to thrust into your heat. Your body feels hot and you became a whimpering mess as you allowed yourself to continue getting fucked in your dream, not from fear but from pleasure.

You don’t even know who the male is that is currently fucking you but your mind is so clouded with lust that you don’t even care as long as you get to reach your climax. It feels so good, even if it is just in a dream, that you didn’t even last long because after a few seconds you could already feel that tight knot in your stomach ready to snap.

After a few more thrusts, you both come undone and your body trembles at the feeling. It’s been way too long since you’ve been fucked and it feels amazing.

Soon, your mind slowly starts to wake up and your dream starts to slowly fade away.

Once your mind slowly becomes conscious, you could feel your heart currently thumping wildly in your chest and you are panting lightly, so you keep your eyes closed for a moment as you try to come down from your high.

Your eyes flutter open as you lay there in your bed and stare at the ceiling as your vision becomes less blurry, feeling slightly disheveled and there is this weird sensation between your legs. You rub your fingers against your clothed core and you jolt because you could feel it throbbing with oversensitivity.

Looks like you are going to have to change into a new pair of underwear because your current pair was completely damp from your little wet dream.

It was so strange because the dream felt so real considering the state you woke up in.

But lord, did it feel good. You felt somehow refreshed from getting some sort of action after many months, but also a little frustrated because it wasn’t enough and you wanted more.

If only you could go back to your dream on command. Curse dreams for feeling like it only lasts for a few seconds even though hours have actually passed by.

At first, you didn’t think much of it nor the male in your dream because it’s normal to have wet dreams occasionally...until it became a frequent occurrence.

The second time you had a sex dream was about a week later.

Just like last time, it was dark and you couldn’t see anything, but you were on your bed again with your ass up and face down.

You look behind your shoulder and you see him again, the same male from your previous sex dream in the exact same attire as well. This time, you can hear his sultry voice speaking. His voice was faint so you barely remember what his voice sounded like exactly, but you recall what he said:

“Are you ready?” he asks with a soothing tone.

“Yes,” you reply.

You suck in a breath when you feel a wet tongue swipe across your folds. Your toes curl and you spread your legs further apart as the man continues to eat you out. His tongue felt amazing against your dripping hole as he shoves the wet muscle deeper inside of you. He sure knows how to work his tongue on you as he plunges it into the deepest part of your slick walls.

You felt so filthy like this, completely exposed as an unknown male laps up your juices, but you could care less because you’re about to lose it when you feel two fingers rub against your clit. After all, this was just a dream.

Again, as you cum, your mind begins to slowly awaken and your dream fades to nothing once again.

This was your second wet dream in less than a month but having another sex dream should be nothing but a mere coincidence, you think to yourself. Right?

That is until you had another one. The third time you had a sex dream happens a couple days later.

Again, you see the same man but this time in a new position. He lays back comfortably on your bed while you hover over him, practically sitting naked on top of his dick sticking out of his pants.

“Ride me,” he commands as he strokes his hands on your thighs.

You place both hands on his chest and lift yourself up so your slit is directly above his cock before slowly sinking down on his length. You both throw your heads back as a moan escapes both your lips. He is buried deep inside you and you feel stuffed to the brim from his inches. Your warm cavern is tightly snug around his length and you could feel his dick twitching inside of you.

You begin to ride him at a slow pace before you pick up the pace and you’re in utter bliss when you find a steady rhythm to bounce on his cock. Your tits bounce as your body moves up and down.

The pattern repeats itself as you release around him.

It happens again a fourth time and you swear you keep seeing the same man as before from your previous dreams. This is starting to become a strange recurring dream.

Another thing that all of those dreams had in common is that they all felt oddly real. You do wake up with your clothes from the night before still on and your body seems untouched when you look in the mirror but why do you feel so spent?

You think you’re just sex deprived, that’s all. Besides, dreams are just your inner desires so maybe that explains why you are having all these sex dreams.

You don’t think it is necessary to see a doctor or a professional about your strange dreams considering it isn’t causing any harm to you, like sleep deprivation.

That night, you are on a video call with your close group of friends, catching up on what all of them have been doing during quarantine because your electronics are the only forms of communication you have with other people.

Eventually, you complain to them about the outrageous amounts of sex dreams you have been having lately and how the same man keeps appearing in those dreams. Sure, it’s normal to have dreams but when you have multiple sex dreams with the same male, it’s quite concerning.

“That is weird,” your male friend ponders.

“Is he hot?” your female friend giggles.

“Gorgeous,” you dreamily sigh in content. Honestly, it’s what makes the dream that much more enjoyable.

“I saw on Tik Tok, that if you have sex in your dreams and actually felt it, it means that a very negative entity called an incubus or succubus is stealing your sexual energy,” another friend informs the group.

You start to wonder if that was the explanation behind all your sex dreams lately.

“If they want my sexual energy, then they can come and have it because they sure are making me feel good in my dreams.” you joke and your friends all laugh.

Afterwards, the conversation drifts onto a different topic.

Little did you know that a negative entity was listening to you this whole time and his lips curled up into a sinister smile at your invitation. Looks like he will be seeing you again real soon once you have drifted off to slumber.

After your video call with your friends ended, you decide it was time to head to bed since it’s getting pretty late.

You didn’t have any dreams at all that day, until the day after.

Your dream was unusual today because you’re not in the middle of sex for once. You’re just standing in a dark room still fully clothed in your pajamas. It was still dark and there wasn’t anyone else in there with you, until suddenly, you see a figure emerge from the darkness approaching towards you.

It’s him again.

This was the man, or more like being, that has been the source of your pleasure, the exact same man that you’ve been seeing in your sex dreams, so now that he stands before you, you can’t help but stare.

The male’s sharp gaze sent chills down your spine but butterflies in your stomach as well because he is intimidatingly attractive. There was a dark aura surrounding him, yet you couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes. His hands rest in his pants pockets and one side of his lips curl up into a sinister grin. He stops walking forward when he’s about a foot away from you.

“Hello, little one, it’s so nice to formally meet you,” the man greets.

You think you’re lucid dreaming because, for some reason, you feel yourself being able to control yourself in the dream as if you were conscious, so you decide to ask him a question that has been on your mind lately.

“Who are you?” you ask him.

“You can call me Ten,” he responds.

Your brows furrow as you try to rack your brain for any recollection of a man named Ten but nothing comes to mind. Maybe it’s a nickname he goes by?

“Do I know you?” you wonder.

“Not really, but we will be seeing each other much more often from now on.”

A chill runs down your spine at his seemingly threatening statement. What does he mean by seeing each other more often from now on?

“Am I still dreaming?” you ask yourself in a hushed tone.

“You are, technically,” he states with a slight tilt of his head. “Let’s just say we are both in your mind right now.”

“And why do I keep seeing you in my dreams?” You cross your arms over your chest.

Ten smirks, “That’s because I have the ability to enter your dreams.”

What? How is that even humanly possible to enter someone else’s dreams? Unless...he’s not human.

“Who-what are you?” you nervously question as you take one step back. You feel your heel come into contact with something behind you when you took a step back but you did not turn around to look in fear of Ten doing something to you once you have your guard down.

“I’m an incubus.” he announces.

Your eyes widen like saucers at him. He’s an incubus?

You have a vague knowledge about incubus’, but you know one thing for sure is that they are sex demons. That would explain how he has the ability to enter your dreams and the eerie atmosphere around him.

Despite the daunting feeling surrounding him, his appearance does not seem like what you would picture an incubus to look like. You were expecting some horns on his head and maybe some wings, but that’s just what you assumed based on nonfiction novels and interpretations from movies depicting demons.

“You don’t look like an incubus to me,” you raise an eyebrow at him as you eye his human body up and down. You’re not sure if he is just playing around or being truthful.

“Oh, you do not want to see my demon form. Trust me,” he warns. “We have the ability to alter our appearance to take on different forms that our partners would be attracted to.”

You raise your eyebrow at him but take his word for it. After all, who knows what he would look like in his true form.

Besides, he does look absolutely captivating in his current form that you would ogle over him if you could. You’re not sure how Ten knew what attributes you were attracted to, but you assume it’s probably his demon powers, you conclude since he can shape shift, that gives him the ability to access this knowledge of yours.

Now the bigger question is what does he want with you? Did you accidentally summon a supernatural entity without your knowledge? You don’t remember doing anything out of the ordinary so you don’t know why he is here and what his purpose is with you.

“Are you going to kill me?” you ask.

“Oh, no no no, I have no desire to kill you. You see, as a sex demon, I thrive by consuming sexual energy from human beings in their sleep,” he elaborates. “And you, little one, you’re so sex-deprived that any sex demon could smell you from a mile radius,” he jokes with a chuckle, “You might as well have ‘fuck me’ labeled on your forehead.”

Because you are not that knowledgeable about incubus’ and succubus’, you didn’t know being sex-deprived could release a smell that could attract sex demons.

“There are more sex demons?” you curiously ask.

“Of course. There are practically hundreds of them on Earth. I’m the tenth one in existence.” Ten gestures to the mark on his chest, the number 10. And here you were thinking it was a tattoo.

“Why are you telling me all this?” you wonder.

Ten casually shrugs. “I know you’re probably curious as to why you keep seeing me in your dreams. Besides, people might just think you’re crazy if you go around saying an incubus is haunting your dreams, so I’m not worried about you exposing me. But if you do try to do anything against me, just know I have the ability to erase your memories of your dreams.” He brings his hand up to present him in a ready position to snap his fingers. “Understood?”

You hesitantly nod in understanding.

“So, how are you going to take my ‘sexual energy’?” you ask, putting quotation marks around sexual energy since you can’t see it but apparently he wants it from you.

The demon’s eyes glow a crimson red before he opens his mouth and says, “By fucking you.”

Your eyes widen from the sudden change of colors in his irises, but then you feel pink tint your cheeks at his bold statement.

“W-what?” you squeak out.

“You want to have sex and I want your sexual energy. I can satisfy that desire for you but I get to take your sexual energy. Sounds like a win-win situation to me. Besides, didn’t you say to your friends that one night that I can take your sexual energy since I make you feel good?”

You did.

Ten was staring deeply into your eyes with such intensity that you feel like a defenseless rabbit about to be eaten by a starving wolf. You gulp and sink under his devouring gaze as you feel wetness slowly pooling in your panties. Why were you actually getting turned on from this?

“There is sooo much desire and arousal radiating off of you. It’s so intoxicating. So delicious,” the demon says, stretching out the word ‘so’. His tone is dripping with want and he licks his lips to emphasize his hunger for you as he stares into your eyes.

“What do you say?” he asks with a raised brow.

You don’t know what possessed your body at that moment but you actually nod, accepting his proposal and he smiles wickedly.

It’s almost embarrassing how fast you are willing to obey to his commands even though a logical person would probably run or scream at the presence of an evil entity. But your brain does not even register anything other than your lustful desire for Ten.

You gasp when he backs you up and you trip backwards into the bed where the demon’s body hovers over you as you lay under him.

Ten brings one hand to a breast where your nipples are erect and protruding against your thin pajama shirt. You whimper when you feel his fingers brush against your nub.

With a snap of his fingers, your clothes suddenly disappeared. He licks a stripe up your neck, next your collarbone, and then the valley between your breasts, causing goosebumps to form all over your body as his wet tongue swipes against your skin as if he’s trying to taste you.

You bite your bottom lip when he rubs two fingers against your folds.

“Holy shit, I barely touched you and you’re already this wet for me? How dirty” he smirks and he’s not wrong.

Maybe he was using some sort of spell or had the ability to hypnotize you, because you want him so badly right now.

He latches his mouth onto your nipple to suck on it and shoves two fingers past your folds, causing you to elicit a string of moans at the sudden intrusion. You grip onto the blanket when he inserts his digits in and out of you, hearing the squelching noises your pussy was making. Then, he begins to release his cock using his free hand from the confines of his pants and he pumps it a few times in his hand before positioning it at your entrance.

“W-wait, shouldn’t you put on a condom or something?” you panic.

“Relax, you won’t get pregnant if I cum inside of you.” he states. “I’m a sex demon, I can’t reproduce. Besides, I’ve already come inside you multiple times before.”

“I thought it was just a dream,” you mutter, embarrassed.

“We’ll then, let’s pretend like it is a dream and not worry about the consequences of your actions in your dreams,” he suggests.

Ten removes his fingers from inside of you and replaces it with his length.

“Don’t hold back. I want to hear you,” he growls.

He pushes through your folds and you practically mewl at the penetration. Your nails practically dig into the blankets as he completely bottoms out inside of you. Once you were adjusted to his size, he starts his thrusts off slow but hard. As soon as you tell Ten to go faster, he practically pounds into you without any mercy and you gasp. He throws your legs over his shoulder to reach a deeper angle and it sends you over the edge.

“Yes, feels so good-ah,” you chant as he continues to pound into your throbbing pussy with his harsh pace.

Ten is hitting the deepest parts of you and you’re a moaning mess when the pace becomes faster and faster. The unknown male hits your g spot and a rush of pleasure courses through your body as you make sure he continues to abuse that particular spot.

“There! Oh fuck-” you practically scream.

This is wrong on so many levels because you are literally having sexual intercourse with a demon, yet why does it feel so incredibly good? You feel like you’re committing some kind of sin being so intimate with what is supposed to be a negative entity, but your mind is too preoccupied with lust to even comprehend that rational thought.

You chant Ten’s name like a mantra as you near your orgasm which only fuels said man’s ego because he knows no one will ever fuck you as good as he does.

“That’s right, baby. That’s right,” he grunts as he feeds off your pleasure. The more intense the sex is and the closer you get to your orgasm, the more sexual energy you release.

You feel his thrusts becoming harsher and his grip is leaving crescent-shaped marks and bruises on your thighs but you are too focused on chasing your own high to notice he is slowly becoming stronger and stronger from taking in your overwhelming amount of sexual energy.

In fact, you think his cock is actually getting bigger inside of you too but that thought is cut short when he suddenly slaps your ass cheek, causing you to yelp at the pain as the sound echoes the room.

Ten laughs at your reaction as he continues to ram inside of you at an inhumane pace and all you two can hear are the sounds of moans, bed creaking, and skin slapping against skin.

Your walls start to clench erratically around his length because you’re close. So fucking close.

Ten is close too because his breathing becomes harsher and his thrusts are becoming more uneven.

“Cumming. Ten. I’m cumming.” You announce.

Soon, you release a silent scream as you come undone and climax around his cock. Ten groans and soon comes afterwards, spilling his cum deep inside of you and painting your walls white.

Both of you just stay in your positions trying to catch your breaths while Ten is still inside of you. You are both covered in a light layer of sweat from your little activity and the place reeks of sex.

Soon, Ten pulls out of your abused hole and his seeds slowly leak out of your abused cunt.

Ten snaps his fingers and next thing you know you’re fully clothed and the mess he released inside you was gone, like nothing ever happened. Ten was fully dressed again, minus the two undone buttons, and the sweat from his body was gone.

“I’ll come back for you, little one,” he whispers and winks at you.

Suddenly, your alarm rings and you jolt awake. You look around your room, but nobody was in there except you. Then you look down to see you were still in your pajamas.

You sit up from your bed and rush over to examine your appearance in the closet mirror but nothing looks out of the ordinary, just some bed hair but that’s about it. After examining your entire body but finding nothing, you crawl back to bed and begin to think of Ten and his words.

I’ll come back for you, little one.

“Wow,” you whisper in a daze.

Was that all real or just an intense dream? Honestly, you couldn’t believe it because it felt like a straight up fantasy.

Having sex with an incubus was on a whole new level of euphoria. But then again, they are sex demons for a reason. So many dirty thoughts are running through your head as you fantasize over Ten.

Regardless of whether Ten really was an incubus having sex with you to steal your energy or just a dream, you couldn’t wait to see him in your dreams again to satisfy your fantasies.

#nct smut #ten smut #nct fanfic #nct scenarios

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dadsbongos · 3 years

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Liebeskummer

Movie/Game/Show: Danganronpa: Killing Harmony Dynamic: Korekiyo Shinguji/Reader (and his sister shit but i actually take it seriously, unlike kodaka) Warnings: korekiyo’s backstory/trauma (his sister), sexual/physical/mental abuse implications (and outright said but not described in detail except the emotional and mental), anxiety in both kork and reader and mental breakdown(s?), airhead shit but it’s sad Summary: It’s all her fault. ~~~

Korekiyo suddenly turned to the girl beside him in his quiet research lab, “Have you ever heard of Jack of Fables, (Y/n)?” at her, albeit confused, nod, he continued, “Well, all those myths, fairy tales, and even nursery rhymes in reference to ‘Jack’ are actually about the same man. What this means is that Jack Be Nimble, of the candlestick, Jack the Giant Killer, who sold his cows then murdered and robbed a giant, Stingy Jack, who tricked the devil so relentlessly that he was banned from both afterlives, Jack of Jack and Jill, who cracked open his skull, Jack o’ Lantern, Spirit of Halloween and Headless Horseman, and Jack Frost, Spirit who ends autumn and begins winter are all one in the same. He made so many poor life decisions that he now serves as an immortal representation of winer with a pumpkin serving as head and flashlight. Is that not fascinating?”

“Aw,” (Y/n) grinned, nodding once again, “Like the American ‘Florida man’.”

Korekiyo sighed, disappointment palpable in his tone, “That is… actually much more accurate than I wish to admit.”

“Wait, wait,” she tilted her head, patting the man’s arm despite his attention already being on her, “So… like, was he also Jack the Ripper…?”

His eyes widened at her statement, “(Y/n), I must be grateful you were not born to the life of a woman of the night in Victorian London because I assure you, Jack the Ripper was incredibly real.”

“Oh, that’s so sad…” she pouted before clearing it back into her usual smile almost instantly, “Well, thanks for the folklore fun fact, Kiyo! I didn’t know that Jack was so dumb! God, I’d hate to be like him…”

“You do realize you’re not so bright yourself, yes?”

She shrugged, “I’m fine with that, but at least I’m not tricking the devil!”

So sweet and kind, the Ultimate Composer was. Against all expectations, she wasn’t highbrow or traditionally genius, but she was more than excellent company. And, to top it off, the idea of turning her into one of Sister’s friends was oddly… sickening.

It should’ve been perfectly fine - she was a deeply respectable young woman unlike Miu and Maki, there’s no reason he could have against her.

It just felt wrong.

“Oh! Oh!” she burst out, clapping her hands together, before turning and reaching into a bag slung around her hip. Rooting through scrapped sheet music and notes, once she found what she’d been searching for she held it up excitedly, “Boom!”

Korekiyo took the item, just barely brushing his wrapped fingertips against hers, “Cleopatra’s Pearl Cocktail… much appreciated,” he pressed the small bottle into a pocket on his uniform, “If you enjoy giving gifts, perhaps we can discuss cultural gift-giving practices?”

“Ooh, Kiyo’s gonna teach me?”

“Hmm,” Korekiyo hummed quietly to himself, “Well, perhaps… you would prefer I tell you of a composition piece in relevance to mythology, yes?”

“That’d be nice,” the girl giggled softly, rubbing the back of her neck, “To be honest, I just like when you talk… you sound so smart all the time!”

“My thanks, (Y/n),” he nodded curtly, muttering to himself before coming to speak up, “Alright, I believe that the composition for you would be The Ring of the Nibelung, of Germany.”

“Oh, I know that one!” she knew most ‘ones’, to be fair.

“I had suspected so, but have you heard of the heroic legends behind the pieces?”

“Ah, no… are those what you’re gonna explain?”

“I had planned to, yes. Alright, well, the four parts, as you know, are The Rhinegold, The Valkyrie, Siegfried, and Twilight of the Gods. Nowadays, they are most commonly played as individual, separate works despite making one complete story. They were always intended as a sequence - as The Ring cycle, cleverly. Each piece revolves on a loose basis to German heroic tales and Norse legendary sagas, with the overarching tale of the magic ring forged by the Nibelung dwarf, Alberich, which grants the power to rule the world,” he paused at the sight of (Y/n) yawning, his lips pursed and eyes shot down to his shoes before flickering back up to the girl, “Ah, my apologies for taking far longer than necessary. You must find this- “

“Ah, no!” (Y/n) shook her head, waving her hands about as though it would physically prove how far from needed his apology was, “That’s not it! I’m just kinda tired, ya know?” as if to prove her point, another yawn washed over her, “I hadn’t slept well last night after Kirumi…”

“I see,” Korekiyo nodded, closing his eyes to think over his words, “I apologize for making it about myself. If you wish, I could walk you to your dormitory. Now that you mention it, it has been quite the long day.”

“You don’t have to, Kiyo, I’d hate to bother you so much in one day let alone one sitting,” the composer puffed her cheeks out, “That’d be so obnoxious…”

“I don’t find it obnoxious whatsoever, especially if it’s to aid- “ he hesitated, “to aid a friend.”

He hadn’t had friends before. People usually found him creepy and that was the end of the story - nobody approached him and he didn’t branch out. Life went on. The world spun. His loneliness was everlasting and yet nonexistent. He has Sister. Though, deep down, he knows. She’s on another plane of reality with loneliness stronger than his, that’s why he sends her respectable young women.

Just like (Y/n).

But just… not (Y/n). For reasons he personally chooses to not disclose to even himself.

“Aww, Kiyo! You care!” the girl placed a hand over her heart as if to show that the organ itself was squeezing in delight at his offer.

“Of course, I do,” Korekiyo didn’t like how quiet she made him. How jittery and nervous. And he didn’t like how it made him question the way Sister made him feel.

She also made him nervous but it felt different. He liked to pretend it was the nervousness of a love you don’t quite have yet, but he fully knows he’d be lying. She was a mean girl, a bully in school before being hospitalized. Prone to violent and outright frightening outbursts when she had the energy to do more than force him to her side.

But he didn’t like questioning those feelings for Sister. Who he was, was based on her. His uniform. His passion and talent. His hair. His perfect complexion. His life as the universe knows it is an ode to her.

It’s too late for him to go back now… he’s already done so much in her name it’d be cruel to give up now. He might as well continue for Sister.

“If you really don’t mind, then yeah, I’d like it if we could walk together… I get a little nervous going around at night, you never know who’s gonna snap…”

“And you trust me?”

Shit. That’s what gets him in trouble. It’s as Sister always said. ‘Too naive to make his choices, and once he’s free, too inept to make the right ones.’

“Well, yeah,” (Y/n) spoke as if there was hardly any thought to the answer, “All you’ve shown me is somebody worth trusting,” then, she’s quick to remember poor Kaede, “Well, maybe I’m being silly. But hey, if I have to choose between dying trusting my friends and paranoid beyond myself, then maybe I’d- “ she paused, “Ehhh, I don’t like the way that’s coming out.”

“I understand what you’re attempting to say,” Korekiyo reassured, turning towards his research lab’s exit, “Let us start towards the dormitories, yes?”

“Right!” (Y/n) nearly found herself jogging to catch up to Korekiyo’s long-strided head start, she clutched the strap of her bag as she did so, “So… you heard about Angie’s plan, right?”

“To perform a resurrection?”

“Do you think it’ll work?” she seemed antsier than was typical for her, “I mean, you’re into anthropology, so, like, has there ever been a case where that did work? Do you know?”

“No, besides, that would be more akin to history, remember?” she probably didn’t, her memory failed her at an ungodly amalgamation of best and worst of times.

“Oh, yeah,” she murmured and nodded, pretending to recall the difference between the two.

“Who would you desire back into this game, if you could?”

“Rantaro,” her answer was quick, her fingers looping together nervously, “We didn’t really talk much, but uhm, whenever we did - he was really nice. He said I reminded him of a sister of his… so that’s a good thing, right?”

Depends on who you ask, really.

“You grew attached to him so quickly?” there was no jealousy there, he tried to convince himself.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish I’d gotten to know him more. He was always running around, trying to save us, and in the end… it got him killed.”

A lot of things will get you killed.

Korekiyo shook off the thoughts racking his brain, “Your care for him even through his estrangedness and peculiarity is truly beautiful, (Y/n),” he fiddled with the locket piece hanging around his shoulders, “Even your care for myself. I’d be lying if I’d said it wasn’t endearing.”

“You’re not…” her words died out, not wanting to lie to a dear companion of hers, “You’re a little off-putting but you’re not undeserving of love, Kiyo.”

It was a complete 180 from what Sister had told him his entire life. A new lesson coming in far too late. He had to earn love. He should’ve been crawling on his knees and pleading for affection, but now he was supposed to simply receive it? It sounded so incredibly fake. A fictitious tale told alongside gumdrop fairies and candy trees.

No place for someone of realistic standard.

No place for him.

“You’re far too kind, (Y/n).”

“Maybe you just haven’t known nice people,” she suddenly stopped, slapping a palm to her mouth and muffling against it, “I’m so sorry!”

“Worry not,” Korekiyo continued walking, “I’m unphased.”

Because maybe it was true.

Maybe Sister wasn’t so nice.

There was an itch at his skin in the thought and he shook his head.

Sister was kind enough to love someone like him. Who was of rotted soul and rancid heart.

“I shouldn’t have just said that, especially since I don’t really know your life…”

“Would you like to learn it someday?”

(Y/n) was fairly shocked at how quickly he seemed to breeze by her insult to his family and friends - well, if he had any friends - but she wouldn’t refuse. It was extra time with Korekiyo! Who could turn that down?

“I’d love to.”

“Tea and cookies,” (Y/n) pumped a fist in the air, “What could be better than enjoying those with a friend?”

Korekiyo felt his lips twitch up behind his mask at the rhetorical question, he reached out for his teacup, “Perhaps freedom from this killing game?”

“Oh, yeah, huh…” she deflated, “Jeez, I can’t believe I’d say that…”

Oh, great, of course, now he’s gone and made the local ball of sunshine in this school upset.

“Nevermind that, (Y/n), it was a tease…” he gripped the cup a little tighter, cheeks heating up in humiliation at his failed joke, “I apologize if it seemed like anything other than such.”

“No, don’t apologize, it’s fine! It was kind of a dumb thing to say, now that I put some brain into it,” so it made sense she’d said it, (Y/n) frowned at the bitter thought.

“Ah,” the clink of a cup against the table caught the girl’s attention, “I must change my mask in order to properly enjoy this tea and these cookies,” as the anthropologist went to turn, he was stopped by another outburst from the girl.

“No, don’t! Uh, here!” she clenched her eyes shut, papped her palms over her face, and turned her head downwards, “See? Now I can’t!”

“You don’t have to go to such lengths, I could simply turn- “

“No, no, I want you to feel comfortable and I heard once that doing things to make your friends comfortable is, like, a way to make them like you more?” she huffed at the wording, “Just, I don’t know… I want you to know that I care. Ya get it? No need to turn yourself away like that when I can just not look.”

A tuft of air passed through his nostrils at the girl.

Sister would adore a friend like her.

Korekiyo pulled down his mask, brows drawn tight towards his eyes at the new realization. It was no longer a matter of her being respectable, it was now the knowledge that someone as tender-hearted as (Y/n) would be loved beyond comprehension by Sister.

But… no. Sister couldn’t have her. She’d understand, right? Of course. She could have someone else - the other bubbly girl, what’s her name? Angie. She could have Angie.

Korekiyo just… he just needed (Y/n). Something about her was calming and sweet. He picked his mask for eating from a pocket in his uniform and carefully adjusted it over his lips so as to not smudge his lipstick. It wouldn’t anyway, he knew this, but it usually never backfired to be too sure.

The lipstick in itself was quite the hassle. Another homage to Sister that she might not even be seeing. So was the hair. It got tangled and knotted and was hell to dry after a shower.

“Not to rush you at all, but are you done? Cuz my eyes are starting to hurt… I think I’m squeezing them too hard.”

“Right, yes, I am.”

He really shouldn’t think like that… Sister deserved to be honored.

As if she’d been reading his mind, (Y/n) leaned over slightly, pointing at Korekiyo’s hair, “Hey, hey, how do you manage that? It always looks so silky and soft and well-kept.”

“Ah, well, it is quite troublesome most days, but with patience and rather expensive products, I keep it together.”

“I was wondering, too, do you ever put it up?”

“Not usually, though, that would be… nice on occasion,” he sipped at his tea, enjoying the way (Y/n) shyly glanced away to prove she didn’t want to invade his privacy. She was too delightful to be in a place such as this, even if he did enjoy the beauties of law-absence.

“Uh, I don’t want to come off pushy or like you have to let me, but if you want, I’d love to put your hair up! To be honest, I’ve been wanting to for a while,” her eyes widened at her own statement, “Oh, that sounded creepy. I’m so sorry.”

“I am hardly one to judge,” he reached over for a cookie, “But, if you’re so inclined, I won’t protest.”

“Yay!” she bounced slightly in her chair, “Oh, that’s great, Kiyo, thanks.”

“Shall we go to your dorm after finishing our refreshments?”

“I’d like that,” (Y/n) grinned.

And to think she almost didn’t approach Korekiyo on that first day in the school. How ridiculous could she have been to judge based on looks? Sure, he was a little strange and the way he spoke was unlike any teenager she’d ever met, but he was still a person. He deserved to be given companionship.

Besides, he’d only ever shown her kindness and support.

He didn’t even make fun of her when she said something stupid in front of everyone.

She cringed at the memory of every time Kokichi or Miu or Maki prodded at her. Even Ryoma and Kaito had picked on her when she misspoke during the first trial and just brought up a point the class had already proven. It made her heart wrinkle and shrink at the mere thought. Kokichi still made fun of her for questioning Tsumugi’s whereabouts during Rantaro’s murder.

“You’re staring into your tea, it will grow cold if you only look at it.”

“Oh, yeah,” shaking her head, (Y/n) silently cursed herself for spacing out. What an awful habit of hers, it was, “Sorry for taking so long.”

“You shouldn’t apologize, I’m not upset in the slightest,” he felt his heart lighten at the tiny smile that illuminated her face, “I simply enjoy spending this time together.”

“You’re too nice sometimes, Kiyo,” she giggled, but they both recognized the tingle of nervousness jumbling within it, “If you’re not careful, I might fall for you or something…”

“Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing?”

I wouldn’t mind, she wanted to say.

If you’ll have me, he wished to murmur.

Then he felt his chest tighten.

“Can I…” he tapped a finger to the table, “ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Uhm,” she bit her lip as she thought back, “No… why?”

“How do you think it feels?”

“Like, you could be free and yourself around the person? I’m not too sure, but I think if you and someone else are in love then you’ll accept each other completely, you know? Sure, there’s flaws in every person, but I think you accept those, too.”

“I see…”

“Kiyo, why do you ask?”

“I…” his brows furrowed, “A lot has been on my mind as of late.”

“Alright, I won’t pry,” standing from the dining table, (Y/n) clapped her hands together, “Now, if you’re still down, I’d love to put your hair up!”

“As it stands, I am still, as you put it, ‘down’,” Korekiyo nodded before joining the girl and starting towards her dorm room.

“Nice!” she pointed directly ahead, “Now, onward!”

A total airhead at her truest, Korekiyo thought. He didn’t usually partake in the type, but something about (Y/n) just pulled him in tighter every time he tried turning away.

So, what’s the harm in giving in? Swimming against the tide only ever led to drowning anyway, so why fight it?

Sister… Sister was dead. Is dead. Resurrection isn’t possible and hasn’t been in human history. And she had changed so much of him. (Y/n) would never force him to bend to her ideal.

The more he thought about Sister in comparison to (Y/n), the more he realized that Sister felt like a ball and chain - and (Y/n) felt like a breath of fresh air.

Just her name inside his own head sounded as sweet as the best form of heaven.

“Here we are!” (Y/n) cheered upon their arrival to her room, “There’s probably a bunch-load of unfinished works in here so just… don’t judge them too harshly, okay?”

“I could hardly judge an unfinished masterpiece.”

“I don’t know about masterpieces…”

“If you create them with heart and soul, there’s nobody who can effectively say they aren’t except for yourself,” Korekiyo enters the room after her, legs carrying him towards her desk as she roots around her bathroom for a hairbrush and hair tie, “Sadly, this is also applicable to disasters with effort put into them. However, just from skimming these, I can tell you they are not such disasters.”

“Aw, thanks, Kiyo, you know - I know I’m the Ultimate Composer and junk, but jeez it gets so nerve-wracking when people hear my stuff. I like what I write, but who’s to say other people will?”

“I understand that. Showing others your work is extremely unsettling at times,” he followed the girl to her bed and sat between her knees on the floor, “I recall feeling that way when I would dabble in artistry.”

“You can draw?”

“I would when I was much younger,” he felt her fingers run over his scalp and through his hair and the weight looming over his shoulders practically melted off, “I haven’t held onto any of them, and they’ve likely aged poorly, but I know how I felt showing them around.”

“Why’d you stop? If you don’t mind my asking,” reaching around, (Y/n) threaded her fingers through Korekiyo’s bangs and, as gently as humanly possible, pulled the hair hanging over and around his face back into a slicked style.

“My… sister, she always rathered that I participate in anthropology with her. I wasn’t all that good anyways.”

“Aw, that’s kinda sad. Even if you weren’t good, you could’ve improved over time.”

“Do you truly believe that, (Y/n)?”

“Of course, I mean, talents are just developed over time, right? Angie didn’t pop out of the womb an art genius and I didn’t start off great at writing music, you just keep at it and eventually your skill level is way better than when you started.”

Sister always said he’d be garbage at drawing. Somebody like him could never learn.

She tied off and twisted until the bun was perfect - well, not perfect. It was presentable enough, and it was just a bun anyway! Not like they had anywhere to be.

“Sorry it’s messy,” she scratched at her cheek, feeling anxious that he’d be upset with her work.

“I…” he felt another little smile peek over him, it was indeed messy with stray hairs sticking out here and there and a few tiny bumps running over his head, but even so, “I love it.”

“You do?”

“It’s a gesture from you, why wouldn’t I?”

Standing beside Korekiyo at the mirror, (Y/n) twiddled her thumbs before spewing out her question, “It’s totally cool if not, but can I hug you? Sorry if that’s weird!”

“No… it’s…” Sister never asked to touch him, and now that he thought about it, she never seemed to care when he told her to stop, “That would be wonderful.”

As her arms slowly came around him, he felt truly at ease. With Sister, there was always this fear of never being what she wanted. That she hated him deep down. With (Y/n), it felt like finally being attached to someone you were meant to. Returning to a place of deep affection.

“You truly do care about me, don’t you, (Y/n)?”

“What kind of question is that?” she back-pedals, “I mean, of course, I do. You’re very dear to me, Kiyo.”

Maybe even a little too dear, considering the current climate of the killing game.

But even so, neither of them pulls away. Neither cares enough to wrangle themselves from indulging in the other’s touch. It feels too good against their skin.

It’s then that Korekiyo’s brain strikes the flint to create the burning thought - maybe Sister wasn’t all that great. Maybe Sister didn’t love him.

She’s only ever made him miserable, now that he recalls it all.

(Y/n) doesn’t. She makes him feel human and alive and adored. He likes the way she makes him feel. And between the two, he much rather would be praised than berated.

Oh God, what did this mean again?

Where do the creation myths go?

Who’s Princess Kaguya?

Her head throbs at the thoughts rumbling through her. She tried to get Korekiyo to get someone, anyone, but her to organize his notes.

Shuichi would love this stuff! You two should bond!

Gonta could learn about being gentlemanly from you! It’d be a great learning experience!

I know you don’t like Miu that much, but maybe spending more time together could make you understand each other more?

Anyone.

And yet, Korekiyo denied. He liked spending time with her. He wouldn’t mind answering every question she had - no matter how many times she asked it. He was a patient person, he could handle it.

(Y/n) looked at all the books and stray papers surrounding her alike, bottom lip tugged between her teeth in focus and face beating hot in vivid embarrassment. He wasn’t even looking at her, thank God, but still… it was so mortifying that she’d already lost track of what she was doing.

She tried so hard to pay attention, she really, really did!

She wanted to help so bad. She wanted to be useful so bad.

But she knew… she’s not a smart person, per se. It was beaten over her head repeatedly her entire life by her family, schooling, peers, and even her friends. She was an idiot who couldn’t do anything right.

It’s why she wanted Korekiyo to ask someone else.

But how could she say no to him? He was always so nice, it’d be downright mean to refuse him. Right?

She felt her eyes burn, vision growing blurry through tears. Setting down the papers in her hands - (Y/n) covered her eyes to keep any wetness from splotching the notes below. It was the least a fucking moron could do.

“(Y/n)? Are you feeling okay?”

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

She nodded shakily, just wanting Korekiyo to ignore her and continue his work. Better yet, he’d kick her out and she could dodge the incoming humiliation altogether.

“Yeah,” her voice cracked, lips trembling.

Goddammit.

She heard papers rustling before she could feel the presence at her side. Fingertips just barely grazing her body before hesitating back, “You’re lying.”

Understatement of the year.

“I just… I’m so sorry, Kiyo. I’m such an idiot, I knew I couldn’t do this,” she whimpered, desperately trying to grab and suffocate down her bubbling sobs before they wracked her throat, “I’m too fucking dumb to do anything right… I’m sorry…”

“No, no, don’t apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong and you’re no idiot,” he’s immediately slammed with every memory of every time he’s called her such a thing. No matter how nice he tried to be about it, he still aided her insecurity, “I’m sorry for ever saying you were. Intellect is not measured by how well you can do a task nor should everyone’s mind be measured the same. Intelligence is fickle and is spread over a vast variety of subjects. You’re not an idiot for not being able to do something you’re not accustomed to.”

“I just… I- I wanted to help you but then I forgot everything you said about organizing them and then which regions are which and what even is a gorgon?”

He chuckled quietly at her question, “A creature in Greek mythology most commonly in reference to three sisters - Medusa, Euryale, and Sthenno - with hair made of living, venomous snakes that turned those who so much as looked upon them to stone,” he glanced around at what (Y/n) had gotten done, “I see that the filing in relation to music is nearly completed for your half.”

“That’s about all I’m good for.”

“And I would not have managed that so easily, music was never an incredible strength of mine - though I do admire it.”

“Don’t lie to me, Kiyo…”

“I would never,” he moved his notes away to sit more comfortably next to the girl, “In fact, if you’d be willing to listen…” his throat tightened and heart thumped in his chest, “I would like to tell you of something that’s been troubling me for quite some time.”

“Yeah,” she wiped away her tears, sniffling, “of course.”

“I told you of my sister, correct?” he waited for her nod of confirmation to continue, “Well, it’s my belief that…” his fists clenched.

What if she didn’t believe him? What if she blamed him? How do you tell someone your older sister raped and abused you when you’re barely even coming to terms with the fact yourself?

“(Y/n), I…” he stopped, gut bunching in knots before he suddenly ripped down his mask and turned to face her, “I think I need help…”

“What? You’re just wearing lipstick, Kiyo, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“No, no, no, no,” he shook his head, hands shaking wildly as he pulled out the ponytail (Y/n) had done up earlier and yanked through his hair, “E-everything I am is because of her! She consumes me even in death! She- she- she hurt me…”

“Oh,” the girl moved to sit up on her knees, hands reaching out but not yet touching him, “What happened, Kiyo? You can tell me, I’m listening.”

“She told me I was an awful boy, nobody but her could love someone so foul and creepy… she- “ he moved to grip his sleeves, “She touched me,” he looked into the girl’s eyes, “Is it my fault? Am I so disgusting? Why would she do this?”

“Do you want me to hold you or no?” at his shaky nod, she instantly took Korekiyo into a hug, cradling his head and shoulders to her body and stroking through his hair, “You’re more than what she made you. You’re bigger and better than her manipulation. And it’s not your fault she did what she did. It’s completely and totally on her. She took advantage of you, Kiyo, that’s not your fault.”

He grabbed her arm and pressed his face into her shirt as she held him, “Am I rotten? Am I lovable?”

“You’re the best person I’ve ever met. You’re worthy of love and care.”

His lipstick smeared over her shirt and across his cheek and neither of them minded. It would wash off eventually. Her stain on his life would come out.

“When we get out,” (Y/n) began again, “do you want to seek professional help? You can get it, Kiyo.”

He was slow to nod, beginning to grow tired from dosing out tears and trauma at once, “I do… thank you, (Y/n)...”

“No need to thank me.”

“(Y/n)?” she hummed quietly in acknowledgement, “Even if it isn’t for field work… I wish to travel the country with you. I want to show you the beauty of humanity as I know it… for our sakes.”

Looking down, (Y/n) caught the gentleness in his eyes, tender and soft and awaiting her response, she smiled softly, brushing back his hair, “I would love to, Kiyo. If it’s truly something you want to do, I would be happy to go anywhere with you.”

Nighttime was quickly approaching and with the atmosphere and turmoil of the class, (Y/n) didn’t feel very safe being out so late.

“You’re certain you don’t wish for me to walk you to your room?”

“No, you finish up here,” (Y/n) waved off Korekiyo’s offer, “Don’t be such a worry-wart, yeah? I’ll be fine! You better take care of yourself while I’m gone, though.”

He nodded, a small smile stretching over him, “I will, dear (Y/n), don’t worry.”

The girl’s eyes widened slightly before she returned his beam, “You have a cute smile, Kiyo.”

“Oh,” right, he didn’t have his mask on at the moment. It was refreshing to wake up and not trouble himself with makeup for a woman he wasn’t sure even cared - dare he say it, it was nice, even.

He’d only taken his mask off around (Y/n), it felt intimate. Sweet. Something passed only between them.

“Thank you.”

She nodded before turning back and pressing outward from his research lab, “I’ll see ya tomorrow, Kiyo! You better have the sweetest dreams, ya hear me?”

“You as well.”

He returned to cleaning up his lab, occasionally stumbling over a floorboard looser than the others. How troublesome.

That’s when her voice picked up from within his brain.

“You never loved me.”

He looked around despite knowing exactly where the voice was coming from.

“You let her do this to you. You let her take you from me.”

Pushing past them, he persisted in rooting through his notes and organizing his papers.

“She hates you. She’s scared of you. She’s just trying to be nice. You scare her. You scare all of them. You rotten, rotten boy. You’ve been ruined - only I could love a face so hideous and broken. A horrible, horrible boy lucky enough to be given the love I did.”

His hands shook, fingers twitching and heart thrumming heavy, “No. (Y/n) likes me. She enjoys my company.”

“Why would she enjoy the company of someone so lonely and depressing? So gross and foul? She probably hates you for partaking in your own sister’s touch.”

“No, she- she doesn’t… she knows it’s not… it’s not my fault…”

“Are you inside her head? How do you know? How are you certain? I’m the only one who ever loved you - and you’ve abandoned me. Left me all alone.”

“No, I- I haven’t abandoned you, Sister! Please, believe me, I never abandoned you.”

“So, you know what you must do to prove yourself to me.”

“(Y/n) wouldn’t like that…”

“(Y/n) wouldn’t like you anyway.”

She’s right, right? She’s right. Someone as wonderful and beautiful as (Y/n) could never adore him the way he does her. He loves her and she must find him repulsive. Staying out of fear.

Out of pity for the boy abused by his sister. And so, who better to return to than the more predictable of the two?

(Y/n) may have felt more like coming home than Sister - but Sister was home. (Y/n) was comfort. Sister was familiarity.

He found his foot planted against the loose floorboard once again. He knew how he had to make up for his misdeeds and abandonment.

“I’m truly relieved to see that you got to your room safely,” Korekiyo murmured to (Y/n).

“Huh? Oh yeah,” she pointed over to their local gentle giant, “Gonta and I crossed paths on my way and he wanted to walk me to my room and I just couldn’t say no to him. It’s nice to have someone you trust in this ‘game’. Well, other than you,” the elevator jumbled slightly as it dove down into Monokuma’s makeshift courtroom, “I trust you, obviously.”

She shouldn’t. And he wants to tell her that.

But as Kokichi and Shuichi take glances at him from across the elevator, he knows that she’ll figure things out soon enough.

And, during the trial, when Shuichi’s convicting Korekiyo of the murder of Angie Yonaga and Tenko Chabashira - she does. And she cries and screams and throws a fit. Demanding Korekiyo to fight back harder. Demanding Shuichi to stop lying and get serious. Because Korekiyo would never kill somebody.

He was nice. He was a gentleman. He cared about people. He had stolen her heart - and a man who managed that wouldn’t kill anybody. So, of course, Shuichi was lying.

“Do I have to remind you of what’ll happen if you don’t vote?” Monokuma bit out.

(Y/n) clutched at her hair - she knew what she had to do. But every time she went to vote for Korekiyo, her body wouldn’t let her.

Reaching over, the boy himself took her hand in his, “Allow me,” as he guided her hand over her voting panel. No matter how she swatted at his hand or tried to wrench herself from Korekiyo’s grip, he pressed her vote into his name.

She was forced to watch as he was strung up and spun. Made dizzy and sickly. She was made to watch as he fell into the melting pot. Fires eating at his body until he was no more than spirit.

As Monokuma and the sister who had harmed him so horrifically worked as one to rid the world of his soul.

Eyes went to (Y/n) as the execution subsided. Her sobs and hiccups drawing everyone’s attention.

Gonta was the first to approach, a large hand settling on the girl’s back as she cried, silently taking her into a hug.

Her heart wrenched, fingers squeezing at Gonta’s suit and throat rubbing raw with her wild wails.

He could’ve gotten help. He could’ve gotten out with everyone. If she’d just stayed with him then she could’ve done something. Angie and Tenko would be here. Korekiyo would be here.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Kaito’s voice peeked through, “Don’t cry because he’s gone, (Y/n). Move forward - for both of you.”

“I…” she shook her head, choking on a sob, “I don’t think I can…”

Shuichi placed a hand on Kaito’s shoulder, “Just give her a little time.”

As the group moved out of the courtroom, Gonta stayed by (Y/n)’s side up until she clumsily made her way into her dorm room.

Immediately, she collapsed into her bed sheets. Dreading tomorrow. And the next day. And the one after that. And the one after that. And so on. And so forth. Maybe she should’ve known better than to go around falling for a guy in the killing game. Maybe she should’ve held herself up in her room all alone.

There was no escape from this feeling. No hiding. It may get better over time - but Korekiyo would always be gone.

A buzz at the door caught her attention. Her movements were sluggish, honestly just hoping that whoever was there had given up and left by the time she finally answered.

Shuichi stood there, classically uneven, anxious smile and all, “I think there’s something you might be interested in? If you’ll follow me.”

No verbal response was given, only (Y/n) stepping out of her room and shutting the door behind her to give him her confirmation.

He began towards the casino. With a sigh, (Y/n) was about to tell Shuichi off - she didn’t need to start gambling to get over Korekiyo’s death - until he stopped in front of the building.

“I mostly just wanted you to get some fresh air,” he says earnestly before digging in his pocket and pulling out a key with a heart-shaped handle, “I got this from here. You can get your own or keep this one, I think you need it more than I do,” at her confusion he continues to explain, “It can take you into this weird dream-like state where you can see what ‘ideal’ you play in our classmates’ minds… I think you know who I gave this to you for.”

“Kiyo…”

“Yeah. You can see him again, if you want.”

She wanted to be strong and push the key back into Shuichi’s hand - instead, she just looked between him and the key in her hold and nodded slowly, “Thank you, Shuichi…”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, “Sleep well, (Y/n). I know you can grow past this.”

Because he did.

“I’ll try.”

But he wasn’t her. And Kaede was gone far before Korekiyo. And their grief was not the same.

“Thanks again, Shuichi.”

“Just take your time, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Her knees felt like collapsing under the weight of her nerves, hand falling to the doorknob of the hotel room.

She pushed through her anxiety and found herself in a red-tinted room, a large heart-shaped bed in the center with a merry-go-round circling it. Then, she found Korekiyo standing to the side.

What would his ‘ideal’ version of her be? A friend? An out-of-touch acquaintance? A lover?

Her heart throbbed at the last possibility.

“Ah, my dear, back so soon?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry…”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I’m, uhm, not sure?”

I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.

“Then don’t,” he seemed to glide across the room, taking the girl’s cheeks in his hands, “You’ve always had a problem with that, my love.”

My love? My love.

“Ah, yeah, sorry,” she huffed at her own word selection, “Oh…”

Korekiyo chuckled quietly, pulling down his mask to kiss her forehead, “I already took my medication while you were out.”

“Your medication?”

“Yes, from the doctor. You were the one who pushed me to go, have you forgotten?”

“Right! No, no, I just blanked,” she quickly lied, giving the boy a broad grin, “I’m glad, though.”

“It’s only medication, dear.”

“Still,” (Y/n) reached up to cup Korekiyo’s cheek, “it’s good that you’re following through with your meds.”

“Your support always helps,” he pressed another kiss to the girl’s forehead, “We’ll be leaving early in the morning tomorrow, I should warn you,” at her furrowed brows he explained, “In order for us to catch the first train to Iwate prefecture. Did you forget, darling?”

“Wait, wait, let me guess…” she waited for his nod before tossing out her suggestion, “We’re traveling for field work!” she was then quick to tag on, “As a couple that’s, like, super in love?”

“You didn’t forget at all, my love,” Korekiyo pulled away slightly, and sat on the bed, removing his shoes, “You play that memory of yours down too much. You’re far more intelligent than you think.”

“You think that?”

“Of course, I do. It’s not just because I love you dearly, either. You mustn’t let the words and actions of others control your opinion on yourself - you’re better than they say.”

This is his ultimate fantasy. He’s her lover. They travel and see the beauty of humanity together, just like what he said he wanted. He loves her. He thinks she’s so great.

He’s wrong.

She should’ve stayed with him that night.

He’s wrong.

She could’ve done so much to keep him with her.

He’s dead.

Because she should’ve stayed.

“Kiyo,” her eyes burned and began to soak, “I’m sorry!” her lungs rapidly expanded and contracted with her sporadic breaths, her hands clutching at her shirt. Her knees finally buckled and she collapsed to the ground, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry for being a stupid, stupid, stupid failure! Please… forgive me…!”

Korekiyo immediately stood up and rushed to (Y/n)’s side, bringing her into a tight hug as she fell to the floor, his fingers running through her hair. He kisses at her temple and cheeks, waiting until her cries settle enough for him to be audible in the room, “It’s interesting, dear, I first realized I’d fallen in love with you in a situation similar as this. I desired to comfort and reassure you just as I do now. You’re not stupid nor a failure, and I adore you above all else.”

Shaking her head, (Y/n) only began to cry harder into Korekiyo’s chest. This could’ve been their future. This could’ve been what they had to share and hold between only each other. If she’d only stayed. If she’d been with him that night.

“Oh, my dear, I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

“It wasn’t you,” she clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to keep back her cries, “I- I- it’s all my fault… it’s all my fault…”

“You haven’t done anything wrong, darling,” Korekiyo held her tighter, “I love you, my dearest (Y/n). No matter what you’ve done, I will always forgive you.”

And once again, her tears only came out harder. Her head pounding ruthlessly at the ache and consciousness fading out in her exhaustion. Korekiyo was dead. And no amount of her tears could ever bring him back.

#korekiyo shinguji x reader #korekiyo x reader #shinguji x reader #drv3 x reader #he deserved so much better :(( i wuv him #let me know if i miss anything with the warnings

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artisqueer · 3 years

Photo

RetroBangBoy AU - My Time, Finale (ao3)

Word Count: 6.8k

Pairings: Jungkook x reader, OT7 x reader, ft namkook, namjin, taekook.

Warnings: Language, brief mentions of violence, death and alcohol.

“…oh yes, so pretty, Dear. Whoever receives this must be very special,” the old woman says as she wraps a small item for one of your classmates.

You peer over their shoulder to get a look. It’s a marbly bracelet. Each glass bead resembles a colorful beach stone, with one long pendant carved in the shape of a crescent moon. It's very pretty and must hold great significance. The classmate bows to the woman and turns around to leave.

Your eyes meet.

“Jungkook??”

His widened eyes match yours twice over.

Jungkook is on this trip too? But he’s a greaser…How did I not see this one coming!

Field Observation #6: You are not doing a good job avoiding boy drama, Bighead.

“Hi, big—I mean, Y/N…” Jungkook stammers. A camellia-hue blushes at his round cheeks as he moves aside for you to set your items on the counter. He drops his gaze down to his shoes and his long hair falls over his face.

The tone of surprise in your voice echoes in your ears. You cringe at yourself, hoping Jungkook didn’t notice and take offense. It just never occurred to you that Jungkook is the academic type. You round off the reasons in your head. He’s a greaser and rides in Joon’s motorcycle gang, you’ve never shared a class or seen him study, he’s always dressed like a punk and has skipped every school event ever, and, and… when you went on that date to the drive-in movie he never mentioned school. You get a flashback of him making out with the french fries and drinking two chocolate milkshakes. He had no interest in you at all.

Did he really keep this persona from you? That he’s so… cool?

The lady looks from you to Jungkook and back to you, very clearly enticed by the tension. You scramble out of the awkwardness, trying to make light talk. Jin made it so easy.

“How have you been? I didn’t see you on the bus earlier or else I would have—" you ramble on, quickly paying for your items.

“It’s OK. I tend to lay low. I was in the back…on the bus, I mean. Rode here with Tae, actually.” He rubs the back of his neck nervously.

The old woman slides a small card across the counter. “For the ring, Dear,” she gestures to the small ring in your hand and smiles at you both tenderly. “It’s from the future, so use it well.” She gives you a wink. (mood rings first appeared in 1970)

You tuck the small card into your jacket pocket along with your tangerines and slide the ring onto your middle finger. You both bow to the old woman and walk out of Yeongjusan House with your souvenirs in tow. Once outside, the ring changes color from amber to yellow.

“Oh, you rode with Tae? Is that…OK?” you pose curiously.

“What, because we’re into different subcultures?” he chuckles from behind his messy long hair. His voice is always so quiet speaking to you like if he used his full volume he could break something, or someone. “Pfft, Bighead really,” he continues, “I wonder how you even got nominated for this retreat.” He laughs as he runs away. You make to playfully hit his arm but miss as he pulls away with excellent reflexes, giggling behind his tiny travel bag while you gawk at the size of his arms. There’s no way. What do greasers, eat??? It’s like their muscles just pop out at the most inconvenient times, like right now.

“I thought greasers and jocks hate each other. It’s kind of the point. Having different class backgrounds and all…” You kick some tall grass.

“That’s a stereotype, Bighead. Just because an ideology is popular in a group doesn’t mean we all believe it. Tae isn’t like most jocks, he’s…different.” Jungkook’s smile seems to be the only thing visible behind his shaggy rockabilly.

“So you guys are…friends?” You ask hesitantly.

“I guess,” he plays with his tattooed fingers. “He’s been helping me with a project, so we’ve been hanging out a lot lately. But,” he pouts, “my gang doesn’t really know.”

“About the project or Taehyung?”

“Well, both,” he laughs nervously, “it’s a bit complicated.” He rubs the back of his neck again, and you notice the pulsing veinery dancing from his knuckles up to his forearms. Damn.

He doesn’t seem ready to talk about it. You clear your throat and change the subject. “Well, we have half an hour before the next group activity. Want a tangerine? It’s grown locally! ” You chuck one to him and he catches it with both hands.

You settle on the hillside, a shady patch of grass overlooking the northern face of the island.

“So,” you say between peels of the tiny fruit, “what subject were you nominated for?”

“Physics. I don’t usually participate in school stuff,” he stares down his tangerine, “but I really want to see the caves.” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a ribbon. You stop peeling to watch him gather his hair and tie it up. When did it get so long? Now you can finally see his big eyes.

“Huh? Caves?” you weren’t listening because you were distracted by his beautiful side profile. What is it with these nerds and their caves?

Jungkook returns your gaze. “Have you heard of the Bermuda Triangle?” he says with big round eyes sparkling. He gets up and approaches the flat rock next to you. With one swift motion, he jumps and lands on top of it, no hands. Core strength. He stretches his arms above his head and his shirt rides up a bit. From your position on the ground, a glimpse of the unobtrusive trail below his navel invites your mind to fantasies of a very different kind of field trip. He looks down at you sweetly, waiting for your reply.

You shake your head, “I’m more of a biologist. Educate me?”

He gestures for you to join him up on the rock. Though Jungkook made it look easy, the climb for you is much more grueling. He lifts you up with the strength of one arm until you’re shoulder to shoulder. You try to get breath into your lungs without seeming too obvious. Struggling, your nostrils flare and the wind picks up. It carries hints of his musk and sweat. You can’t help but inhale deeply until his fragrance fills you with assurance. Glancing down at your hand, you notice the ring is bluish-green but you can’t recall what the card said.

The bluish-green ocean on the horizon looks like the perfect backdrop for Jungkook’s physics lesson. He starts, “Eight years ago, ships started disappearing out in the western sea. First a small fishing boat, then a big cargo ship, it didn’t matter how big or how many people. They just, vanished. No bodies, no debris, no trace. No one could explain the missing wreckage, so the papers wrote about violent storms to give the families of the lost some closure, something to blame. Only, it would happen again, within the exact same coordinates…The Bermuda Triangle. I think I have a theory. It can be explained with physics, the magnetic field, more specifically. Some physicists believe there’s something special about the Bermuda Triangle’s location in the magnetic field. There are believed to be other places like Bermuda,” Jungkook looks from you to the coast, “and one of them is here.”

“You mean, the legend of the caves? Where the pirates disappeared? I thought it’s just a local myth…"

“There’s more to it than the legend.” He leans in and whispers, “The government’s studying it closely too.”

“What,” you chortle loudly, “the government is funding myth-busters?”

Jungkook’s face is serious af. “It’s not a myth, Bighead. The Republic of Korea started building a naval base here in 1933.” He points to the east. The tall glass building of the research facility can be seen from here, shimmering in unnatural contrast to everything else on the island. You squint.

Field Observation #7: You definitely need specs..and to read more news.

Jungkook continues, “They started planning a naval base on the island some years ago. Construction started in Gangjeong village right over there,” he points west to the ferry docks where you first arrived. “The base was designed to be a mixed military-commercial port so that it could handle ferries, cruise ships, and…warships and submarines.”

“Why would they want a naval base here? It’s just a quiet little sanctuary…” you say as you both sit down on the rock.

He rests his arms over his knees. “That’s exactly what the local villagers said. They were strongly opposed to it. Many worried that the private lab was doing experiments hazardous to the environment. They organized many protests, but in the end, they could only slow down the process. The military moved in with force and built the complex anyway.”

“But that’s like, totally against everything this retreat is about. What about all these scientists working at the conservatory, aren’t they here to study wildlife and protect it?”

“Where do you think their funds come from, Y/N? The lab is backed by the military, which means everything they do is government research.”

“How do you know all this?”

“It’s the subject of my research.” He looks around again, the bun atop his head bobbing side to side. “That’s what Tae has been helping me with.”

“Jungkook, I don’t understand. What’s Tae helping you expose the lab for? What do you think they are hiding?” You stare down his side profile. He bites his bottom lip with his bunny teeth.

“It’d become very dangerous for you if you knew,” he reaches to fix your wind-tousled hair. “Trust me.”

Field Observation #8: Don’t trust men, unless they are Jungkook.

He gives you a warm, reassuring smile. “Let’s get going now, we don’t wanna miss the next activity.”

***

The chaperones lead everyone down the hill for the next activity on schedule. The Butterfly House.

Jin has not returned yet, you’re starting to miss his chaotic antics. At the front of the crowd, Professor Choi is desperately trying to get the class’s attention. Several stern scientists are hovering on the side, waiting for silence so they can deliver the welcome introduction. Once it quiets down, two of the scientists give a run-through on the Butterfly House rules. Among them, it is expected that all students keep their touching to a minimum and especially, keep out of the restricted areas marked by red fence. Hunger strikes your tummy, and you wish Jin were here to cure it with his magic snack bag. A nudge to your rib sends you out of your daydream. You turn to your side. Jungkook has a giant butterfly resting on the tip of his nose. Its shimmery blue wings gently tilting up and down. Jungkook is still, afraid it will fly away. You giggle at the sight of him holding the breath in his cheeks.

The class breaks off into groups to tour the facility.

“Good Afternoon, students. Welcome to our 30-by-15-meter glass atrium.” Your group leader reads off a script as student’s heads tilt back to observe the magnificent architecture above. “We are proud to receive you as guests of the first walk-through butterfly habitat in the eastern hemisphere. It first opened in 1957, so you are the first scholars to visit. Inside these walls, you will find some 500 free-flying butterflies of up to 25 different species. There are about 15,000 to 20,000 known species of butterflies found worldwide and many yet to be discovered. You may find swallowtails and birdwings, brightly colored, or camouflaged among the plants. Some might be difficult to spot, as butterflies can be as small as 3 mm, but can also be as large as 304 mm….”

A small butterfly floats past the guide’s shoulder and rests on it. “Ah, a Sasakia charonda, the great purple emperor. Native to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, China, and northern Taiwan, and Vietnam. As we see, butterflies can be orange, white, black, and even purple. However, they cannot see how beautiful they look because butterflies can only see red, green, and yellow. The journey to becoming a butterfly is always an inspiring tale.” The guide struggles to find their place on the script.

You tilt your head back and stare in awe, the scale of technology here is incredible. Your biologist brain buzzes with millions of questions. How did they replicate a tropical rainforest like this in 1958? Are there places like this in Japan too, or perhaps the United States? The facility is lush with amazon trees and exotic plants. It’s so dense. Thousands of vines cover the floors and wrap around the trees. Layers of moss and countless species of flora and fauna lie in the shaded canopies. Vines dominating the taller trees cross overhead, reaching over through air to dominate the other side. Some climb so high they span the atrium’s glass ceiling, where the sunlight pours in strongest. An astonishing vision of Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

The guide has found their place in the script and begins reading. “There are, um, four cycles of the butterfly’s life. A butterfly starts out as an egg. Then it hatches into a caterpillar, called the larva. The larva goes into a cocoon called the pupa stage, and finally, emerges as an adult butterfly free to spread their wings and fly. We have a display with pupa ready to hatch, please follow me…” The students clamor excitedly after the guide, who disappears down the pathway in the thick greenery.

Yelps can be heard in the distance as students and chaperones alike encounter all sorts of buzzing insects. You duck below the low-hanging vines. One thing they forgot to mention is the climate control in here. Somehow, the air in the atrium is kept very humid to mimic that of the Amazon rainforest. After a while, the moisture in the air becomes nearly suffocating. Jungkook, however, seems to be doing just fine. Suddenly, he reaches for your hand and clasps it in his, clammy.

“Look, there’s Jin!” you almost yell. Your hands are torn apart as you run over to the fence. Jin is working on the other side in a glass office. His face is buried in an apparatus that looks something like an advanced microscope. Dozens of flasks, books, and petri dishes are strewn across the bench before him. He looks like he’s busy.

“This area’s off-limits. I don’t think we can interrupt him.” Jungkook tugs at your sleeve. You expel air and look back at Jungkook to find that the blue butterfly has returned. Right atop his head, it sits, flitting its wings as Jungkook scrunches his nose. The butterfly doesn’t budge.

“Looks like Morpho adonis.” The angelic voice comes from behind you.

Jungkook rolls his eyes with the butterfly still on his head.

“Jin! You looked really preoccupied. What are you working on over there?” you indicate the room guarded by the fence.

“Oh, just some plant cell assays. They think they discovered a new species of moss in a cavern, so I’m helping look at samples. It’s promising. I’m running the RNA against the ones from my own research. If it matches, the cave is likely the one they’ve been looking for, a habitable location for—well, uh it’s confidential. Sorry, you understand.” His smile is still so genuine even when he’s withholding secret government information.

Jungkook tenses at the mention of “caves”.

“Have you seen it?” he asks.

“Seen what?” Jin returns.

“The cave. Have you been there?” Jungkook’s hands are shaking a little, so you move closer by his side and take his hand.

Jin’s eyes follow the movements of your hands. Just like they did back at the library the first time you met.

“I haven’t, no.” He lies.

“Sorry Choco, I’ll have to join you again tomorrow. Professor Moon asked for my help and it seems like it's going to take the rest of the evening. I’m sure Jungkook will keep you company for dinner in my place?” He gives you another sweet smile, but it has a bitter undertone. Much like Namjoon, when he had seen you with Yoongi’s jacket on that weird day.

Field Observation #9: Stop reading between the lines, they don’t like you like that.

“Before you both go—Jungkook, I have something for you,” Jin rolls up the sleeves of his lab coat and steps back into the room before returning.

He holds his hands out and you both peer down at the delicate thing sitting in his palms.

“What is it?” Jungkook nudges.

“Juniperus shimpaku,” Jin beams, “a bonsai.”

You watch Jin place the small tree in Jungkook’s outstretched hands.

“Give it to Namjoon, as my peace offering. Tell him it grows near the sea, so it will prefer regular misting. The foliage is needle-like now because it’s young, but as it grows older it will get scalier. One of the best things about Shimpaku is its hard resinous wood…ideal for advanced sculptural techniques such as jin, shari and sabamiki.” Jin bursts into his signature windshield laugh.

This time you roll your eyes, but Jungkook giggles along.

“Uh, thanks I guess,” Jungkook accepts the gift. “But I don’t know why you don't give it to him yourself. Knowing Joon, he’s pretty old-fashioned. If you've pissed him off, he can be really petty and hold a grudge. He holds things in until it gets really heavy—”

At that moment, a loud engine bang is heard from outside the atrium. The glass walls shake and the birds in the trees fly away in droves of panic.

“What the hell was that?” you say, but nothing else happens. The disturbance was momentary.

"Nothing to fear folks," one of the chaperones calls from a distance. "A small aircraft had to make an emergency landing nearby. Idiots over-estimated their weight capacity and ran out of gas. Carry on."

“Anyway,” Jin continues, “take good care of it until you can give it to him. Oh, and if you’re prone to Drosophila melanogaster with your regular houseplants, you might want to lay off drowning the soil...”

“Droso-whatagaster?” you both say.

“Fruit. Flies.” Jin sighs. “Now please, go before someone sees you here. I am restricted material!” He grins at you and waves you off.

On your way out, your hand finds Jungkook’s again. Less clammy than before.

“Thank you for visiting the Butterfly Habitat, we hope you’ll gain a greater appreciation for butterflies and their place in the world’s ecosystems. Before you leave though, remember to check your clothing for any hitchhikers and pose by the Heaven Lotus for a memorable photo!” the chaperones guide you out toward the Heaven Lotus, where Taehyung is snapping photos.

“Jungkook, are we still on for tomorrow?” Tae heavily eyes your locked hands before Jungkook lets it go. Jungkook nods. You both smile, ready for the flash. Click.

***

Jungkook eats dinner with you at a Haenyeo House. Four bowls of jeonbokjuk (abalone porridge) to be exact. Afterward, you browse the framed black and white photos on the wall. They tell the story of the haenyeo (sea women), the island’s legendary sea divers. Since the 18th century, deep-sea diving for fish became the work of women until their workforce outnumbered the men. So much so, the island has become a semi-matriarchal society, where the head of the heterosexual household is the woman, not the man. You and Jungkook remark if that is possible here in 1958, then why not on the mainland? The villages here seems to be ahead of their time. Patriarchy and heteronormative standards are still dominant in most places and probably will be for many years to come. After digesting your abalone with more discourse about dismantling the patriarchy and capitalism, you and Jungkook go out on the beach.

The sun has already gone down, marking the first day of the retreat over. The only light source radiating from the campfires along the beach and the star-lit sky. The campfire nearest your sleeping tent is vacant. The question of sharing a tent crosses your mind.

“Arent you going to tent up with your assigned travel buddy?” you ask Jungkook.

“My what?” he sips from his flask then stares expectantly at you.

“Your travel…buddy??” It’s not a weird question, right?

“Where did you hear that? I can guarantee there's no travel buddy list,” he giggles into his flask.

“But, Jin said…” You reflect on the words as you stare into the fire.

Water shoots from Jungkook’s nose as he tumbles forward. “He said he was your assigned travel buddy?! Ahahaha—”

Apparently, there was no such thing. Jin made it up just to have a reason to be with you during the trip. What are you supposed to think now?

You’ve had a long first day, to say the least. Jungkook helps you relax. The night passes too quickly as you exchange stories under the stars. At some point, you pass out asleep and feel Jungkook place his jacket over your chest. He carries you into the tent. You roll over onto your stomach and splay like a starfish. Jungkook struggles to remove your shoes and get you into the sleeping bag. Then the darkness swallows you and you drift into a deep sleep. Whatever comes tomorrow can’t possibly top the day you’ve had.

***

You wake the next morning to an empty tent and two layers of sleeping bag. The extra is not yours. Your back is stiff and you feel like your whole body has sunk two feet in the sand. After a little morning spruce, you find Jungkook having breakfast by the campfire. The bonsai tree sits on a rock in front of him and the souvenir bracelet rolls between his fingers.

“That’s a really nice souvenir!” you sit beside him.

“Thanks. It’s for, um, Namjoon actually. Ha ha. You think he’ll like it? Joon loves the sea but, he works so much. He’s studying part-time and can’t take advanced classes.” He scratches the back of his round head again.

“That’s lovely, Jungkook. I think he will definitely love it.” Jungkook is so sweet, you can’t help feel a little jealous after how aloof he was with you on your first date. “Oh, this is totally random but speaking of Namjoon, you haven’t heard anything from him, have you? Last time we spoke was kinda weird…I thought maybe he said someth—"

“Y/N. I have to tell you something,” he hesitates, lingering for permission.

“What is it?” you say. The morning wind on the beach is a little chilly. You fold your arms across your chest for some warmth.

“Do you remember that day? The day I was supposed to pick you up after work?” he fiddles with the bracelet.

Now it’s your turn to choke on your flask. Your stomach feels like it’s going to sink with all the emotions of that day returning. Jin completely avoided this conversation, but here goes Jungkook getting right into it.

“Yes, I remember it all too clearly,” you sigh. “I was on my way to the parking lot where I thought you were picking me up. I was walking by the court while the jocks were playing a game. Then the ball went out of bounds and hit me. I passed out and woke up after Yoongi, uh, resuscitated me. His hand was injured and he looked really mad. He still took me to Namjoon’s. Namjoon was acting all weird about it, but I still don't know why.”

“Well, that’s one version of it. But that’s not our version.” Jungkook explains.

“You see, I have um, I have a secret. The project I mentioned that Tae is helping me with, it’s a dangerous project. A few months ago, I discovered something while experimenting. I may have sort of opened a dimensional rift.” He waits anxiously for your response.

“What does that mean, Jungkook. You farted?”

“No! Haha. In quantum physics, there’s a theorem called the Casimir effect, it essentially says that if you conduct the right amount of energy through the right materials at the right time, you can open a door through space-time.”

“Time travel?” you question.

“Yes!!! Time travel.” He whispers. “I messed with it and got it right. That day you got hit with a basketball, it wasn’t the players' fault, it was me! Haha—.” He says it too happily for your taste.

“Hey!… I thought the jocks might have done it on purpose,” you pout.

“It was an accident, I swear to Namjoon! I haven't completely mastered control over this thing yet. That day I was running a bit late, so I thought, "why not?" . It worked obviously, but there was some, uh, glitching. It was not a clean jump. I injured some people when I jumped back, especially you. I'm really sorry. Only Yoongi and Namjoon knew about my jumping experiments then. Yoongi rushed there to stop me. It could have been a disaster, Y/N. But I figured out that I can do a cleaner jump if I have a stronger source of energy. The vacuum isn't it. ” his eyes are sparkly again.

You are quiet, thinking.

“So, let me see. You can travel through time using science, but you don’t have a good grip on the specifics yet. Yoongi, Jin, and basically everyone else knows about it now. You all got together while I was passed out and schemed a lie so I wouldn’t find out I got knocked by an experimental poltergeist. Am I understanding it correctly?”

He blinks. “That was easier than I thought.”

“Jungkook. You are so cool…”

He blushes, “I’d rather be dead than cool…”

“Since I’ve already been a victim of your jumping experiments. Can I know about the cave?”

Jungkook sighs. “I told you yesterday that the cave is like the Bermuda Triangle. Under ideal conditions, the cave can be a portal for time travel. The lab doesn’t know what conditions exactly, but I do. They aren’t up to anything good with it. If the lab got its hands on time portal capability, it would have the power to manipulate the past and future. Taehyung did some journalistic investigating on the lab. It's called Heaven, Inc. Before it got the military permission to colonize the island, they were just another underfunded private lab, doing shady work for shady leaders. Corrupt stuff. Tae discovered that the lab has already found the cave and they've closed it off. It’s not much time before they get the conditions right. Do you see why we have to intervene? Only we know about it. The cave would be weaponized. A weapon of dimensional shifting.”

“Jin can't know what he’s part of, right? I mean, he would never volunteer for something like that. He’s good…”

“I dunno, he definitely knows where the cave is. Tae and I have a plan. We’ll follow him to the cave and film it all. The video will be released to the papers and the government will have to shut down the complex.”

“That’s doesn’t sound like a good plan, Jungkook. It’s dangerous. They have the strictest enforcement here. What if they stop you?”

“Trust me, Y/N. They need a really big source of energy to open the portal. After my experiments, I think I figured out how it works, but I’ll need your help..." He looks at you with the same expression he’s had the whole time, “Can I kiss you?” Endearing and determined.

You are completely startled at the turn of confessions.“It's for science, right?”

“For science,” he grins.

“Ok, I trust you.”

He lunges forward and kisses you passionately on the lips. Your eyes shut tight and butterflies erupt in your atrium. Not counting Yoongi’s resuscitation technique, this is your first real kiss. Jungkook’s hand comes up to hold your face. He brushes your cheek and lingers, savoring you as long as he can.

At last, you break. “Wow,” he pants, “thank you.”

“Hey?” you pant back, “this better earn us the Nobel Prize.”

***

Taehyung joins you and Jungkook at 7 o’clock sharp, carrying several duffle bags. He sets them down and slicks back his hair. “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” he says with a deep voice. Jungkook ignores him, too deep in thought focusing on the surroundings. Tae turns to you for approval and flashes his adorable boxy smile. You are really about to embark on a covert operation with Taekook.

You squat behind the dense thicket, waiting. Jin passes by with a group of serious scientists. As usual, Jin looks too chippy first thing in the morning. He stands out like a sore thumb. The youngest in the group and the most enthusiastic. Still, he remains well-mannered and eagerly follows orders as they prep for their second day excavating the hidden site.

The three of you follow the group down to the north-facing coastline, staying out of view. The group you’re tailing disappears into a tunnel behind a glistening waterfall. You wait behind some big rocks. A branch cracks behind you and you spin around. Funny. You could swear you saw a glimpse of the big-breasted mathematician's ass hanging out of a tree. No way. You're probably still dazed from locking lips with Jungkook. There's no way Namjoon would ever be here. Then, Jin’s laughter emerges from the cave as he leads the group back out. He saunters past, delightedly chatting up the eldest scientist. You sigh. Poor Jin, he really believes this about some moss.

“Well, we found it.” Taehyung whispers. “That was easy.”

Too easy. An uneasy feeling settles in your stomach. Like right before you are about to lose something. You glance over to Jungkook who is contemplating the next move. Your lips are still tingling from his kiss. Was it real? During your first date, he seemed so aloof. Sure, he was always sweet and protective, but it didn’t mean anything. That’s just how Jungkook is.

Yoongi’s old words ring in your ears,

“Listen, Dove, it’s just a random coincidence. It could have been anybody…”

Yoongi really meant it. He knew. They all knew.

Taehyung holds the fence open for you and Jungkook to climb through. He leaves the duffle bags by the waterfall and only grabs the camera. He takes photos of the chain-link fence protecting the cave entrance. A sign reads “RESTRICTED ACCESS”. Inside, the cave is more like a tunnel. It's cold, dark, rocky, and slippery. Jungkook lights a match and asks you to stay while he explores the interior.

You stick with Taehyung as he takes more photos. “You knew about Jungkook’s experiments?” you probe.

“Sweetcheeks, I’ve always told you, haven’t I? I appreciate art.”

Jungkook runs back from the tunnel, excited. “Hey guys, come check this out!”

You both chase after him.

“Careful, it’s slippery in here!” he yells back through the darkness.

You reach a clearing lit by torches. There's a lot of industrial equipment. Looks like the scientists have come this far. Jungkook examines the mysterious gadgets laying around, one by one. Everything has the same logo, Heaven, Inc.

“Extensional tectonics,” Jungkook mumbles. He walks to the center of the clearing and looks at the wet floor. A man-made “X” marks the spot. “It’s here, inside the Manjjanggul Lava tube. This is the dimensional rift..."

In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart. They form over thousands of years, often at the central axis of most mid-ocean ridges. The new oceanic crust and lithosphere form at a divergent boundary between two tectonic plates. The Manjjanggul Lava tube tunnel is said to be one of the longest, measuring around 7.5 kilometers deep.

Extensional tectonics, as Jungkook said. The Manjjanggul Lava tube is the second Bermuda Triangle. Conditions just right for space-time travel, if supported with a powerful catalyst.

The kiss. The kiss was the energy. Jungkook is trying to manifest the kiss into the big energy he needs to open the portal. You must be…his catalyst.

A purple light begins forming in front of Jungkook as he stands still.

“Wait don't start yet, I need to get the video camera!”

"Well Taehyung, I don't know how it starts only when it starts...and it's starting now!"

Tae runs to retrieve the equipment from outside.

You flinch as water drips on your head from lava rock on the ceiling. The walls of the cavern start vibrating on rhythms, like the pace of a butterfly’s wings or a human heartbeat. The ring on your finger blackens as a void opens within you, a creeping bad feeling. You push it down.

“What’s happening?” you move to the edge of the wall.

“It’s stopped. I felt stronger energy a few minutes ago. It’s gotten weaker for some reason…” he concentrates hard. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“Jungkook—” you start to say. But Taehyung runs back.

“Has it worked yet? Did I miss anything?” he tosses the bags down and starts to assemble the video camera as quickly as he can.

“Wait, I feel something…” Jungkook plants his feet on the marking and holds his arms out in front of him like there’s an invisible wall there. An obscure purple cloud glows before him and the tunnel vibrates with more strength.

Tae starts filming. You flatten your bodies against the wall as more water drips from the shaking ceiling.

“I feel it.” Jungkook closes his eyes, eyebrows furrowed. He extends his arms farther out, pushing against the translucid wall. “It’s….happening…” he grunts as he puts all his might into the force. Blue and white hues emerge from the vortex developing at his hands. The walls of the cavern pulse even harder. You cling to the wall as you brace for the unknown.

Then, an echo of running footsteps down the tunnel gets louder. Indiscernible yelling and swearing as the heavy steps approach.

One deep voice penetrates the cave and spikes the walls harder than the supernatural force at Jungkook’s fingertips can.

“Stop!” Namjoon shouts.

“Choco! Get away from him!” Jin appears behind Joon. Your eyes nearly pop out of your head. Jungkook is not listening anymore. The force in his hands surges and cave walls begin to give way. Tae fumbles with the camera, desperately trying to capture the phenomenon as the tunnel shakes more violently.

Jimin approaches calmly, “I think we would all like to live, so let’s all hold hands and walk out of here in one piece…”

“I can’t leave,” Jungkook replies through the translucent shimmer. "We have to destroy this place."

Namjoon steps closer, cautious of the rocks beginning to crumble overhead.

“Jungkook, please. You are putting yourself in danger…” he pleads. The leader’s fear growing with each passing second until Namjoon breaks down and tears flow from his eyes. With that, the portal opens, rendering Jungkook helpless to its mystical aura.

Everyone is puzzled. Yoongi’s level voice is heard over the rumbling, “What just happened, why is it getting worse?” Jungkook doesn’t know, but his mesmerization with the portal overtakes him and he can’t hear the others anymore. A deep part of his conscious is already elsewhere, they’re losing him.

Jungkook’s peaceful face shimmers with waves of violet and pink. His eyes wide open, soul entering into a new dimension while his body still hangs back. Grounded in something. Or someone.

Seokjin pulls you away, trying to get you out of the tunnel. Before he can get you very far, Namjoon grabs hold of your free arm. A massive pulse sends a long fissure across the floor, dividing the space in two. You’re being pulled in two directions, Jin on one side and Joon on the other. The tunnel begins to collapse. Hoseok yells for everyone to get out. You must pick a side or you'll die.

A segment of lava rock falls, nearly crushing Taehyung who has dropped the camera. He runs to Jungkook but more rock falls, blocking him. You’re held on both sides. You look up from Namjoon’s chest. His cheeks are soaked in tears.

“You put everyone at risk,” he glares at Jin.

“Me?” Jin argues back, tugging you to himself. “Your greasers are to blame! You let Jungkook and Taehyung do something dangerous. They even brought Y/N to the cave. I made you all swear, did I not, to keep Y/N out of this! What Jungkook was doing was never safe! We had a choice to stop the lab from finding the portal key. I mocked up the plant samples to destroy the evidence and convince them this is not the place. No one was going to get hurt! But Jungkook, he made his choice. He chose to destroy the site altogether. He chose violence!”

You’re suddenly thrust away from the pair as Namjoon lunges toward Jin. He throws the first punch. Jin collides with the wall behind them. Joon makes for another hit but Jin headbutts him first, tackling the six-foot-tall man to the ground, which is now being pelted with falling lava rocks. You lose balance on the shaky floor and start to fall backward. Yoongi catches you in time and shields you from the debris, looking for a way out.

Was that true? Was Taekook’s plan all along to destroy the cave? Who is right? Who is trusted? You remember Jungkook's words. Trust me.

NamJin curse at one another as they wrestle to the ground. The leader of the greasers and the leader of the jocks. Peace was never an option, was it.

Suddenly, the pulsing hum stops and there is silence. From Yoongi’s embrace, you can still see Jungkook. One moment he is there, standing on the X mark. Namjoon reaches for him but in a moment that feels frozen, lasting longer than a moment should, a whirring noise slices through the cold air, then…Jungkook vanishes. ZAP.

All that’s left in Namjoon’s large hand, the moon bracelet. Only the sounds of heavy breathing and dripping water fill the void. Jin rises from the ground and catches his breath. He looks up at Namjoon in confusion. Still silence.

Namjoon is about to say something. Then ZAP… he vanishes through thin air. The bracelet drops to the wet ground and rolls toward you. What the fuck! Everyone looks at each other. What is happening?! A moment later, Yoongi follows. ZAP. Jimin. Taehyung. Hoseok. ZAP ZAP ZAP.

Only you and Jin are left.

***

The following morning, your school formally announces the reported disappearance of six of its students, four of whom were not attending the retreat. Their names are printed in the paper, along with their photos.

Kim Namjoon. Min Yoongi. Jung Hoseok. Park Jimin. Kim Taehyung. Jeon Jungkook.

All Heaven, Inc. facilities are shut down for further investigation. The remaining students are sent home early in the morning. Police recover the Heaven, Inc. lab equipment from the Manjjanggul Lava tube, but can't find a single trace of the missing students. Seokjin's father gets a lawyer for the other families and files a civil suit.

The long bus ride home is melancholic. You were up all night being questioned by the police, nothing you said was written down. The reporters will dismiss the truth and release their own narrative in a few months.

The students had a secret party on a sailboat, they got drunk, had a dispute, forgot to tie it to the dock and drifted out in the middle of the night. No bodies were found. It was an accident. A simple mistake of rambunctious youth.

You and Seokjin remain quiet. Neither of you feel like talking. Six of your friends have just vanished. You fear the worst. You have endless questions. Where are they? Why did everyone but Jin jump? Did they make it through safe? Will they ever come back? What will their families do? The void inside only grows. Your racing mind exhausts and you lean your head on Jin’s shoulder. It’s big and sturdy and safe. Whatever happens from now on, at least you will have Jin by your side. You fall asleep.

***

The sound of Professor Choi quietly nudging you awake causes you to jump, “Wake up, Dear. You are home.”

“Huh, what year is it?” You rub the sleep from your eyes and feel a cramp in your neck. There’s no other student left on the bus but you. The spot next to you empty, with all but a snack left on the seat. You pick up the wrapped choco pie and stare at it. No way. Did Jin get time warped? He couldn’t have he was with me…

“It’s 1958, Dear,” Choi laughs. “Don’t forget your belongings. I’ll leave you to it.” The professor walks off the bus.

Jin got time-warped with the rest. This is not a dream. You are not dreaming.

All seven of them...left you.

Field Observation #10: It was a f*ckboy au after all. What did you expect, Bighead?

See you in 1985 :)

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marshmallow-phd · 4 years

Text

Catching Rain

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: You were more than satisfied with your life. You attended a nice college, had nice friends, a nice boyfriend. That’s what your life was: nice. You weren’t looking for anything more, so what were you to do when this seemingly harmless boy walked into your life and turned your nice little world into one much more dangerous?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Epilogue

On closer inspection, the house in the middle of the field was quite pretty. Simple, white, well kept. A secondary building with metal walls sat adjacent to the house – a garage, perhaps. Waiting on the porch was the man from earlier. Baekhyun. Now you remembered his name. He was joined by a few others – Chanyeol, Sehun, and one you didn’t know – who stared at you in curious wonder. Their eyes were wide and investigative, as if you were the supernatural creature and not Minseok.

“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag,” Baekhyun said with a snicker.

“Or pup, in this case,” said the one you didn’t know. Black hair that fell over his forehead and an upturn sat in both corners of his lips, though he wasn’t smiling.

Minseok merely shook his head as he pushed past them into the house. The screen door shut with a loud slam. You flinched at the noise. Chanyeol sighed as he glanced at you. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes, please,” you nodded. He motioned for you to follow him inside.

Through a short front parlor and a cozy living room, he led you into the kitchen where you stood awkwardly. The only noise came from the water flowing from the refrigerator spicket. The ice clinked as it moved around the glass. Your eyes wandered across the large, open space. Sunlight poured in from the windows in the two outer walls. It gave the whole room a yellow hue despite the white and light gray coloring of the cabinets and backsplash. Whoever had last designed this room had done so in a way to make it feel bigger and open, welcoming even. You wondered if there must have been a woman living here to give the finer touches. Minseok hadn’t mentioned anyone beyond his male roommates. The thought of a woman living amongst them made you slightly jealous, but you shoved it aside when Chanyeol held out the glass for you.

“Thank you,” you murmured before taking a sip.

He nodded shyly. His foot tapped lightly against the hard wood floor with his hands shoved into his pockets. He looked everywhere except for at you. Feeling eyes on you anyway, you glanced over your shoulder just in time to see several crops of hair disappear from the hallway entrance.

You scoffed. “You guys act like you’ve never seen a female before.”

“Not one like you.”

Minseok stepped into the room wearing a t-shirt with frayed edges where the sleeves had been cut off and a pair of basketball shorts. As angry as you were with him, the distrust still very much apparent, you were fighting the urge to run to him. What was this stupid, conflicting feeling? Making eye contact with Minseok, Chanyeol ducked his head and hurriedly left the kitchen.

“So,” you crossed your arms after putting down the glass and leaned against the counter, “is this the part where you explain to me what the hell is going on?”

“I will, but not here.”

“No, you don’t get to do that!” you snapped. “You didn’t want to tell me in the forest, so we came back here and now you don’t want to tell me here?”

Minseok shrunk back. “I just meant down here. Can we go upstairs? Away from where the others can hear?”

That suggestion could be accepted. Actually, you felt a little bad for exploding, but could you really be blamed? Given the information dump you were steadily receiving today? “Oh. Okay. Lead the way.”

Minseok’s hand twitched at his side, but he kept it in check as he turned and headed back up the stairs. The top spilled out into a hallway lined with doors. This space wasn’t as bright as the kitchen. Different shades of dark brown covered the wooden floor and plaster walls. No windows gave view to the outside making you feel trapped. “This one’s mine,” Minseok said. He held on to a handle of one of the middle doors and waited for you to come closer before pushing it open. When you saw what lied beyond the door, you nearly smiled.

On the walls were posters of famous soccer players and indie movies you’d never heard of. The bed was made with military precision, not a creased comforter or half-strewn pillow in sight. Against the far wall under a singular window was a desk. The notebooks were stacked in the top right corner, the edges so straight a ruler wouldn’t be able to find fault. Pens and pencils occupied a small cup to keep the rest of the desk clear.

“Not what you expected?” Minseok asked as he closed the door.

“Yes and no.” You stole a glance at him over your shoulder. “It’s very… neat.”

Minseok smiled shyly. He shuffled over to the bed and sat down. If he expected you to take the spot next to him, he was wrong. Instead, you chose the chair. A precaution for yourself.

Neither of you knew where to start. Who was supposed to talk first? What part should even be considered the beginning? Unable to continue in this awkward silence, you jumped in feet first.

“You can really… turn into a wolf?” The words felt like glue in your throat. Creatures like that belonged in fairytales and fantasy films, not a college campus.

“Yeah,” Minseok said. “We all can. All nine of us.”

“All nine.” Oh, great. A whole pack of them. “Even the one’s I met?” Stupid question. He’d already answered that, technically. But Minseok simply nodded instead of calling out the redundancy. “So, were you all bitten or-” You felt ridiculous basing the current situation on myth and legend, but what else did you have to go on?

“We’re all born this way. You can’t be like us from a bite or a scratch. It has to be in your DNA.” He snuck a peek before beating you to the next question. “The moon doesn’t really influence us either. I mean, its easier to see by at night in the forest, but it doesn’t force us to change. We can do that whenever we want. Witches have more of a connection with the giant rock in the sky.”

“Witches! They’re real, too? What else is real? Vampires? Dragons? Goblins?” What kind of world had you stumbled into?

Minseok flinched. “Maybe we should stick to one subject at a time.”

“Right.” That was probably best for your sanity. “So, if you have to be born like,” you gestured to him, “… this, does that mean both of your parents were, too?”

“Just my dad,” Minseok said. “Females wolves are extremely rare.”

“Well, that’s sexist.”

“Hey, we didn’t make up the rules. It’s genetics.” He scratched the back of his neck, twitching his lips from side to side. “I guess I should say that silver doesn’t bother us either.”

Why did you feel relieved at that random fact? It didn’t matter, as that wasn’t the most pressing issue to you. “Earlier you mentioned that it wasn’t you killing the campers-”

“It wasn’t any of us!”

“I believe you.” The words tumbled off your lips. And you realized that it was true. You couldn’t twist the nervous, sweet guy in front of you into a mindless killer. The way he was explaining everything slowly, cautiously, giving you time to understand. He wasn’t hiding anything from you. Not anymore. “I’m just confused when you said it was an omega?”

“Its just a ranking system within a pack,” he explained. “Alpha, beta, MR, omega. Junmyeon’s the alpha of our pack, he’s in charge. Yixing and I are betas, second in command. We help enforce Junmyeon’s word and keep an eye on the younger wolves who like to cause mischief.” He chuckled, as if remembering times when said mischief occurred. “The rest are all MR – Mid-ranking. They all have their own duties should they be needed. Well, except for Jongin and Sehun. They’re the youngest wolves so they get special treatment most of the time. Its okay, though. They kind of make you want to take care of them, the way they are.”

You nodded filing all the information away for later recall. “And the omega?”

“A wolf without a pack. Nine times out of ten they were kicked out for defying the alpha, for putting their own interests ahead of the pack. Without that structure, a lot of them turn feral.”

“Nine times out of ten?”

“It’s extremely rare, but sometimes a wolf will choose to never join a pack in the first place. It’s nearly unheard of though. We’re too social of creatures. Nine-point-five out of ten would probably be a better number.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that came out. Of course he would bring up math in a time like this. Minseok laughed along with you. Eventually, though, it died out, along with the smile that had been growing on his lips. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

Picking up on his mood, you tilted your head to the side. “I don’t think anything else could take me by surprise at this point.” Minseok stared at you pointedly. Your stomach began to sink. What other little secret could he possibly be harboring at this point? You didn’t think anything could be as shocking as his shapeshifting abilities.

“Have you ever heard the expression ‘wolves mate for life’?” he asked cryptically.

“Yeah?”

“Well-” he shifted, crinkling the perfect comforter in the process. “We don’t know why it happens. Junmyeon thinks its nature’s way of compensating our ‘otherness’ while Jongdae just thinks it’s another level of torture.” An uncomfortable laugh. “But, um, every wolf has their own mate. Just one, that they stick with for the rest of their lives.”

Unable to keep looking at him, you leaned forward, resting your elbows on your knees. “So, are you saying that you all get to pick whoever you want as your mate and that’s it? You claim them because of what you are?”

“No!” Minseok jumped to his feet. Swallowing visibly, he cleared his throat, but remained standing. “No, we don’t get to pick. It happens out of nowhere. Our mates are chosen for us before either is born. And we can meet them under any circumstances. Some favorable, some… not so much.”

You looked up at him “What are you trying to say, Minseok?”

He walked up to you, each step hesitant, each step full of fear. Crouching down, he sighed as he looked into your eyes. “What I’m trying to say, (y/n), is that… you’re my mate.”

At first, you only blinked. The words had to be soaked in one at a time before you could piece them together and understand the sentence as a whole. “I- what? How do you even know?”

Reaching out, Minseok took ahold of your hand. You didn’t fight it. The electricity was practically singing between your skins. “Really, all it takes is one look. A few seconds of eye contact and the pull takes hold. But this feeling we both get when we touch, its confirmation. And then there’s this.”

He pulled your hand closer, pressing your palm against his chest. The heat transferring through the thin fabric was enough to make you sweat, but that wasn’t the point of this exercise. It was the rate of which his heart was beating. As he stared at you with awe, his heart sprinted as if it were in second place of a race and needed to pass just one more runner to win.

“Every time I see you, this happens,” Minseok whispered. “It doesn’t matter how good my day has been, its always better when I’m with you.”

“We haven’t even known each other that long.”

“It doesn’t take long, apparently.”

You frowned, confused. “Apparently?”

A small smile pulled up one corner of his mouth. “I’m the first one in the pack to find my mate. The first one to experience this.”

The first…. You wanted to laugh at the romantic angle your brain was seeing this.

A knock came from the door. Minseok stood up, reluctantly dropping your hand before answering the intrusion. “Yeah?”

Several roommates were standing in the hall, all peering around Minseok to get a better look at you.

“Kyungsoo said it was time for dinner,” one of them said. “And that he could hear your mate’s empty stomach from downstairs.”

“And it took all of you to come tell us?” Minseok questioned as he folded his arms. He shifted to block more of the doorway, shielding you from their stares.

“It was an important job,” another one said.

Minseok looked back at you before sighing. “Tell Kyungsoo that I’ll be down in a second.”

“But-”

The door was shut before the argument could be finished. The rush of footsteps faded in the background until it was only the two of you once again.

“Are you hungry?” Minseok asked. You nodded sheepishly. “You don’t have to go downstairs. You can stay here and I’ll bring it up to. Kyungsoo’s a good cook so whatever he made will be delicious.”

“Actually, I’ll go down with you,” you said, to the surprise of both of you. Everything Minseok had told you was still sinking in. There was too much to process and completely comprehend, but the pieces were fitting together. And you were curious about life here. If you really were meant to be his mate, maybe you should know where that road led. It was the right at the fork. You’d uncovered a sign that gave you a clue to where it was headed. You wanted to follow it.

Minseok waited patiently as you stood up and walked towards him. He let you out the door first. There was a moment where your fingers brushed as you passed. You could feel the muscles in his hand tighten. He wanted to take your hand again – and you almost let him. But you held back. There was still something stopping you. Or, rather, a who.

The noise hit you halfway down the stairs. Being told that nine people lived together and truly witnessing it were two very different concepts. There was no order that you could see. Most of the boys sat around the table, conducting multiple conversations at once that overlapped that you had to wonder how they could understand each other. A few sat in a small booth off to the side in a world of their own. It was the kind of breakfast nook you’d only seen before in home magazines. Two boys stood at the counters, their backs to the chaos behind them.

One of them – sporting a very well put together look and black rimmed glasses – turned and smiled at you and Minseok. “There you are. Glad to see you came down.” He held his hand out to you. “I’m Junmyeon.”

“The alpha,” you said as you shook his hand.

“I see Minseok told you most of it,” Junmeyon said.

“Pretty much everything,” Minseok corrected.

You felt your face contort as you tried to pinpoint where you’d seen this man before. “Wait. Aren’t you a professor?”

Junmyeon laughed. “Yeah, I am. In the literature department. Folklore, to be exactly. But I’d prefer if we kept this between us.” He sent you a wink to show he was teasing. Behind you, Misneok growled, making you jump. “I’m just playing, Minseok.”

“And I’m sure he’ll be playing when he rips your head off,” the other stove-top occupant stated. He held out a plate for you piled high with food. There was no way you would be able to eat all of that. “I’m Kyungsoo, by the way.”

“(y/n),” you greeted back. “It’s nice to meet you.” Taking the plate, you tried to hand it off to Minseok.

“No, that’s yours.”

Not wanting to be rude, you said between gritted teeth, “I can’t eat all of this.”

Minseok pinched his face as if debating on something. “Fine. We’ll share.”

“Are you sure about that?” Junmyeon asked. “There won’t be any left over for seconds. You know that.”

“It’ll be fine.”

Shaking his head, Kyungsoo held on to one side of the plate and added another scoop of rice and meat each. “Just in case.”

After thanking him, Minseok guided you over to the table with a hand hovering over your lower back. Even without the contact, you could feel the heat coming from his palm. Or maybe it was just your imagination filling in. Minseok pulled out a chair for you on the empty end before sitting next you. It was obvious he’d purposefully placed you away from the others.

“Possessive much?” Baekhyun snorted as he dug into a plate of his own.

“I’m sure it’s just instinct.” The comment came from one of the more slender boys – Boys? Wolves? You weren’t sure how to address them properly. Maybe later. Your brain needed a break. The one who had spoken had a very pointed face, but in a way that was still handsome. You weren’t sure if you’d seen him before or not.

“That’s Yixing,” Minseok said. “And the last one to meet, I guess, is Jongdae.”

Jongdae turned out to be the curled-lip one who still wasn’t smiling. In fact, he was the only one not in some level of a cheerful mood as he sat in the breakfast booth. He barely looked at you while everyone else was. Some were even blatantly staring at you as they shoveled in food to their mouths.

“You should eat.” Minseok picked up a fork and stabbed a slice of marinade-covered meat, holding it out for you to eat like a child.

“I can do that myself, thanks.” You took the fork and chewed slowly on the meat. It was good. More than good, really, so you took another bite and another. Soon, you were full, though there was more than half a plate left. You scooted the plate over to Minseok. “Okay, your turn.”

“You’re done? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m stuffed.”

Minseok didn’t reach for the other fork he’d grabbed, as if giving you a chance to change your mind. When you made no such move, he dug in. You smiled at the way he ate, enjoying every bite with satisfaction. At the sight of every plate being empty, Baekhyun stood up. “I’m going to watch a movie,” he announced.

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea!” Jongin said.

Yixing asked, “Which one?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever’s new. (Y/n), want to join us?”

Minseok cut in. “I don’t know if that-”

“I’d love to!” You turned to Minseok and gave him a cheeky smile. It felt a bit defiant. Perhaps he wanted to explain more to you or spend time with you alone in general, but you wanted to know how this group operated together. You wanted insight to their normalcy. Getting to your feet, you picked up the plate, but Junmyeon reached over and took it from you.

“Don’t worry about this. We’ll clean up.”

“But-”

The alpha wouldn’t have it. “You’re the guest. Shoo.”

More than happy with that argument (dishes weren’t your thing by a long shot), you followed the cluster of excited men to the living room. They crashed on nearly every surface – the couch, the chairs, the floor, anywhere they could fit. Minseok approached Jongin and Sehun who had taken a corner of the long couch.

“Move,” he ordered.

“But we were here first!” Sehun whined. Jongin look over to you and then got up without a word, sitting down on the floor with his back against the coffee table.

“Sehun….”

“You’re really going to kick the youngest off the comfortable seat?”

You tried to break up the awkward exchange. Well, it was awkward for you since you were the reason for the discussion. “It’s fine, really. I can sit on the floor.”

“You’re not sitting on the floor,” Minseok told you. To Sehun, he said, “I’m the eldest and she’s a guest. Please move.”

For a second nothing happened. Then Sehun huffed. “Fine.” He got up and joined Jongin on the floor. He lied down on his stomach and pulled out his phone, over it already. You felt bad but saw no point in arguing. Minseok let you sit first and then, once again, sat between you and Chanyeol, who happily occupied the other side of the couch.

Baekhyun flipped through a streaming service until he landed on a superhero movie. Everyone cheered at the choice, then quieted down as he pressed play. Someone turned out the lights so only the glow of the television remained.

Sitting shoulder to shoulder and leg to leg, you were hyper aware of Minseok. Arms crossed over your stomach and fists clenched, you told yourself repeatedly not to reach for his hand or lean on his shoulder no matter how heavy your eyelids were getting. Erik may have hit pause on your relationship, but there wasn’t much of a discussion of lines. You didn’t know the rules of that scenario and what was and wasn’t allowed. But as your tiredness grew, your willpower weakened. After a few bobs, your head landed softly on Minseok’s shoulder. It was too comfortable to move. It felt too nice, too right. Like his shoulder was the one you were always supposed to lean on. And that was when Minseok made a move of his own.

Holding your head up, he adjusted his arm so it was now draped over your shoulders. Your head rested against his chest when he laid you back down. Something vibrated against your cheek. Was that… purring? No, it had to be the booming from the movie. Right?

It didn’t take long for you drift into sleep. The movie was one you’d seen before so you couldn’t use that as an excuse to stay awake. You weren’t sure how long it had been. A slight bopping motion roused you. In the shallowness of your conscious you made out that you were being carried. Carried up stairs… and into a bedroom. While still holding you, that person managed to pull back the covers and tuck you into bed. As the arm slipped away you grabbed hold of the wrist. Through the slightest slits in your eyes you could make out Minseok’s silhouette.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered. “Go back to sleep. I’ll take the couch downstairs.”

“No. Stay.”

He froze at your request. “Are you sure?”

“Please.”

Even in the darkness, you could see him smiling. “Okay.” Shutting the door, he peeled back the covers once more and slid in beside you. Happy wasn’t even close to how you felt when he pulled you in close to his chest. You drifted back to sleep with a smile on your face.

#exo #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #minseok x reader #kim minseok #xiumin #minseok #exo werewolf au #exo werewolf!au #exo supernatural au #exo series #exo fanfic #exo fanfiction #The Untamed Universe #Catching Rain

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calzonekestis · 3 years

Text

What with all the Spidey hype cause No Way Home, I wanted to take a moment to refute the myth that the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies were rebooted because he wanted to make Peter bi.

That’s not what happened. Full disclosure, I myself am bi - if biphobia was the cause, I’d call it out.

There’s a lot of misinformation about this so I’ll just lay it out.

- YES, Andrew posed the question of “why couldn’t Peter be bi/explore his sexuality?” He flippantly suggested Michael B. Jordan as a cis swapped MJ.

- YES there’s an agreement that states Peter Parker has to be portrayed as a straight white cis man.

- NO, Stan Lee did not get Andrew Garfield fired because of his comments. Someone confronted Stan at a con with Andrew’s statements, trying to stir up controversy. Stan had zero say in the movies - his producer credit was in name only. He jokingly said he needed to make some phone calls, and that he thought one sex was enough for anyone. Unintentionally biphobic? Sure, but I’m sure he meant no harm or offense. Stan was an old in his 90′s. Not the most eloquent, but he was also a bleeding heart progressive. People can discuss how he treated his artists or stole the spotlight in the early years, but he was always big into social justice - even in his later life. I recall when he was still alive, people blamed him for the movie reboot and said truly horrible things - which is heinous in it’s own right, but he was also a victim of elder abuse and attempts at defamation. Even now that’s he’s gone, his official social media accounts are active courtesy of people trying to capitalize on his name/brand/image.

So why then, were the movies rebooted, if not for biphobia? A few reasons.

- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 under performed financially and critically. Andrew was contracted for only one more film, and made that very clear.

- Sony wanted to milk the franchise. A Sinister Six solo film, Venom and Morbius (which we got/are getting), there was even talk of an Aunt May prequel where she was a secret agent. This was all detailed in the Sony emails (see below)

- Disney wanted to make a deal for Spidey in the MCU, in which basically they did most of the heavy lifting for the solo films if they let him be in the ensemble films, and Sony would sit back and get money.

- The Sony email leaks (which are out there online) were the big thing that made this possible, as Sony had been resistant to the idea. Amy Pascal stepped down from the position she had, and into a smaller role - due to a bunch of Not Great things she herself said.

Sony realized they were hemmoraghing money on this franchise, and they didn’t have a (good) plan. Disney did. They were really hurting after that leak, and Disney was there to bail them out.

Ok, but so then why then was Andrew Garfield not retconned into the MCU? After all, there had been plans for Avengers and OsCorp towers to appear in each other’s movies at one point?

It’s simple Marvel wanted a fresh slate, free of the baggage. They also wanted a teen Spidey, and Andrew was in his mid thirties at the time.

And on top of that, Sony/Andrew were already on the outs.

Again, the Sony leaks detail this - Andrew (due to being sick) snubbed and embarrassed a chief Sony executive.

After that, they were done with him and he was done with him. He’s spoken about how naive he was when he first got the role, and despite his passion for the character, studio and corporate interference soured his experience.

I do hope that he is indeed in No Way Home, so that he can have some proper closure with the role as a bisexual man myself (and I realize I don’t speak or everyone and my opinion is my own) the myth that it was cancelled due to biphobia or Stan Lee’s biphobia is just. Stupid. And incorrect.

Stan was an old man who tried to be funny and failed, and ended up being insensitive/offensive. I’m not offended, but I’m not denying your right to be. I’m just saying it literally has fuck all to do with him.

Yes, Andrew expressed an interest in it. That much is true. In follow up interviews, he said said he was kidding, but also not kidding. It was something that started off as a joke but he ran with, because why not? It would be new and different. There was an actor’s round table where he talked with Dev Patel, who lamented his own experience on The Last Airbender film. He decried the studio interference and their unwillingness to take risks, but it was much bigger than this “issue”.

MJ’s character was not cut from TASM2 because they wanted to introduce her later as a male character. It was cut for time, and because they wanted to focus on Gwen/Peter solely. It was uncertain as to whether Woodley would come back in the third one as the character, yes, but that’s because she had committed to the Divergent franchise - which was going to be a thing.. She said it made sense with the direction they were planning on going in, but do you know what that direction was? Norman Osborn coming back, after his head had been frozen. More Sinister Six set up, stuff with the parents. Webb has spoken about plans for the unproduced third movie, and MJ wasn’t really mentioned at all.

I don’t mean this to be hostile or call anyone out, but to say the Webb movies were rebooted bc Sony/Marvel vetoed bi-Spidey is just fundamentally untrue. The mandate that he be a cis white hetero dude predates the Sony/Marvel deal.

IDK why this bothers me so much, but every once in a while I see that one post with so many notes and… so much disinformation…

#andrew garfield #peter parker #spider man #spiderman #the amazing spiderman #the amazing spider man

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starry-seongmin · 3 years

Text

Something Wicked This Way Comes

a/n: While I was on a break, I felt bad for not updating especially the requests which have been sitting in my drafts and inbox since September so I have started working on them. While I’m finishing your requests, have this fantasy au Enhypen I wrote inspired by their debut trailers. Since there are many theories circling their roles and their supernatural forms, I decided to be ambiguous here in the case it is later revealed. I hope you enjoy as I have ventured into an area which I have never touched and is outside my comfort zone. I would be very grateful if you guys give feedback and responses. As much as I appreciate likes, as a writer I do get discouraged if I don’t get responses :( - Mia

themes: fantasy, angst?

warnings: disappearance of family

word count: 1.7k +

The woods were silent. Uncomfortably silent. Not even a leaf shifted let alone an animal or bird. An uneasy feeling had long ago settled in your brain. The sound of leaves crunching and twigs snapping underneath your footsteps had your heart beating erratically within you.

You were not supposed to be here. You knew of the stories, the legends, the rumours and myths of the woods that stood uninviting right outside your village. You never believed them, after all they were just that. Stories and tales to keep children away from the woods. Folklore and plays to entertain tourists and make money off them by selling talismans and souvenirs and what not to ward off the creatures that seemingly roamed there.

The village shaman had foreseen the disappearance of your family and had forewarned you but obviously you brushed it off, believing the shaman to be a quack. You never believed this stuff and neither did your family but right now, it was completely different.

Here you were, well deep into the woods after the promised disappearance of your family. The shaman who was weirdly content at your frantic state while standing at his doorsteps had directed you towards the woods.

"The one to whom the woods kneel before is the one who rules the darkness. He has the answer you're searching for."

Well that was very helpful and considerate of the creepy shaman. Now here you were, in the middle of the woods that were forbidden, starting to believe that the stories you had heard since childhood were not just stories. Scolding yourself for being wavered even for a minute, you continued your journey to search for whoever the woods kneeled before. If the words of the shaman were true then you'll hopefully be with your family soon.

Continuing to trek onward and deeper among the trees that stood tall and brooding, submerging the covered forest ground underneath a canopy of darkness with the sunlight barely fighting it's way through.

What seemed like an eternity later, you found your path blocked by a large body of dark and still water. Not even the slightest of ripples was seen on the surface. Like every other part of the woods it too seemed dead.

You wanted to stop. To turn back. To scream and shout. But you were not in control of your body. You were helpless. You felt detached and dissociated from your body.

Crack

The sound of a twig snapping made you jump. A shiver ran across your body and a sudden gasp left your numb lips. You looked down at your trembling hands. The state of not being in control over your body vanished and you heaved a sigh of relief.

Realizing you stood on the shore of the lake, on rocks and pebbles made you realize that it couldn't have been you who had stepped on a dried piece of wood. Heart hammering at the unwanting and daunting realization of a presence near you, you slowly turned a 180° slowly, preparing to see a horrific sight or possibly to be met with an attack of some sorts.

No one.

Nothing.

You didn't know if you were relieved at the prospect of not seeing anything or anyone or sent in a cold sweat for not seeing the source of the noise you clearly heard.

Still struck with horror although you refused to acknowledge it, you turned back to face the lake once again only to jump and let out a scream as you were now face to face with a human or so he seemed. Your eyes widened and you stumbled backwards to fall on the ground, crawling backwards while your eyes were fixated on the person standing before you.

He looked to be in his youth. Blonde hair framing the top half of his face, brown eyes that stared at you with hardened gaze which sent goosebumps up your skin. His skin pale yet unusually smooth. He stood tall, dressed like how a normal boy would.

"You shouldn't be here"

His voice was soft unlike his stare. He seemed normal and harmless but you knew better. Maybe all the tales were true about creatures that lurked within the darkness of the trees in the form of humans like you and me. Was he one of them? Of course he was.

"You must leave this place at once"

His expression never changed. He stood still and never once blinked, maintaining eye contact since the beginning. "What...what are you?" Before you could put a filter to your words, the question escaped your lips and you winced at your own words. The last thing you wanted was to anger or offend a creature or entity of the woods and end up dead or cursed.

"Run away while you still can"

For the first time you could see his expression falter and sense some franticness behind his warnings. "You're not safe here", he took a step forwards and warily looked around his surroundings. "Heed my warning. Escape while you still can." With every word he spoke, anxiousness radiated off him. Before you could ask what he meant, a chilling whistle ran throughout the trees and echoing, surrounding you. Making you feel trapped. Even though the blood curdling note had disappeared into thin air, it still kept echoing in your mind and had no intention of subduing.

Your hands instinctively covered your ears and you curled up in a fetal position, desperate for the whistle that haunted you to vanish. When it seemed like it had gone, a much terrifying noise rang through the trees. A nefarious laugh with pure evil dripping from it.

The boy's eyes widened, worry and fear etched upon his handsome features. "He knows", he whispered. "It's too late... he knows you're here." Before you could question him about the noises that haunted the woods and the words he spoke, the boy made his way towards you and grabbed your arm. It was too late to fight him off or escape from his clutch as you felt sucked in, wind in your ears and all noise and vision distorted until you found yourself standing inside a cabin of sorts.

Regaining balance and composure, you turned to the boy who was now peeking out of the only window from inside. "Why have you brought me here? Who are you? What are you? Who knows I'm here? Will you tell me anyth-"

Your voice became muffled and ultimately stopped bombarding him with questions when you felt his hand clamped on your mouth and his fixated on you in a steel like stare.

"You talk to much... I'll only let you talk if you answer my questions first" he growled, clearly annoyed at your questions and inability to listen to him. Vigorously, you shook your head. Anything to get his freezing hand off you and of course... to stay alive.

Slowly, he retracted his hand and took a few steps backwards, studying you and making you feel small and intimidated in his presence. "Why are you here, mortal?" His eyes narrowed and he leaned against the grimy wall of the cabin, arms folded. "And I want the truth. I have my ways of detecting lies... so think carefully before spouting nonsense."

Wow, he really had attitude even for a supernatural creature. "I was told that I would find the answers behind my family's disappearance", you replied and stared right back at the boy. After a few seconds of silence he nodded his head which meant your answer passed the truth check. "And who told you you'd find the answers to your family's disappearance?"

How long is this interrogation going to last?

"As long as you answer all of my questions honestly", he said.

Your eyes widen. Did he just... he can...

"Yes, I can read minds", he was sporting a devilish smirk which only enhanced his good looks. "Now answer my question...who told you that you'll find your answers here?"

"It was the old man... the shaman of our village. He was the one who told me that my family will disappear and he was the one who told me that I'll find all that I need to know here", you replied not wanting to test his patience.

"What did he exactly say?" the boy asked, once again peering out of the window before leaning back against the wall and staring at you. "He said something about someone who rules the darkness and before whom the woods kneel", you recall.

He seemed to be in deep thoughts after hearing your answer. Something between a dry chuckle and a scoff left him as he raised his head to look at you. "You weren't sent here to find about your family... the shaman fooled you and you listened to him without thinking. You unknowingly went after your death, foolish mortal"

"What are you talking about?", your heart was hammering against your chest and the words you spoke were barely heard but he managed to catch on to you. After all, he did have supernatural abilities.

"The shaman sent you as an offering...in other words, a sacrifice".

"How do you know that?", you narrowed your eyes at the grinning boy in front of you, hoping and praying he was just messing around but that seemed unlikely given the circumstance you were in right now.

"Let's play a fun game. Recall all the stories and legends you have heard and read about.Then match my powers to one of the entities you were told of."

Playing a game with a creature of the woods was probably the last thing on your list when you just found out that you were sent as a sacrifice for whatever reason which was unknown to you.

You rattled your brain, trying to recall anything and everything about the creatures that dwelled within the woods. One creature flashed before your eyes. The ability to read minds... the power of teleportation... the blonde hair... ice cold body temperature... giving warnings to anyone who ventured into the forbidden land... As sudden realization hits you thanks to all those books and tales you knew like the back of your hand, a gasp leaves your mouth and you scramble away from him util your back hits the wall, eyes widening in horror.

"It can’t be... you're..." The name fails to fall from your tongue. One of the names which was forbidden to even whisper out loud.

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled tantalizingly and amusingly at your reaction.

"Jongseong... the Guardian of the Forbidden Land..."

51 notes · View notes

oss-crime · 3 years

Text

Chapter 2-Project “Ma” –Eve–; Scene 3

Original Sin Story: Crime, pages 23-37

Apparently the carriage’s speed was enough to outrace their pursuers.

After they arrived at Nemu village, they headed for Eve’s house, which was also the residence of the village chief.

This village had no clinics. As he had some medical knowledge, the village chief also acted as the village doctor.

“Welcome home…And who are these people, Eve?”

Chief Zvezda’s eyes went wide when he saw Eve carrying in two men, one of them injured.

“They were attacked on the plains by the white army. This one’s wounded.”

“It looks that way…Well then, you sit over here. I’ll examine you.”

Seth obeyed the chief’s words, taking a seat in a chair set deeper in the room.

After watching him silently, Eve spoke up to Adam “Are you alright? You didn’t get injured or anything?”

“No, luckily for me. More than that—”

Before Adam could continue his sentence, the village chief cut in as he wrapped a bandage around Seth’s head, “Judging by your outfits…you two are researchers from the royal capital.”

“Ho, you’re quite well-informed.”

“Director Horus of the Royal Research Institute is an old acquaintance of mine. Is he still working hard on research artifacts as usual?”

Adam hesitated for a moment, before telling the chief, “No…He’s passed on. Two years ago. Right now I’m working as director in his place.”

“How…I see, I hadn’t known. I’ve stopped going to the Twelve Royal Capitals lately. And so that would make you—”

“Horus’ adopted son, Adam.”

“I’ve heard your name from him, but I suppose that would make this our first time meeting like this.”

“Yes, and—"

This time Seth butt in. “Erm…I’d appreciate it if you could patch up my wound first.”

“Oops, sorry.”

The chief flusteredly resumed wrapping bandages.

“…Hm?”

He made a puzzled expression, peering at Seth’s face.

“Your left eye looks funny. Is that injured as well?”

“Ah…No, it’s always been like that. I haven’t been able to see out of this eye from birth.”

“A defective left eye…Horus was like that too, as I recall.”

“Ha ha, that’s right. Just a coincidence.”

After Seth’s treatment was finished, the researchers bowed their heads to Eve and the village chief and said their thanks.

The chief offered for them to rest at the village for a while.

“The white army wouldn’t go as far as attacking us here,” the chief revealed.

Adam replied, giving him a courteous smile, “Is that because this place is a village of sorcerers?”

“…My my, so the son of Horus is able to glean that much.” The village chief sat down in a nearby chair, a hand on his aching hip. “Let me ask you a question instead, Adam. For what purpose did you all come to this remote place? I’d think that scientists would have little interest in an excavation site, of all things.”

“That’s not so. After all is said and done we’re researchers of the old legacy. It wouldn’t be all that strange for us to want to see where it’s excavated.”

“But up until this point we have never once had a scientist go visit there. Your aim is not the excavation site.”

The village chief’s tone had hardened, but Adam wasn’t intimidated. “Chief Zvezda—No, esteemed sorcerer Raiou Zvezda. It seems you have something in mind already. As it happens, we also have several things we’d like to talk to you about.”

“So I’m the one you’ve been after.”

“Actually, to be more accurate—” Adam turned to Eve. “—We came here to meet her.”

The peaceful atmosphere that had been in the room just moments ago changed in an instant.

Eve could feel a sense of unease.

This wasn’t a light matter; especially considering they had come here with a retinue of soldiers.

Appearing to guess at Eve’s anxiety, the chief said to her, “Eve, please go outside for a minute.”

But Eve shook her head.

“If there’s a reason why these scientists are interested in a humble village girl like me, then I want to know what it is,” she said, somewhat challengingly.

It wasn’t like she’d never done anything of note. Depending on the situation…there was a chance that she would have to drive off the scientists that she’d rescued herself.

“Oh dear, let’s all calm down now, everyone.” Seth stood in the center of the group, remonstrating all present. “Sorry for being rude. …I’m sure you are as well, aren’t you Adam?”

“…”

“None of us wants to see this turn out like what happened with the ‘Witch of Merrigod’.”

Upon hearing that name, the village chief’s gaze turned even sharper. “So…you two are on a ‘witch hunt’ after all!”

“You’re quite knowledgeable. I suppose you…suspected us of that from the start. You not knowing about Dr. Horus’ death—was also a lie, I imagine.”

“I said this earlier, but I haven’t gone to the Twelve Royal Capitals in some time. I rarely even go outside the village. …But sorcerers have a network that allows them to share information.”

“The spell that uses green onions? Talking to people at long distances…Well, leaving that aside you have several misunderstandings here, so I shall explain.”

Adam looked at Seth with dissatisfaction. “No, I’m the one who—”

“Just leave this to your underling. Mister Director.” After cutting Adam off, Seth once more bowed to Eve and the village chief. “I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Seth Twiright. I work for the Royal Research Institute, and I am the late Dr. Horus’ top apprentice.”

“…Self-labeled top apprentice,” Eve heard Adam quietly mutter.

Levianta was called a “Kingdom”, but at present the position of ruler was not something gained by heredity.

In this country that was born to protect the temple and flourishing through the legacy bequeathed by the gods, the “gods” were absolute, and all people were little more than their servants.

The one who ruled the country had to be someone who could hear “the voice of the gods”. And the one they deemed most suitable for that was a virgin who commanded extraordinary magical power.

For that reason Levianta was ruled through the ages by a “queen”, but there were various institutions that existed for selecting that queen.

The special orphanage owned by the Loop Octopus family, the Lighwatch temple managed by the Asayev family, the Royal Research Institute run by the Vaju family, etc…

This also served as a source of political conflict in the senate. Because whichever establishment the queen was born into decided who was the next head of the senate. The current queen Alice Merry-Go-Round had once been a child raised in the special orphanage.

“Naturally, the other families don’t just passively sit and watch. There are a lot of senate members who get worked up over making the next queen show up from their own facility. As for the Vaju family, they’ve been seeking out results from a certain experiment…”

The village chief covered his face with his hand as he listened to Seth’s explanation. “Scheming to artificially birth a child with strong magical potential…How frightening.”

“Be that as it may, if we hadn’t then the institute wouldn’t get its funding for the legacy research. Dr. Horus couldn’t afford not to comply.”

“There have always been shady rumors about the Royal Research Institute. That to birth the ‘next queen’ they abduct potential mothers from all over. …Though Horus never told me anything himself.”

“That’s another misconception. It’s not like the research institute is forcibly making off with these women. It’s all out of their consent—if it means performing a service to the gods then everyone is quite happy to participate in our research.”

The village chief snorted, clearly not believing him. “It hasn’t been like that recently, at the very least. You’ve all been carrying out ‘witch hunts’, even using troops for it.”

“To be accurate, they’re a peace-keeping force. And, well, we’ve found ourselves in certain circumstances that require we hurry.”

“Why is that? As I recall the current queen is still in her forties. Her dynasty should last for another twenty years more at least.”

“…The institute is no longer searching for someone to be the ‘mother of the queen’.”

“--? What do you mean?”

“We are trying to find a woman who can become queen. And the new queen will also become the mother of the gods…The ‘Ma’.”

“You can’t mean…!? The ‘Ma’ is little more than a fairy-tale!”

Seeing the chief’s astonishment, Eve asked, “Father, what’s the ‘Ma’?”

“…It is said that when catastrophe is on the cusp of visiting this world, the dragon god LeviaBehemo with two heads and two wills will have a second coming in this world as human children. And the woman who births these ‘Twins of God’ is ‘Ma’…the divine mother, Mem Aleph…It’s an old myth passed down from long ago.”

“Erm…” Eve then said to Seth, guessing on her own what the conclusion to the story she just heard was then. “…So if the gods must be reborn in this world…Then does that mean that there really is a catastrophe coming?”

Seth briefly clapped for her. “That’s correct, Miss Eve.”

“But what’s your basis for that?”

“It was none other than the dragon god LeviaBehemo who prophesized thus. Through the queen. We’ve never had an oracle be wrong before. The senate needed to come up with a countermeasure post-haste.”

And the countermeasure drafted by the senate head Miroku Loop Octopus was project “Ma”.

They changed the role of the next queen selection measures to search for a woman who could become the mother of the gods.

Once she had safely birthed the children that would become receptacles for the gods, she would obtain the position of queen in place of Alice, as reward for her service. …That sort of thing.

“But if you do that then the current queen will have to step down. Can the senate really decide that on their own?”

“The current queen agrees with this project as well, you see. …I mean, I think that the members of the senate wouldn’t be able to move with this much forward momentum if she didn’t.”

The one who managed to produce the mother of the gods from their institution would achieve glory as the savior who protected the world from catastrophe.

And also the position of next head of the senate.

“…Anyhow, the Royal Research Institute must also search for ‘Ma’ candidates under orders of the Vaju family.

Upon hearing that the village chief gave a sideways glance to Eve with a sullen expression. “And so…you’ve selected my own daughter as an ‘Ma’ candidate.”

“The Royal Research Institute is seen as the most plausible source for completing this project. So the head of the senate has given the institute several authorizations. Such as to freely make use of security forces and their information.”

“But if the Royal Research Institute were to successfully carry out Project ‘Ma’, Miroku will lose his position as senate head. Is he alright with that?”

“Well, I don’t know that far…But I imagine it would be pretty difficult to find the ‘Ma’ in Senator Miroku’s special orphanage. And so…maybe his plan is to be able to continue to wield some influence in the senate even after stepping down by collaborating with the facility most likely to succeed.”

“What an awful power struggle.”

“I agree. Well, anyway, it’s thanks to our information that we were able to learn of some rumors around here…”

That was, the rumors of the “Witch of the Forest” that supposedly would appear in the sprawling “Forest of Held” to the south of the village.

There was a girl who would use magic to drive off the tribesmen that would appear every now and then…She had green hair, and would cast lightning with a blue spoon…Supposedly.

“According to what we’ve heard, she’s the bearer of significant magical power. Only, this region is currently being terrorized by that savage clan. That’s why we brought along minimal guards with us…Though conversely, that seems to have just spurred them on.”

Listening to all that, Eve was reminded of the soldiers that they’d left out on the plain. “I wonder if…those guys are alright.”

Adam had been quiet this whole time, but he replied, “The peacekeeping unit…especially Gammon, are all strong men. They can’t use magic, but they are proficient with swords and guns. They won’t be defeated by the likes of those tribesmen.”

“But—”

“In the worst-case scenario, they’ll seek out reinforcements from the royal capital…Right now it’s us I’m worried about.”

Eve felt her cheeks flush from being looked at by this man so close to her in age.

There weren’t any intrepid, intellectual guys like him in the village.

“Hmph…It sounds like you two are mistaken about something.” The village chief cut in between Eve and Adam. “This ‘Witch of the Forest’…I’ve certainly heard of that story, but that isn’t Eve.”

“B-but, she has the same green hair, and her magical ability—”

As Adam tried to argue, the village chief quietly shook his head. “Green hair is a trait shared by the people of the forest…And as for magical ability, everyone in the village has it in varying measures.”

“…Let me ask then, Chief. Are there any other green-haired girls in this village—”

“No. We’re immigrants who originally wandered here from elsewhere. But Eve is different. She was abandoned and set adrift in a nearby river when she was a baby. My late-wife scooped her out. We raised her as our own daughter.”

“So then—”

“Did the intel you gathered claim that the Witch of the Forest was someone in this village?”

“No, it…didn’t say that…”

“If you’re looking for a girl with green hair, I’d suggest going to the Forest of Held. You’re sure to run into the people of the forest immediately.”

“…Seth.”

Adam gave Seth a prompting glance.

“O.K. Now it’s time for this.”

What he brought out was a small iron rod that forked into two prongs.

“This is an artifact. It can measure someone’s latent magical potential by holding it out in front of them like this…Augh!” Appearing to have realized something, Seth looked up to the ceiling and held his head. “We don’t have the output device! I left it in the carriage.”

“What!?”

“No…It’s understandable. With the way things were there wasn’t any time to take out something so heavy…”

“…Nothing for it. We’ll have to go back there and get it.”

Adam asked if they could borrow Eve’s automated carriage.

Given that it would be dangerous to bring a woman over to where there might still be some tribesmen, he apparently intended to go get the equipment with Seth.

“But you need magical ability to run the carriage.”

“Don’t worry. I have enough myself.”

Thinking on it, he had been riding in a large automatic carriage. Adam must have been driving that one too.

“Don’t break it. It’s very important to us.”

Adam nodded at Eve’s words, and started to move to leave the house with Seth along.

--But that moment, they heard the shrieking sound of a car wheel from outside.

“Huh!? …Could it be?”

Adam leaned out the window.

And there he beckoned over someone who was outside.

After a beat, a long-haired man walked into the room.

He had a gun and a sword sheathed at his hip. He appeared to be a military man.

“So you’re alright, Gammon.”

This man named Gammon exchanged a handshake with Adam.

“It was no big deal. There were just quite a lot of them, so it took some time.”

“You only have the one carriage? And I can’t see the other soldiers outside of your driver.”

“I sent everyone back to the royal capital. They’ll need to appeal for information, and reinforcements, depending on the circumstances.”

“Reinforcements?...If you were able to repel the tribesmen then there’s no need for that, is there? Don’t do anything too dangerous. This is supposed to be a peaceful—”

“I won’t be turning my sword on any witch. This is incidental. I want to take the opportunity to make a decisive strike on the white army.”

Adam heaved a sigh.

“…I suppose that is the official job of a peacekeeping force. But don’t forget. Your responsibility is—”

“Guarding you, I know. Naturally I will accomplish that properly myself.”

“Alone?”

“Is that not enough?”

“…It’s enough. You’re dependable.”

“You could stand to be a bit cheerier. I did bring you back what you forgot.”

Packed in the luggage compartment of the automated carriage that the captain of the security forces, Gammon, had rode in on was the device that Adam and Seth had left behind on the plains.

Once more putting together the magic measuring device, Seth started to take note of Eve’s magical ability.

“Though this isn’t a standard instrument. Using it in itself is quite simple. Please just stand perfectly still right there.”

Seth turned the iron rod's prongs in Eve’s direction.

After a while the box that was attached by wire to the bundle of metal let out a “be-beep”. Seth set it down and started to examine the numbers displayed on the box’s screen.

When he did, his expression grew crestfallen.

“…Your M count is 72. And your other numbers are average. That means you’re only a little bit stronger in magic than the average person.

Adam stood next to Seth and peered at the data output device.

“You’re sure the device isn’t broken?”

“I could check…Hey, Gammon.” Seth did a reading of Gammon’s magical ability just as he had done with Eve. “…M count of 0. Alright! You are, without a doubt, ‘magically impotent’!”

“…”

While breaking out into something of a cold sweat as Gammon glared at him, Seth then measured the magic potential of Adam, and then the village chief.

“…Amazing. The village chief is 200, and Adam exceeds 300. If you two were women you’d most certainly be candidates for ‘Ma’—At any rate, I think the device is working correctly.”

Upon hearing that outcome, the village chief slowly stood before Adam.

“And now we’ve satisfied you that Eve is not this ‘Witch of the Forest’.”

“…At the very least we’ve established that she can’t be an ‘Ma’ candidate.”

“I see…That’s good then, Eve.”

Eve wondered if it really was.

Maybe she had just let a chance for her to become queen slip out from under her very nose.

Queen…huh.

It was an unbelievable honor for a citizen of Levianta to obtain that position.

But I doubt my father would let me become queen.

Eve knew quite well that he was a man who hated politics.

It was only because there was no one else who could fulfill the role of village chief that he had bitterly accepted the role.

I’ve had to work specifically because he rarely takes in any taxes.

She thought her father was a splendid man.

But that didn’t mean she had no complaints.

<<prev------directory------next>>

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avani008 · 3 years

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fic writer tag game!

Tagged by @allegoriesinmediasres and @partialdignity. Thank you both <3!

how many works do you have on AO3?

83.

what’s your total AO3 word count?

267, 880. (Oh...wow.)

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Baahubali, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Jodhaa-Akbar, Padmaavat, Star Wars, Greek Myth, Arthurian Mythology, Fairy Tales, Genghis Khan-Music Video, Smallville, Devil's Cub, Ever After, Persuasion- Jane Austen, Idylls of the Queen- Phyllis Ann Karr, Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn, Sliding Doors, Hamilton, Black Panther, Original Work.

(20, effectively)

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Copilot (342)- the eternal WIP which fills me with SHAME, because "Han adopts Rey" still objectively strikes me as a good premise for an AU, but (1) the subsequent films didn't seem to find their relationship as interesting as I did and (2) by now, I have no doubts some genius has already written it, and better than I could!

Coming Home (299) - Proof that therapy fic and tragic parent-child relationships are....kind of an Avani thing? Welp.

Kathodos (230) - I am delighted but also...kind of surprised this one is so popular??? Anyway, I enjoyed turning the Hades/Persephone myth on its head, and my recip in the challenge was both lovely and seemed to enjoy this, so that's what really matters!

Enchantment Passing Through - (193) Eventually I might finish this, I guess, but it would involve a lot more planning and outlining and HP-deep-diving than I particularly want to at the moment. But again, I am so grateful people seemed to have liked this little prologue and been so kind about it!

Nidhana (157)- The fact that--presumably--one hundred and fifty actual people have read this and enjoyed it never fails to bring a smile to my face. I love you all so, so much.

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

In theory, yes, but I've gotten so far behind it doesn't seem like I'll catch up for a bit!

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

*shifty eyes* Hahaha, angst? Me? Surely you jest. Seriously, though, one of the Tumblr Mahabharata break-it AUs? Or if it has to be on AO3, personally I thought Sarvaga was the saddest, but if any of you guys disagree, I'd be curious to know!

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

*laughs* Oh boy, do I ever. Um, aside from those already mentioned, there is a perma-drawer fic Baahubali/Black Panther crossover featuring dreamworld friendships, which is probably the weirdest thing I've actually even started to draft....

have you ever received hate on a fic?

If I have, I'm plainly too oblivious to realize it. Mostly, though, I think that this is because my readers are unbelievably kind to me.

do you write smut? if so what kind?

I don't, largely because I'm no good at it. I'll stick to innuendos and the occasional off-color joke, for everyone's sake.

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to the best of my knowledge!

have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I recall!

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! With the fabulous @parlegee, brainstormer/beta extraordinaire who patiently reads all my overenthusiastic drafts/notes and doesn't laugh.

what’s your all time favorite ship?

Ooh, this is a hard one. Um. Lois Lane/Clark Kent was probably an early one I imprinted on, but also Pratham/Gauri, the leads from a really terrible but also hilarious Indian soap from when I was a kid; Amarendra/Devasena probably works its way up to a lifetime one from all the thinking/ficcing/meta I've done about it; and honestly, I've been a Krishna/Rukmini stan since I was a wee one (Female agency and strikes against patriarchal-arranged-marriage FTW!)

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Eventually, we will finish the Ramayana space AU because it really is the best of our crazy AUs. It just--might take a bit until then.

(On the personal front, I will finish this origfic someday? Mayyybe?)

what are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, characterization, plot, humor (I hope?)

what are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes, smut scenes, That One Scene you need to get the plot from Point A to Point B but is boring as anything to hurry up and get done.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

IMO, best used as a garnish/minimally--otherwise, you risk breaking readers out, even if they are familiar with the foreign language you are using. That said, there are always exceptions: in Sarvaga, linked above, I use the direct transliteration of dialogue in Tamil, because a translation wouldn't at all convey the duality or the intent of it after all.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Really bad Lois and Clark fic, IIRC, which were mostly syrupy missing-scenes and episode tags.

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I think I have to go with Nidhana, simply because I can't believe I actually finished a multichapter fic with an actual plot!

Tagging @walburgablack @parlegee @queenofmahishmati @mockingjaypin @carminavulcana @holy-muffins @oldshrewsburyian @tuulikki and literally anyone else who wants to do this and wasn't tagged already!

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inside-of-a-fangirls-mind · 4 years

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The White Wolf’s Dance; Chapter 1

Request: None, I’m just obsessing over witcher so take this poorly written fanfic that will have many chapters cause I'm a hoe.

Words: 2,017

Warnings: Cursing, Seduction, Monster killing mentioned.

Pairing: Geralt X Reader, but slight Jaskier X Reader at the start.

Note; This is my first witcher fanfic, be gentle with me. I wanted to make it a long journey and a slow burn cause mmm I love those. Um. Be warned cause this is a gonna be a whole mess of things I would love to happen. Oh and reader is something special c; you will find out in chapter 2 I believe.

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(I do not own the gifs, credits to the oringial posters, also I do not own anything witcher, characters, places, nothing.)

*Chapter 1; The Myth Of The Witcher*

"Toss a coin to your Witcher! Oh, valley of plenty!" Jaskier sang out as he played his lute to the inn full of people drinking and dancing about. It was hard to see what they were so cheerful about but Geralt didn't give it much thought. He downed another ale, there was supposed to be a contract for a Griffin here. However, it had been dead for weeks by the time they arrived. Spending a night with no chance of coin unless Jaskiers song brought any.

"Another for ya'?" A voice pulled him out of his thoughts glancing up at the woman who stood before his table. She held up a tankard of what he assumed to be able. He gave a short nod and she set it down in front of him. He went to pull out a coin but she just smiled.

"Already paid for. The young lady at the bar is paying for all yer and yer bards drinks." She gave a smile before heading off to check on other tables.Geralt narrowed his eyes at the drink before scanning the bar wondering who or why someone would pay for their drinks. But there weren't any women sitting at the bar. He lifted the drink to his nose to sniff it before downing it. Maybe just maybe it was one of Jaskier's love interests. But if the ales safe who is he to let it spoil.

A while later Jaskier approached the table noticing Geralt scouting the inn. "What's wrong? Someone already put you in a sour mood?" He chinned before the same barkeep sat two more drinks in front of them and left.

"No." He was quiet, looking around the place. "But someone is paying for all our drinks. Isn't that a little strange?" He turned to Jaskier who was already downing his.

"Free ale? By gods. I must have a few fans out there. Surely the lovely lady should make herself known." He turned in his chair to look around the room.

"Never said it was a lady." Geralt smirked before watching Jaskiers face fall a bit. "but I doubt it's a fan. Just be careful and go to bed alone tonight." Geralt warned before picking up his things and heading off to his room. Jaskier didn't see the harm in another buying him drinks, however.

After a few more ales a beautiful woman walked over and sat across from him. "My my, and who might you be?" He hums letting his eyes admire her fully.

"Y/N, and I've had my eye on you ever since you walked in." You hum softly before giving him a wink. "Care to join me for a dance?" You don't even have a chance to hold out your hand before he's grabbed it and pulled you out of your chair spinning you around. You're both laughing and having fun. The night was still young but you lean over and whisper to him "I'm dying to get out of this dress. Would you care to help me with it?" Your voice hot on his ear. He would have melted on the spot if he could. Quickly he took your hand and ran to his room.

Once inside you smiled and turned around so he could undo the buttons on your dress. Slowly sliding it off your shoulders you stop it before it could reveal your chest. "what are you waiting for? Get on the bed." You hum letting your dress slide a little more to reveal your cleavage.

"Yes, ma'am!" He hums before getting on to the bed. He lays on his back looking up at you with the biggest smile on his face. You crawl on top of him leaning down until your lips are almost on his and smile.

Lóre sí an ni indóme maure tye yare I úrin ort-

" You whisper before placing your lips on his. Once his eyes are closed they don't open. You pull yourself off him and smirk. "Silly boy. Didn't the Witcher warn you? Sleep now, I'll need you in the morning." And with that, you button up your dress and head out of his room to await the pair of them in the sunrise.

Geralt was the first to awake and dress, though when he banged on Jaskiers door and there was no answer he broke in worried about him not listening. Once he saw the bard was still asleep he was relieved and woke his friend up with a splash of water to the face.

"By Gods woman! You are a tease!" He shouted as he woke up promptly looking around to only see Geralt's face. "Geralt! Where's Luna?"

"Don't tell me you brought someone to bed after I told you not to!" Geralt groans before looking around the room. Nothing seemed to be missing.

"Oh but Geralt I'm in love. She was the fairest maiden I've ever laid eyes on. Skin as white as snow, hair as dark as a raven. Hands. Oh her hands could work for a living alone!" Jaskier went on about who he thought he spent a romantic night with. But little did he know it was all a dream you created for him.

"Get up. We've gotta make it to the next town. I heard there's a Barghests' and someone willing to pay heavy coin for it to be dealt with." He heads out of the bard's room making for the stairs as Jaskier loops his lute over his shoulder and follows.

"Oh, Geralt have you never been in love before? I cannot leave until I see her again." He goes on dreamily before they both exit the inn only to stop in their tracks.

"Thought you boys would sleep all morn." You hum twirling around a bag of coin. You toss it to Geralt who catches it with one hand. "Thought witchers would be up and out a bit earlier than this." You lean against the fence post sign for the end looking over Jaskier with a smirk. "How was my visit last night? Hope it left you with wet dreams."

Jaskier's hands grip his lute. This girl was almost the one from last night. Or maybe she was the one. "Dreams?" He whispered as Geralt grabbed him by the shoulder and started to walk past pushing the coin back into your hands. "We don't need no handout." He grumbled.

"T'was not a hand out. Merely the coin you spent on your rooms. And there's more than that if you can help me with a little problem. I'll explain it all along the way." You hum before throwing a wink at Geralt as a man brings you his horse. "Roach was her name, right? You're a little hard to read." You hum as you pet Roach's muzzle softly. "However your friend’s an open book. A very dirty book too might I add."

Geralt glances to Jaskier before tugging him along and takes Roach's reins. "Don't touch Roach. And whatever it is I don't want it. Got a contact in the next town. Worth 100 oren." Geralt growls before hopping on his horse and walking away. Jaskier following at his tail.

"Geralt. Can she read minds? Like Yennifer? She a sorceress too?" Jaskier asked glancing back to see you were gone.

"Hmm," Gerald grunted looking to Jaskier.

"No Geralt! Seriously!" Jaskier can't stop looking over his shoulder at the place you once were. "Maybe she wants to help us?"

"Probably some cheap trick to get us killed. Better left behind us, with this town." He mumbles as they head out of town. Following the main road towards the next but just as they turn a corner there you are sitting on a log.

"Come now, boys. I'll pay more than a 100 oren for this problem. How about 1000? I might have come off a little rough but I'm just a Lassie in need of help." You throw on the charm trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Geralt narrows his eyes at you. "And where did you come across that much coin?" He didn't trust you, and why should he trust a random stranger.

You smile ever so charmingly before standing up from the log. "a girl works hard for her coin. Many a man would pay for a night with someone like me ya know." You put your hand on your hip and the other tugging on your shirt collar a little. "c'mon boys. Aren't you supposed to help a damsel in distress."

"Geralt…" Jaskier whispers before Geralt gets off his horse and approaches you. He's a lot bigger up close. Smelling of cypress and ale. It's not a bad mix either.

"What exactly are you? What did you do to Jaskier? And What do you need help with?" He's in your face ready for you to tell a lie.

You smile sweetly up at him before glancing at Jaskier. "You're friends right. A sorceress of some kind. But not any kind you've met before. I had to make sure your friend was well rested for this so I used a little sleep powder is all. His vivid imagination filled the rest." You throw a wink at Jaskier before turning back to the Witcher in front of you. "and a harpy. Nasty beast. She carries away my brother and I only wish to give him a proper burial. And for no one else to get carried away screaming." You look up at Geralt wide-eyed and hopeful. It was, more or less, the truth.

Geralt didn't speak for a while before nodding and getting back on his horse. "where was it last seen?"

"Hell, I can take you right to the nest. Just can't get close enough myself." You hum before leading the way in front of them.

"I don't like this," Jaskier whispered to Geralt as he slowed down to make sure you couldn't hear them. To say the bard was weary yet turned on was a crazy thing. But after all, he couldn't keep his eyes off his only love encounter.

"Neither do I, but 1000 Oren. It's worth checking out." He whispers back to Jaskier before speaking up to her. "You sure it's a harpy? Miss? I don't recall you giving your name."

"I didn't." You smirk back at them before turning around. "I saw the beast carry off my brother. I know a harpy when I see one." You turn back around leading them up a mountain trail. "Y/N" you whisper.

They both heard it and Geralt doesn't ask any more questions for the time being. Not much was said while they walked. Jaskier would strum a few notes on his lute but didn’t bother singing a word. You constantly had an eye to the sky just to make sure you would not be surprised by the beast. But soon night began to fall and the mountain pass became all the more difficult to navigate.

You dropped your bag off your shoulder and looked around at a small flat area hidden by treetops. “We will rest here for tonight and tomorrow slay the beast.” You don’t bother looking back to them, the sooner you could get this over the better. Your mother, Gods rest her soul, would be proud you were taking steps to give your brother a proper burial. You just couldn’t let the harpy feast on him for weeks. He deserved better even in death. You quickly dig out a hole and set some twigs up in it after lining it with stones.

“Geralt, how about you show me some of that Witcher fire magick?” You hum looking over to where he was tying his horse and setting up his things for the night.

“Hmm” He grunts as he goes over and casts a small flame on to the pile of twigs, lighting them up nightly. You rub your hands together close to the fire before sitting on the ground by it. Closing your eyes and letting it warm your soul. This small moment of peace would have to do until after tomorrow's mission.

Chapter 2

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dracoqueen22 · 4 years

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[CR] Up the River

Universe: Critical Role Campaign Two, Alternate Reality Characters: Caduceus Clay, Fjord Rated: K+ Enticements: Fairy Tale AU, The Hermit and the Kappa Description: Caduceus thinks Calliope must have been teasing when she said to be wary of kappas. Fjord, after all, seems to be as pleasant as they come. For FjorClay Week, Day Three, Prompt: Myths and/or Fairy Tales It's a sticky, humid day when Caduceus throws the two corked clay jars over his shoulders and heads for the river. He picks his way through the garden of haphazardly ordered plots of vegetables and fruits and herbs and flowers singing their sweet song into the air. A few bees buzz noisily, but leave him be. True, he could always ask the Wildmother to create water for him, but there's a simple pleasure in fetching it for himself. It's only a few minutes walk, and perhaps while he's there, he'll indulge in a quick dip as a break from the day's sticky heat.

As it is, Caduceus has stripped down to a loose pair of linen trousers, snipped off at the knee. His bare skin is slick with a sheen of sweat. He's piled his hair on top of his head, in deference to the heat, and the sun warms the back of his neck where it peeks through the tree canopy above. "Is there any chance we might see a break in this heat soon?" Caduceus asks of the wind. It doesn't answer, but then, that's an answer in itself. "I thought not," Caduceus sighs. Summer is not his favorite season. The river quietly burbles in its banks, low for the season. It's been a dry year, not as many rains as Caduceus is used to counting. His bare feet sink into the mud as he crouches on the bank and sets to filling his jars. Insects buzz around him. Leaves rustle. A couple frogs croak their displeasure of the heat. And the water in front of him abruptly bubbles as a head emerges from beneath, dark green and slick and accompanied by a pair of vivid gold eyes. Caduceus shouts and flings himself backward, not out of fear, but out of surprise. His bottle goes flying, fumbling out of his hands to land in the water and start bobbing downstream, caught on the current. The creature burbles a curse and vanishes beneath the surface. What in Melora's name was that? Caduceus rights himself, indulging in a flicker of calm emotions to get his heartbeat back to normal. One water jug rests in the mud, but the other -- yeah, it's rapidly floating downstream. He's going to have to go after it. He peers into the water, looking for any sign of the creature he'd seen. "Uh, hello there. Didn't mean to shout like that, you just startled me," he says. Nothing. There is, however, a further splash. Caduceus' ears twitch, and he follows the sound to where his water jug is merrily bobbing in the current. A webbed hand emerges from beneath the surface, snagging the jug's rope, before it vanishes underwater -- the hand, not the jug. Then it bobs in Caduceus' direction, the rope taut as though it's being towed. Caduceus blinks. "Um, thank you?" he says as the jug comes closer and closer, into the shallows, and with it, the creature belonging to the hand. It's humanoid, shorter in stature than Caduceus himself but broader and thicker, with webbed hands and feet, and a glossy, amphibian skin. It's green, but its face is humanoid, handsome if Caduceus had to apply a descriptor to it. Short-black hair caps its head, but the rest of it is smooth and gently scaled. It holds out the jug. Caduceus accepts it with a little bow, popping the cork into place as he does so. "Thanks. That would have taken me a while to retrieve. These waters have some, uh, strong undertows. Though I guess you'd know that if you... do you live here?" "I do... live here," the creature says, and it's voice is deep and bassy, the words stilted as though this is the first time it has spoken. "I live here." It makes a broad gesture to the area around them. Caduceus nods. "I live there." He turns and points over his shoulder, in the direction of his hut. "I've never seen you before though." He pauses and gives the creature another look -- something about it is familiar but he can't place why. "What are you, if I may ask?" "I am Fjord." It touches its own chest. "You are... ?" It tilts its head to the side and looks up. "Tall cow man." Caduceus chuckles. "Kind of. I'm a firbolg. We don't live around here usually. The name's Caduceus. What's yours?" "Name is Fjord," it says, and its lips peel into a smile, revealing a mouth of dangerous looking teeth, two on the bottom far more prominent. "I am a kappa." "Ohhh. See, I got that backward." Caduceus tries to remember. He vaguely recalls Calliope telling him to be wary of kappas, but he can't remember why. "Nice to meet you. Is there, uh, something I can do for you? Is that why you decided to introduce yourself?" Fjord shakes its -- his? Caduceus is going to go with his -- head. "Curious," he says. "Never seen one like you before. You're not like the others, so I thought maybe you'd be a..." He gropes for a word before suggesting, "...friend?" "Sure!" Caduceus breaks into a wide grin. "I mean, I don't see why not." He looks around, skimming the underbrush and the river. "Are you alone out here, Fjord?" The kappa's shoulders hunch, and he takes a step back into the water until he’s knee-deep again. "I am the only one, yes." "I didn't mean that to sound as scary as it did." Caduceus takes a step back so he doesn't look like a threat. "I'm alone out here, too. My family lives on the other side of the mountain." He gestures to the far east. "I'm here because I'm looking for something." Fjord points to the water jug. "That?" Caduceus chuckles. "No, it's not a physical thing. It's more of... a purpose? A plan? My destiny?" He scratches at his chin, struggling to find the right words. "I'm not sure. I'm waiting for her to tell me." "Her?" "The Wildmother. Melora." He goes to point to the symbol on his chestplate, and then he remembers he's not wearing anything but a pair of linen shorts. "I serve her." Fjord blinks, and it's a weird thing, because he blinks first one way and then another way, like Caduceus has never seen before. "I don't know Melora. Only the serpent. Many eyes." He shudders, and hunches again, like he's afraid. "Many, many eyes." Caduceus frowns. A serpent with many eyes? He doesn't know anything about that, but perhaps he can commune with the Wildmother later and she'll illuminate him. "This serpent... is it your god or your leader?" Caduceus asks. A shiver runs over Fjord's body, flicking his scales. "He’s the Serpent," Fjord says, in a tone that applies proper noun usage and everything. "He’s... Master?" Fjord cocks his head like he's not sure that's the right word before he shrugs. "We do what the Serpent says, and we’re rewarded. We don't, and we’re punished." He pauses and shakes his head. "I don’t like bein’ punished." "Few do," Caduceus murmurs. He bends down, picks up his water jugs, and slings them back over his shoulder. "I was going to make some tea. It's why I came for water. Do you want to join me?" "What is tea?" Fjord asks. He takes a step forward only to hesitate at the edge of the water. "It's a drink." Caduceus peers at the kappa, who's now nibbling on his bottom lip and looking nervously up and down the riverbank. "I mean, can you leave the water? Are you tied to it or...?" Fjord touches his hair as though checking something. "I can leave," he says, and takes a deep breath before stepping one foot out of the water, onto the muddy bank. "It's dangerous, but I can leave." "Will you get in trouble with the Serpent?" "No." Fjord pats his hair again before standing up straight, squaring his shoulders and everything. He’s not wearing any clothing, but if he has any delicate bits, they must be tucked away. "I’m not a coward. I’ll try the tea." Caduceus blinks. "There's nothing cowardly about -- well, all right. Come with me. I can show you my house." He starts walking, the water jugs bouncing against his hip. "I warn you, my house is small, but it's cozy. Maybe too cozy, because it's pretty hot." "It’s very hot," Fjord agrees, and Caduceus hears feet squelching through mud before Fjord's heavier tread echoes behind him. "The river is better." "It probably is." Caduceus laughs. "I was going to wade in for a second. I completely forgot." "Just wade? Not swim?" Fjord asks. Caduceus looks over his shoulder and unconsciously slows his pace to match Fjord's, who walks more deliberately, cautious before he puts each foot down. "I'm not much of a swimmer." "That's bad." Fjord's luminous eyes look at him with something like disappointment. Maybe pity? "Swimming is important. I'll teach you." "I didn't say I couldn't do it, just that I-- well, never mind." It's another one of those distinctions so minor as to be non-important. "I appreciate that. I might just take you up on the offer." Fjord looks up at him. "If you're going to live here, you must swim," he says. "The Serpent is Master here. He may not like you." "So it's for my safety then?" "Yes." Hmm. Maybe Caduceus should research this Serpent sooner rather than later. Of course, the kappa could be lying to him, but he can't think of a reason why. There are better things to lie about. "I didn't warn the other one," Fjord says, and he looks at the ground, his shoulders slumping. "She was cruel, so I didn't warn her, and the Serpent took her." His webbed fingers tangle together, though they seem a lot drier now, some of the scales starting to flake. "It takes all of us eventually." "You seem to have come out all right," Caduceus says. But the kappa laughs, a strange gurgling sound which seems as though it's meant to be heard from underwater. "This is after," he says, slapping his palm against his chest, making a wet-sticky sound. "This is punishment. I wasn’t always like this." "What were you like?" Caduceus asks as his hut comes into view, a small curl of smoke rising from the chimney, where he'd left embers to burn themselves out. Fjord drops his hand, and it curls into a fist before loosening. "I wasn't this," he says, and shakes his head. "I wasn't this." "You can't leave?" Caduceus asks. "Can't go far from home." Fjord touches the crown of his head again, his fingers coming away moist. He rubs them together and frowns. "Can't go far from Serpent." "I see," Caduceus says, though he really doesn't. This Serpent sounds like a jailer. Maybe it's one of the betrayer gods? It's certainly someone the Wildmother would not like. Caduceus pushes open his door and ducks into the cool dim of his small hut. He leaves the door open for Fjord and sets the water jugs on the open shelf. A flick of his hand coaxes the fire back into full bloom to heat the kettle hanging above him. "You can sit anywhere you like," Caduceus says. He ponders his tea collection before selecting a few he guesses Fjord might like -- sweet and fragrant blooms, he thinks. Fjord pokes around the hut, taking great interest in the things Caduceus has on the walls and hanging from the roof. He seems particularly taken by the broken sword Caduceus has on display. He’s had the old thing for many, many seasons, and carried it with him from home. "It's a conversation piece really," Caduceus says as he prepares two mugs. "I keep thinking I might find someone who can repair it some day, but until then, I can't bear to part with it. Something tells me it's important." One of Fjord's fingers lightly touches the hilt. "Important," he echoes, though it's barely louder than a murmur. "I had a sword once. Before the punishment. It was important, too." He makes an odd sound, like a gurgle, before he turns away from the sword. The kettle whistles, and Caduceus sets about pouring the tea, adding a plate of biscuits to the tray because a good afternoon tea is always properly served with biscuits. "Do you like honey?" he asks as he sits on the floor and Fjord flops down next to him, a bit awkward, as though unused to the physics outside the water. "Honey?" Fjord says. "I think I remember honey. I don't remember if I liked it." He gives the offered tea a sniff before holding it back out to Caduceus. He chuckles and adds a few dollops to the steaming cup. "Be careful. It's hot." His warning comes too late, as Fjord takes a long sip, only to immediately hiss and yank the cup away, his tongue lolling out in desperate pants to cool the singed skin. "Sorry, I should've said something sooner." Caduceus winces and holds out a hand. "May I?" Fjord tilts his head, but he leans in toward Caduceus with permission. Caduceus brushes his fingers over Fjord's forehead, whispering a prayer to the Wildmother for a little bit of comfort, and watches Fjord's expression shift from pained to relieved. "Better?" "Yes." Fjord smacks his lips a few times before he nods. "Hot." He touches his forehead where Caduceus' fingers had brushed him and asks, "What was that?" "A blessing from the Wildmother. She's... kinder than your Serpent," Caduceus says. He blows on his own tea to cool it before he sips. "Would you like to know more about her?" Fjord cups his mug, fingers rubbing the textures of the outside of it. "Could she help me?" "Maybe. If you asked her to. If you really wanted it." Caduceus chooses his words carefully. He doesn't want to make promises in Melora's place, but he swears he feels her attention on him, however slight, and he's moving in the right direction. Her direction. Fjord takes in a deep breath and nods, lifting those luminous eyes back to Caduceus. "I want to know." "Sip your tea, friend," Caduceus says as he lets himself get comfortable, "And I will tell you a story." "Friend," Fjord repeats the word as if tasting it before he beams, like ten years of tragedy have been briefly lifted from his shoulders. "Yes. We're friends." ***

a/n: Feel free to comment and reblog and talk in the tags if you like! I’d love to know what you think!

#fjorclayweek2020 #fjorclay #caduceus clay #fjord #critical role fanfic #critical role campaign 2 #draco writes critical role

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stellar-alley · 4 years

Text

Everfalls

•Chapter 1•

This is based off of the artwork by oceanteeeth on Instagram! Also shout out to my Beta super.rose.cosplays!

Next Chapter >>

(Summary: Eddie runs away from his small magical village of The All Lands and meets a charming werewolf)

Humans

The species that rules the earth, or so they thought.

They believed that they were the only creatures that walked this earth along with the animals they studied over the years, but that's where they're wrong.

Little did they know that an entire civilization has been living under their noses for god knows how long. Beings of all sorts, some a cross between animals the humans are used to, some completely new and others only known to the humans as myths.

If humans were to venture into the darkness of their forests or to the depths of the oceans, then perhaps they'd get a glimpse of the world of the Ancestor Realm, but the Ancestors have yet to be spotted by humans, and they plan on keeping it that way. The Ancestor Realm is the name of their realm, but each little group and village has a name of its own.

Hidden deep within a forest on the coast of Maine is a small cliffside village called The All Lands, that is where our story begins.

The ocean waves crashed up against the rocks below, creating a soothing white noise that aided the creature to clear his head. He sat a couple of feet away from the edge of the cliff, close enough to look over and watch the waves but far enough away to not be worried about falling to his death.

His eyes were red and puffy, his nose sniffly which prompted him to wipe it every couple minutes with the sleeve of his sweater. He tried to even out his breaths, lower his heart rate, but the anxious feelings that reverberated through his entire body made it hard to do either.

A cool spring breeze came off of the ocean and blew past the boy, helping cool his overheated body and even out his breathing. The wind blew through his hair making his ears tingle, his rabbit ears that is.

Every Ancestor had something special about them that separated them from humans, and this was Eddie's. Like his mother and his late father, he was a hybrid. Eddie was half rabbit, which meant he had long and floppy, fuzzy rabbit ears instead of normal stubby human ears. They started off white as snow, then faded to a shade of brown that matched his hair as he grew. Not only did he have the ears but he also had a small little rabbit tail that poked out from the gap between where his shirt ended and pants began. It had a top coat of fur that was brown with a white undercoat. Currently, it was tucked into the fold of his sweater as the wind caused it to go cold.

He let out a sigh of defeat, his bunny ears faltered and fell from their upright stance to frame his face. A thought crossed his mind as he scanned the landscape below.

This is it

He thought as he watched the ocean below. The dark waves reflected the continuously darkening sky above, which threatened a storm.

I'm done for

This is how I go

And to think...

All I wanted to do was help

Once that thought crossed his mind, a voice broke the silence and snapped him out of his thoughts, "Eddie bear! Darling where did you go? Get back inside this instant!" His mother shouted from the back porch of their small seaside cottage.

Eddie hesitated only for a moment, then proceeded to get up and head back towards the house. He knew his mother’s anger would only grow the longer he stayed outside, especially with that storm beginning to roll in. As he stepped inside he was greeted by the warm air from the fireplace and the sweet smell of his mother's homemade stew which Sonia Kaspbrak was in the middle of stirring. Without making eye contact with his mother the boy took his normal seat at the dinner table.

He only lifted his gaze to meet hers when she handed him his bowl of stew, "Mommy, I said I was sorry" his voice was low and sad.

Sonia's voice gained a new level of frustrated anger, "Well it doesn't matter, sorry won't do it, Eddie. You broke the number one rule, you revealed our existence to the humans-"

"The man was gonna die!"

"He died anyways! Because of you, I told you to stay inside and you disobeyed me, you went to go help that dirty bird" She seethed, "And you know that there's only one way the council deals with criminals, correct?" She knew Eddie knew, yet she still asked.

"I don't see how helping an innocent man can be worthy of the death penalty! Mommy, he was hurt and I just wanted to help him-" He was cut off when his mother trapped him in a tight hug.

"Oh I know Eddie Bear, but by helping him you showed him The All Lands. I wish I could fight the council sweety but once they've made a decision there's no getting out of it" Once she released him from the hug he was able to breathe again.

Eddie took his seat once again, this time he never took his eyes off of the bowl before him. "So what? Tomorrow they'll come and take me away... And that's it?" He wondered in defeat. Sadly in response, all Sonia Kaspbrak gave was a simple shrug.

"You know that's why your father left... The same reason, he tried to help someone and that got him-" Eddie stopped listening, it was a speech he'd heard thousands of times before. She recited the same story every time Eddie did something she didn't approve of. Whether he wandered too deep into the forest, sat too close to the water, asked about the human world, it always resulted in the story of how his father, Frank Kaspbrak, died at the hands of the council.

Frank did a lot of things to spite the council due to his burning hatred for them and their laws. He'd sneak out and heal wounded men in the forest and help lost dogs find their homes or owners. Eddie never saw those as mistakes, the only mistake he made was the day Frank told Sonia about his little outings, she was the one who gave the tip to the council about his doings, that ended in the death of Frank. That night Eddie made a secret oath to always help those in need, human or not. So it’s kind of fitting that Eddie would see the same fate as his father, am I right?

Although that night after supper, Eddie laid in bed and had only one thought in his mind.

This is not the end

Like hell, I'm letting these assholes take me like they took dad

The hybrid slowly sat up and looked around his room. The moon lit it up enough to allow him to see around his room and most of its contents. His eyes darted from his wooden dresser to his closet, then in the corner of his room, a backpack caught his eye.

I've gotta get out of here

The thought drove him to slip out of bed and tiptoe over to the backpack. He picked it up, then stopped moving entirely as his bunny ears shot up. Eddie knew what he had to do, and he wasn't going to make the same mistake his father had. No one was going to know. So he stood still for a minute or so and simply listened. He waited to hear his mother talking or something, anything. But to his delight, the house was silent. By the position of the moon, he assumed it was 2 am, so he had to be quick and quiet.

First things first, he got out of his pyjamas and put on a black sweater and matching jeans. After he filled his bag with the essentials, clothes, utensils, water, and some food he had stashed in his room for when he got hungry. He also made sure to grab his father's old polaroid camera and some film, gotta remember things somehow.

He thought about turning the light on in his room to help him pack, but he didn’t want to risk anyone seeing it through his window. The All Lands was a place that functioned mainly off of nature, but that doesn't mean they didn’t use a bit of electricity. That is the one thing they credit the humans for. Although cell phones are only a myth, each house is equipped with lights, power, and a landline. Nothing too tech heavy, but that’s all they needed.

Eddie sat with his bag open for a while as he felt he was missing something. Unsure of what that something was, the bunny simply began scouring his room for that something. From his dresser to his nightstand, he couldn't find it. He'd almost given up too, until he spotted a box that sat on the highest shelf of his closet. A shelf that was packed with old clothes and memories he didn't want to revisit.

Carefully, Eddie grabbed his desk chair and set it down in front of his closet. He grabbed the box with both hands and took it to his bed. The box was about the size of a shoebox, with a white lid and a maroon base. He slowly removed the lid and began examining its contents. He sucked in a breath as he realized who's box this was.

Dad...

Immediately he recognized almost everything that sat before him. He grabbed the black beanie that laid on top, he held it close to him for a moment and took in a deep breath. Even after all this time it still smelled like him. He felt that hat and noticed there was an odd lump inside, a smirk appeared on his lips at the sight of a hefty wad of cash that was stored inside the hat, he placed it on his bed and thought, Good one dad. Eddie had to hold back the tears as he quickly put it on, sliding it over his bunny ears. This hat was the one that Frank always wore when he snuck out of town to go on his little missions.

Next was the compass, this was what broke Eddie. The tears slowly began to roll down his cheeks as he felt the cool metal on his skin, something he'd grown so used to in the past. It was made like a pocket watch, with a long metal chain and a little cover you had to click open with the button. That's what he did, he clicked it open to reveal a sight he had almost forgotten about. Yes, it was just a compass, but it was his dad's compass. The compass Frank used to bring out when he sat with Eddie and he'd teach his son how to use it, how to tell coordinates. And the stories! A couple more tears spilled from his eyes as he recalled the stories his father always had about his latest journey. Eddie would always beg for his father to tell him a story, and even if it was one he'd heard before, he'd still sit and listen to every little detail and beg for more afterwards.

He carefully closed the compass then put it around his neck and wore it like a necklace. The main compact sat comfortably against Eddie's chest as he leaned over the box to pick up the next object. It was a letter. The boy's heart sped up as he began reading the words Frank had written so many years ago.

Dear Eddie

Son, I'm terribly sorry that I must leave you like this. Please remember that this is not your fault, in any way, and that I love you.

I hope that you find this before it's too late. Eddie, please, if you can, get out of here, this place isn't for you. This isn't your home. Don't listen to your mother. Trust me, you're so strong and powerful. You're a lot braver than you think.

If you look in the box you'll see a map with couridants. Go there. Hiding there is something I never told anyone about, not even your mother. You'll be safe, you'll be able to start a life there, you'll be able to live.

I must be going now, I'm sorry I can't stay to watch you grow up Eddie. I know you're gonna do amazing things, so go, be great. And never, ever forget that I love you.

Love you father, Frank Kaspbrak

His father was right, there was a map, and photos, so many photos, from when Eddie was first born to the days before his father's death. That was the inspiration Eddie needed, the little push that got him up and out his bedroom window. Determined to keep everything together, he'd neatly packed everything from the box into a small bag to put into his backpack.

Escaping his house was the easy part, all he had to do was jump from his window (Bunny's always land on their feet) and get off the property. Leaving The All Lands was a little bit more difficult. It required the teen to hide behind houses and keep out of sight of guards and other commoners. His father must've been looking down on him because, by some miracle, Eddie escaped.

He knew he'd gotten out of The All Lands because the grass was much thicker on this side of the forest, without their magical powers keeping it at bay that caused it to become longer, darker. The scent was so much more prominent now, the pine trees and the early morning dew that'd set in. Eddie loved every second of it.

Word Count: 2302

FINALLY I GET TO POST THIS! Y’all have no clue how excited I am to post this, i’ve been working on it for so long. If you enjoyed the first chapter, leave a like, reblog and maybe a comment? They really show that you like my work and it gives me motivation to update!

I will see you all next Friday with Chapter 2! Until then

So Long and Goodnight

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aliceslantern · 4 years

Text

Heartlines, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, chapter 5

Twelve years ago, Xemnas betrayed the royal court of Radiant Garden to his father, Xehanort. Prince Ienzo flees to another city and begins university in the aftermath, hoping the anonymity will protect him from eager eyes with ill intent. The darkness spilling across the country, as well as an individual from his past, cut short Ienzo's new beginning and bring new conflicts to light. Strained between the desires of his magic and his heart, Ienzo's choice will change him forever.

Modern Fantasy AU, Soulmates, Zemyx. Updates Fridays until it's done.

Chapter summary: Ienzo investigates Demyx further, and comes to a shocking revelation.

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

Ienzo told Aeleus everything.

The man seemed more tired than usual. He’d been gone for the past two days on some resistance mission neither Even nor Ienzo really knew anything about. He’d slept soundlessly, almost breathlessly, on the couch for two hours before Ienzo tried to feed him and convince him to sleep in his proper bed. But when Aeleus asked how he was… the words had spilled out of him almost against his will.

“There are more people like me here, Aeleus,” he finished. “That much is certain.”

Aeleus ate steadily. Ienzo had made pho; he’d forgotten how much he missed cooking with an actual full kitchen. “Of course there are,” he said. “Not everyone goes underground in our sense. Some merely prefer to hide.”

“In some ways I feel so… naive,” he admitted slowly. “I wish you would tell me some things so I don’t feel so ignorant.”

Aeleus smiled and squeezed Ienzo’s hand. “If I could, I would,” he said. “Even I am only allowed to know pieces, parts.” He set aside his empty bowl. “Though I am curious. I had thought all the seeker lines… were eradicated.”

“But why, if they’re functionally harmless? He has no magic.”

Aeleus rubbed at his eyes. “Their abilities are purely passive… and somewhat latent. It’s thought seekers would do anything to trigger their own abilities, even if they do not consciously realize it. But once they wake… they are a force to be reckoned with. Their individualism was what made them dangerous.”

Ienzo exhaled. Was that why Demyx was so drawn to him? Because on some level he thought Ienzo’s power would awaken his own?

“...Moreover… and Even would say this is all silly mythology.”

“If Even says it’s silly, then I want to know it all the more.”

“Seekers pairbond. It’s thought they spend their days looking for their soulmate… and if they find them, they know. Ironically… despite the individualism, they are nearly dependent on those they bond with."

Ienzo smiled a little. “That is very mythic.”

“I admit I’m rather jealous of you. I’d like to meet one.”

“Well, if I can be subtle about it, I’ll ask him.”

“He might not know much about his own culture.”

“...Soulmates.” Ienzo shook his head. “As if anyone has time for love right now.”

---

Still, why was it Ienzo agreed to see him again?

Thanks to the psychology professor, Eraqus, he was able to test out of many gen-ed courses. But this left Ienzo with a dilemma--namely, that he had no idea what to actually major in. It seemed like a superficial problem to have, on top of all this.

“ Precisely why I wanted you to actually take those classes,” Even told him, with a scowl. “To get to know your cohort, your community--because that influences it too.”

Ienzo pursed his lips. “Why bother, when we might have to run again at any moment? You should have at the very least given me the choice, Even.”

His disposition did not improve. “You know little of the actual world. Gods forbid I try to actually let you learn.”

“Learn what? On paper, I already know all of the content. And you don’t want me to truly get close to anyone--else you would actually let me socialize, instead of calling me until I return home.”

His head snapped up from his computer. “How dare I worry for you, you mean? If there are Heartless and seekers and goodness knows what else--”

“Even. I can take care of myself. You have to let me make my own decisions. Otherwise, what type of ruler would I ever hope to be?” A bit of an underhanded move, but true regardless.

Even turned pink, and his scowl deepened. He knew Ienzo had cornered him. “Very well . Now leave me be. I have to finish this report.”

Ienzo put on a jacket and left the house. He told Demyx he’d meet him at the streetcar station nearest the beach. He thought about what Aeleus told him, about soulmates. He thought of the warmth, the prickling he’d felt with his own magic whenever they were together. Was it possible that--?

Perhaps it was simply a silly schoolboy crush, and given that he’d never much had one on anyone else, this was just how his magic reacted normally. Surely he couldn’t simply ask Demyx what he’d felt, could he?

Something to ponder. Aeleus had said it was myth. Ienzo reminded himself to try and study more magic history. It had been some time, and he was rusty.

The streetcar was relatively empty for this time of day, so his trip was smooth and easy. Ienzo liked public transit, its cleanliness, its efficiency. If only all of life could be organized so neatly. He watched the band of sea grow closer and closer until finally the conductor urged him to get off at the terminus.

The memories of the sea were louder now, harder to fight-- Braig, where is _____?

I dunno, I just turned around for five seconds, couldn’t have gone far--

The feeling of water rushing into his lungs, sand as the riptide tossed him back and forth like a ragdoll-- then a memory he was almost certain he hadn’t recalled in some time, of another child in the water, a child with blonde hair and shiny scales guiding him towards the surface--

“Hey, Zo! You made it!”

Ienzo gasped a little. He had to have corroborated that memory. It was impossible that happened--Braig had to have been the one who saved him from drowning, or Aeleus, not some kind of--creature that looked just like the man in front of him-- “Hi, Demyx.”

He cocked his head. “You okay?”

“Yes… I… fine. Shall we?”

“Uh. Sure.”

They walked along the boardwalk, the old, sand-weathered boards creaking under their feet. Various food vendors, gift shops, and game booths dotted the surface, leading to a set of stairs down to the beach itself. “You ever been?” Demyx asked. “It’s too cold to swim, but still pretty to look at.”

Ienzo breathed that sea-tinted air, the echoes of the memory making both him and his magic feel… so very strange. Was he being put in a thrall? But this felt like none of the thralls Even and Merlin had trained him on. It did not feel like conscious magic. “Sure. Let’s go.”

They took off their shoes when they got to the water. The sand, in this twilight, was pleasantly warm. A few people milled about; the brave were swimming, some wading, others flying kites or playing with dogs or simply watching the water. They walked closely enough that every few drifts of tide, Ienzo could just barely feel the cool water on his toes. He felt… relaxed, he realized, even in the presence of this essential stranger.

“Does this remind you of your home?” Ienzo asked him. Demyx’s expression was dreamy, his eyes trained on the ocean outside.

“It… does. Whenever I really feel homesick… I come down here. It’s a little too cold for surfing now, but even just the sound of the waves… or the birds…” He sighed. “I was supposed to go back for a visit. Before it… fell.”

“I truly am sorry.”

He smiled sadly. “It’s not your fault.”

Ienzo wondered if it actually was; if he hadn’t been running, if he’d done something or fought , would Destiny Islands be whole?

Demyx took a breath. “I wanted to… talk to you about something,” he said. “And I know it’s going to sound totally insane--”

Ienzo’s heart beat harder.

“But I can’t stop thinking about it, and I wonder if it’s actually true--”

He felt almost like he couldn’t breathe, the world getting dizzy, his magic practically screaming at him to open his eyes and see what was right in front of him--

“Hey… you okay?”

Ienzo’s knees gave out, and everything went dark.

---

“...zo? Hey.”

He blinked. He was lying on the soft sand of the beach, and the right leg of his pants was awkwardly wet. “What happened?”

“You fainted. Here.” He was handed a bottle of water.

Ienzo sat up slowly. His right eye didn’t hurt, but it did feel warm, almost like it was glowing. He opened the lukewarm water and drank it.

“Sorry about your pants. I wasn’t able to fully catch you.”

“...They’ll dry.” He looked back towards the boardwalk--there were no people near them. They were almost completely alone in this strange little cove. “A… friend of mine told me a little about seekers.”

A flush brightened Demyx’s face. “What did they say?”

“He said… that you subconsciously seek out your soulmate, and when you find them, you know.” Demyx’s face was still doubled in his vision. “Is that true? Is that what you're actually seeking, not magic users to protect?"

A substantial pause. All Ienzo heard for a long moment was the waves. Then, finally, “yeah. It’s true.”

Ienzo sat up a little more. “When we…” He swallowed, and forced himself to lock eyes with him. “When we met. I felt something in my magic. I didn’t know what it was, but I wonder--”

“If we--” Demyx cut himself off. His eyes were watering.

“That wasn’t the first time we met, was it?”

“No.”

Ienzo’s heart was beating so hard. “When I was… little. My family and I took a trip to your islands. My caretaker… lost track of me, and I nearly drowned. I was saved by… something. It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” The tears ran over.

“You’re not human.”

“Not completely. But neither are you.”

Ienzo shook his head slowly. “Not completely.”

Demyx took both of his hands. “I’d forgotten it… all the way up until… you saved me from that Heartless, and then I didn’t believe it was you until…”

The pull was growing stronger. “Then what are you?” Ienzo asked.

“I guess you would call it… a siren? I guess?” He bit his lip nervously. “But we… I don’t remember how, I really don’t, but I lost the ability to change form… and one day I just washed up on the beach. I forgot who I was for years .” He took out the pendant. “And since then…”

“You’ve been looking for your history and your family.”

“And you.”

Ienzo’s breath caught.

“I know we’re… we’re basically strangers, but… I know we’re…” He swiped at his eyes. “Right? You felt it too.”

Slowly… in a state of disbelief… Ienzo nodded. The prickling feeling inside of his magic only intensified. Demyx took one hand and touched his cheek. Ienzo gasped despite himself. He’d never had these feelings… maybe there was a reason --

Demyx had said he was a siren. Maybe this was all some kind of enchanting magic he’d never experienced--

But his own energy was telling him this was all truth.

Demyx leaned in a little. How had Ienzo not noticed how he smelled before? Like ginger, and salt, and something else he had no name for. “I…” Ienzo was breathing shakily. He should’ve been embarrassed, falling apart like this. “I’ve never--”

“Would you want to?” Demyx asked gently.

“Yes.” He closed the space between them, and Demyx’s lips on his shouldn’t have felt so right . It took him a moment to learn how to do it. Those callused hands tangled in his hair, pulling him a little closer--

Another stronger, warmer wave broke over him, making the fine hairs on his arms stand up straight--

Demyx broke away first, pressing his forehead against Ienzo’s. “Your hair’s glowing again,” he said softly, pressing a kiss against Ienzo’s cheek.

The pleasure he’d found quickly shattered. “No,” he said, snapping his head around to see if there were any witnesses. “Oh--”

“No one can see us,” Demyx said. “I’m blocking you from view.”

“I just--I don’t know how much magic was released by--” He licked his lips. He could still taste him, for gods’ sake, a weirdly sweet flavor.

“I’m blocking you,” Demyx repeated.

He got it. “You can… you can do that?”

“More like…” He brushed his fingers across Ienzo’s cheek. “Distracting whoever would listen. Making them think about their dinner, or…”

“Passive,” Ienzo repeated. “What do we… what now?”

“I didn’t… I didn’t think I’d get this far.” Demyx blinked the tears out of his eyes. “I mean… I guess…”

“Get to know each other?”

He laughed a little, and Ienzo did too.

“I don’t know how I’m going to explain this,” he told Demyx. “My father… I’m not sure I fully understand what’s going on--”

“Me either.”

“I was told…” He could barely breathe. “I was told… when I didn’t understand the situation… to research. To gather data.” Demyx’s hand, against the small of his back, was so warm. His whole body felt suddenly so much more alive.

“I think I understand,” Demyx said, and kissed him again.

---

“Where have you been ?” Even’s voice was shrill, and Ienzo noted, not without worry. He was late, he knew; the sun had been down for hours. “And why are you--covered in sand ?”

Ienzo winced a little. He had a choice to make here--to lie, or tell the truth. But something this big… he had to be sure. And Even did have a nigh-bottomless knowledge of the monarchy, and Ienzo’s own magic. “I’ll… explain everything, I promise, but know I am fine . Let me clean up, and then we can…”

Even touched his shoulder. He lifted a strand of Ienzo’s hair, the tips of which were still luminous. “Oh,” he said softly. He seemed frozen; Ienzo was able to pull away with ease. Even remained there, his one hand still raised, muttering to himself.

Ienzo took a shower. His skin seemed more sensitive than before; in fact, all of his senses seemed as though a film had been peeled away. He combed his hair and looked at himself in the mirror. He took a deep breath. He put on some pajamas and rejoined Even in the parlor.

The heavy mahogany desk had been cleared off. “Up you get. Up,” Even said, steering him over. Wordlessly, Ienzo listened; the wood was cold and hard after the sand. Even forced him to lay down.

“Are you going to tell me why I was never informed about all this pairbonding nonsense?”

“Shut up ,” Even hissed. “Be still.”

Ienzo felt coldness leaching into his body, making him shudder. Even’s magic was always sharp and angular as it probed his. Finally, after what felt like a long time… the coldness dissipated. Ienzo shivered. He sat up slowly. Even was breathing hard, with an odd look on his face, as though someone had struck him. “At first I wondered… if he had placed some advanced enchantment on me,” Ienzo said. “But judging by your expression… that is not the case.”

Even seemed to be struggling. “I’d thought…” He began softly.

“You knew this was a possibility,” Ienzo said. “You knew , and you never said--” A sort of rage blotted out the coldness. “Why didn’t you--”

“It’s old magic, Ienzo,” Even said, spreading his arms. “Ancient, even.” He pressed a hand to his forehead. “It’s that boy, isn’t it? The one Aeleus mentioned… the seeker?”

“So is he my mate, or isn’t he?”

“That’s for you to determine,” he said. “You needn’t… accept this bond, Ienzo.”

Ienzo thought of that kiss, and the many that had followed, the way it all made him feel .

“In fact, if you do… you might as well send up a flare saying “here I am!””

“He blocked me.”

Even’s head snapped up.

“When we were figuring this out. His magic eclipsed mine.” He knotted his hands together. “Why did you not tell me this was a possibility?”

“Because almost all seekers are dead!” Even all but yelled. “How was I to know you’d come in contact with one, much less we’d run into him here of all places? Child, did you even know which gender you favored?”

Ienzo shook his head wearily. He was tired now. “You remember that diplomatic trip we took to Destiny Islands? When I… nearly drowned?”

Even softened. “Do I remember. It’s one of the many reasons I’m going prematurely gray. It’s due to Braig’s carelessness that you almost lost your life.”

“He wasn’t the one who saved me. Demyx was.”

“Oh…” He turned pale. “And the magic released as you struggled for your life… must’ve forged that bond.” He thought a moment, then dashed over to one of the books on a bookshelf. “No matter. I’m certain there’s a spell somewhere that could break it, and you can simply--”

“Break it?” Ienzo repeated.

“Don’t tell me you want this, Ienzo?”

Ienzo’s hand fluttered to his lip without meaning to. “Would it be so terrible?” he mumbled. “Especially… if he does have a shielding property.”

Even groaned. “Child, I know you are flush with hormones, and this magic is hard to resist, but think a moment.”

The embarrassment burned his cheeks.

“How do we know he isn’t allied with Xehanort?”

“If he spent years looking for me, do you really think he’d hurt me?”

“Does he know who you truly are?”

Ienzo said nothing.

“Exactly, Ienzo. Exactly .”

He stood. “I’m going to bed,” he said.

Even followed him. “Tell me you’re not thinking about it.”

How could he not? “I think you should allow me to make my own decisions, Even.”

“Ienzo--”

“I am very tired. Good night. ”

He tramped up the stairs, reeling. So this was… true, then. He and Demyx were… A flush came over him. Even was partially correct; ever since they’d kissed on the beach, some thing had woken up in him, something hot and wanting, something that had previously been much quieter.

Ienzo drew the blinds and lay in bed. He looked at his cell phone--messages from Demyx--

I hope you got home safe. Everything feels so much louder now… I feel so awake…

Ienzo took a quick breath. I do too.

What do you want to do?

He knew what he wanted. What he said instead was, I need to know more about you. And you need to know more about me.

Just give me a time and place.

Some place private… away from those that may listen.

Leave it to me.

Ienzo set the phone aside. He started up at the moonlight playing on the ceiling. Mate , he thought. I have a mate. Someone who knew neither of his gender nor of his heritage. Someone who might try to get away from him if he found this out.

Ienzo could tell him, gauge his reactions, and wipe his memory if need be…

He wanted to trust Demyx. If his magic could protect Ienzo… could that possibly be a way for him to finally do something about Xehanort’s forces? For him to find out more information to pass on to the resistance?

He said he’d tell Riku about the resistance… but he needed to know more about him, too. Demyx was probably a good way to find out more about all this…

That kiss…

He’d known, in an aqueous sort of way, he’d likely have to have an heir at some point, and even for him children didn’t spontaneously come out of thin air. But he’d never thought of how he’d get one, nor imagined marriage, nor even… allowed himself the possibility of fantasy, of being loved. His life was too split, always on the run. How could he settle down? He’d barely had friends, much less a boyfriend or girlfriend, much less a lover-- he had not, prior to those hours on the beach, even kissed --

Kissed, and kissed, and kissed…

He traced the material of his waistband absently. Perhaps Even was right, he had to ignore this impulse.

He felt awake, and a little less alone. Perhaps it was for this reason, but he let his hand slip below the waistband, to feel at skin he normally avoided, to stroke it gently and imagine he was not the one touching it--

He gasped, feeling it break over him, and instead of feeling shame as usual, he instead felt release, felt… hope.

#heartlines #ienzo #demyx #zemyx #even (kingdom hearts)#aeleus #au #soulmates au #alternate universe

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laughing-with-god · 5 years

Text

Pandemonium IX

Words; 3.3k

“Oh I guess they’ll never know, how a young heart really feels, and why I love her so....And they called it puppy love.” -Paul Anka

The feeling was somewhat foreign to you.

But this was to be expected, as it has been a long time since you have kissed someone.

His lips felt very gentle despite being somewhat chapped and they tasted like the dried mango chapstick that you often saw Jungkook carry with him.

You leaned back to depart your connected orifices, but Jungkook leaned forward in response. He was unwilling to let the moment go away that quick.

You opened your eyes and saw his closed ones that were still very much into the moment. He smashed his lips more heavily against yours and you couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, eyes still open.

It was adorable how into the smooch he was. He was completely lost in the taste of you.

You tapped his shoulder in signal for him to back off.

His doe eyes fluttered back into awareness, a glossy and dreamy look casted over those dark irses. The man child backed away from you, but still held you captive in his giant arms.

His face got redder as he began to process what just happened, but you just giggled.

“Y/n….are you drunk?” His breathy voice asked very carefully. His brow furrowed and you could practically see the gears turning in the little pea-brain of his. It was likely that he thought that this was a drunken mistake and that he may even be taking advantage of you right now. Your rolled you eyes.

“No.”

His brows shot up and he gazed down at you, cheeks still red. “T-then….umm..why?”

“It’s crazy how the human will works right? I can just kinda do whatever I want, whenever I want. Fucking wild, am I right?” You joked, trying to release yourself from his arms now. He shook his head furiously at this and it reminded you of a toddler who was in the beginnings of a temper tantrum. His eyes held such a glossy film over them that it almost made him look teary eyed, while his cheeks were still painted strawberry red and dark brows were furrowed in a brilliant mixture of confusion and frustration. His lips (that you now were familiar with the taste and feel of) were scrunched up in a pout and his black hair wagged back and forth in the motion of shaking his head.

“Y/n~!” He whined, musical voice sounding high and bleak as he bitched.

“I just wanted to know how you would kiss me back, to be honest. I figured you would be like a pre-teen who would freak out and use too much tongue, or get WAY too confident and reach for the boob.” You shrugged. Jungkook scoffed at this explanation.

“I’m literally older than you. You should stop comparing me to a child.” You laughed at this.

“Yeah but women mature faster than men, dude. Even though I’m younger, I’m still like four steps ahead of you mentally.”

His pokable nose scrunched up. “That’s a myth!”

“No.” You said.

“Yuh huh.”

“Nuh uh.

“Yuh huh.”

“Nuh uh.”

“Yuh-” Jungkook was cut off when you screamed “NUH UH TIMES INFINITY!”

He snapped his mouth shut, and given he wasn’t a barbarian, he clearly knew that he was beat due to the ‘times infinity’ rule. No one could beat that. It was a rule of life.

You smirked at this victory and backed away from him, this time he let you go.

“Where’s your friend?” he asked just now noticing your lack of companionship. You shrugged.

“She went to go talk to someone and I haven’t seen her since.”

His youthful face scrunched up at this, “That’s rude that she just left you…”

“Eh, I’m not going to try to cockblock.” You told him. You weren’t sure if there was something going on between Kat and Lia, but you hoped something would. Lia would make a perfect rebound, and this would be an ideal opportunity for Kat to see right out the bat that there was plenty of fish in the sea just waiting for her.

“So...what are you going to do until the party’s over?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck while shyly looking down.

“I don’t know to be honest.” You responded. But then an idea struck you. You bounced on the heels of your feet and gave him the ole’ razzle dazzle (ie; you trying to bat your eyelashes and smiling stupidly in hopes he would pity you enough to do what you want). “Mayhaps you should get me out of here and buy me something.”

Jungkook’s face shot up, face eager and obvious at the prospect but also slightly disbelieving.

You inwardly snickered, he was like a puppy eager to please.

“Buy you something? Like what? I swear to god (Y/n) if you try to make me fund a shopping spree at ass’oclock at night I’m-” You cut him off by waving your hand.

“Sis, I’m nothing like that. I like being spoiled by food and financial security, not Louis Vuitton bags. I was thinking more like a late night snack?”

Jungkook nodded dumbly at you, eyes still glossy and cheeks pinkened.

You stood there awkwardly for a moment, awaiting him to do something.

“Ummm….my dude this is the part where you whisk me out of here.”

Jungkook bolted into action after being frozen for a second and took your hand into his and lead you back into the house.

He guided you through the drunken mayhem of yelling idiots, obnoxious music, and making out couples and eventually you two got to the front of the house. Parked near curb, was a nice red mustang and you just knew that your little jock-toddler was the proud (if not smug owner) of it.

Confirming this, Jungkook clicked a button on his tiny remote thingy attached to his keys from his spot a few feet away. In response, the mustang’s lights bursted into light.

He jogged ahead of you and opened the passenger seat for you.

You got in while snickering evilly.

The brothers might think that they were your sugar daddies.

But, you were their pimp.

You had a craving for tacos and Kook was nothing but obedient.

You two were eating the drunken snack whilst parked at the Taco Bell parking lot.

“Kook?” You asked after squeezing more salsa onto your taco. He perked up right away and your slightly fuzzy mind released endorphins at this, seeking pleasure at the fact that his body language screamed ‘OBEDIENT PUPPY EAGER TO PLEASE’.

“Yes?” he asked, doe eyes sparkling at you.

“What’s your zodiac sign?” you asked.

His brows furrowed as he thought about it for a second, trying to recall. “Virgo, I think.”

“Oh sis! You’re a perfectionist, huh?”

Jungkook’s delightful voice chuckled. “I don’t know, do you think I am?”

You looked at him up and down while chewing on your food carefully. “I mean to have your muscles, one has to be very disciplined.”

“I guess I can be. But do you like virgos?” He asked, attention fully on you as you stuffed your face.

“Kookie, let me tell you something about me.” You started off dramatically. “I am a woman who beats to the sound of her own drum. I am spontaneous and wild. In other words, I’m not like most girls. You cannot put me in a box, my man.” You leaned close to his face. “I color outside the lines, sis.” You whispered to him, making deep eye contact.

Jungkook giggled, “I don’t follow what this has to do with Virgos?”

You leaned closer to his face, noses bumping as your eyes screamed seriousness as his crinkled in suppressed laughter.

“I don’t fit inside your cookie cutter box, baby boy.” You -attempted to- purr. However right after this, a loud burp escaped you.

Jungkook laughed loudly as you wondered to yourself if you really were drunk? But you decided that you weren’t given that you only had a handful of drinks and you were just more loose and comfortable than what you usually were.

“Are you sure your not drunk?” Jungkook laughed.

“‘HA HA, suck my clit.” You groaned while finishing your treat.

“Clit?” he asked while laughing harder. You rolled your eyes once more. Why did everyone laugh their asses off when you talked? You weren’t even that funny.

You got brief flashbacks of Jimin and all the times he would giggle madly at your unique choice of diction.

“Duh, I can’t say suck my dick. I don’t got one, honey. But please feel free to feast on this clitorous.”

Jungkook roared harder at this, clutching his stomach in hysteria. After a while, he calmed down and turned his attention towards you one more.

“I mean….I wouldn’t mind that.” He said, voice purposefully deeper as he gave you a smouldering gaze while his face twisted up in what he must’ve thought was alpha male attractiveness.

You gasped in disgust.

“I cannot believe that I ever thought you could be a fuckboy.” You told him. “You look like such a Chad when you try to pull bitches.”

Jungkook looked offended, “What you didn’t find that sexy?”

You laughed. “NEVER make that face again in my presence, please. You looked constipated. Also, you are the sexiest when you are an obedient little fella.”

“Obedient?” Jungkook looked unconvinced. “I thought girls liked the ‘daddy’ type of guy.”

You giggled. “Some do. But, I personally like it when you’re all eager to please. My aunt once told me that men are like dogs and needed to be trained. You are perfectly trainable, baby.”

Jungkook was stunned into a silence as your crumpled up your taco wrapper and threw it into the taco bell bag.

“Kookie?”

He broke away from his little trance and snapped his head to you.

A sudden urge to stay with your little puppy fogged your brain. Jungkook was so sweet and gentle and you had no worries of him ever taking advantage of you. Hell, if anyone was going to take advantage of anyone, it was going to be you to him. With his cute little doe eyes and boopable nose. You decided to ask.

“Let me sleep over at your house.”

He slightly coughed at this, eyes widened at your request. “Why?”

“I want to live like a blue blood heiress tonight. I bet you have Netflix AND hulu.”

Jungkook snorted and started his car back up. “Who am I to not be a little obedient puppy?”

Jungkook lived in an apartment that was near campus.

But just because it was an apartment did not at all mean it was shabby.

It was on the top floor of a very high-rise building. It was like a mini-penthouse and you happily skipped around, awwing at the place.

It had a giant living room complimented with a wide ass flat screen, top of the line gaming consoles and a L shaped black couch. A kitchen with a marble island and black barstools, and a balcony that overlooked the shimmering city lights. The entire place smelled faintly of his cologne. It wasn’t a grand amount of space, but considering the city view and the high-class building, you knew it was a luxury apartment. He just didn’t need extra room when it would just be him living there.

No decoration was really seen. All pictures that were hung up were mainly black and white photographs of scenery. You noted that all appliances were either black, white, grey or silver. But you didn’t expect a 21 year old male college student to be into interior design so you shrugged the simplicity off as normal.

You squealed and hopped onto the couch. You openly made yourself comfortable to do what you wished. With Jungkook, you always knew that he would let you walk all over him before he’d ever restrict you in any way. Perhaps this is why you felt so free in an element that was clearly not yours- Jungkook’s home.

“Jungkook! Let’s watch a scary movie!”

He sat beside you and turned on the TV with a remote. “Don’t girls hate those types of movies?”

You explained, “Mama didn’t raise no bitch.”

He laughed and scrolled through some movies on screen as you leaned back into your spot. “Kookie, I know you’re rich and all but how the fuck do you live here?”

He shrugged, eyes still on screen. “My father owns many buildings in the city. Some are apartment buildings. I just had to ask one for a place and they gave it to me. I don’t even have to pay rent.”

“You should let me move in.” You joked. Jungkook halted his movie-searching.

“Anytime you want.” Is all he said which slightly baffled you at the seriousness in his tone. “So Saw or The Conjuring?”

You settled on The Conjuring and he happily obliged. He got up for a minute as the opening scene played out, only to return with a big fluffy grey blanket that he threw over you two.

To your surprise, he nestled himself very close to you and threw his hefty arm over your smaller form.

If it was any guy, you might have been put off by this. But it was Kookie. And despite his image, he was harmless. Like a puppy. All bark but no bite. Even if you wanted to push him away, images of his iron man socks, video gaming sessions and IU posters would pop up into your head and dismiss that idea right away.

You cuddled closer to his side.

Having an overgrown obedient child with muscles the size of Texas on your side wouldn’t hurt you.

And to be honest, he was really cute.

In a puppy way though…...

Peaceful slumber was evilly ripped from your clutch as you felt your still form begin to shake.

You groaned, deep within your throat (that you noted was really dry) and the sound was raspy yet far away in your ears.

You pulled your worthless pile of bones closer to the heat source and smushed your head into the soft and thick object.

The shaking got more persistent, causing you to slowly become more aware of things you didn’t wish to wake to.

Slowly, a sound joined on the shaking.

A breathy voice calling for your name. “Y/n~”

It was like a siren that gently forced you to open your eyes.

Jungkook’s adolescent face was the first thing that you saw.

His eyes cinkeling cheerfully (yet tiredly) as his little overbite show casted in the form of a gentle smile. The soft and thick object you had smushed your face in? His chest.

You were in a king sized bed, and you had awaken to see that you had slept through the night whilst being face-to-face with Jungkook.

“You have a really nice mattress.” You complimented him (openly trying to ignore all the other factors at play here), voice raspy and bleak from the effect of sleep.

Jungkook smiled. “How about that brunch?”

You and Jungkook got up and began your day.

He handed you a large hoodie of his and said that you could wear it if you wanted. You took the large ‘Puma’ hoodie because you didn’t feel right going to brunch in the now wrinkled and taco-smelling crop top that you adowned last night. He handed you an extra tooth brush and you two brushed your teeth together.

“This is so fucking domestic, dude.” You had told him.

He had chuckled and spit into the sink, “Yeah it’s like we’re married and shit bro.”

You mentioned that last night’s makeup was nowhere to be seen on your face. Jungkook blushed and slyly admitted that he heard how sleeping in makeup was bad so he cleaned your face off with a wipe after you fell asleep during the movie. Next, he took you to his bedroom since he didn’t think the couch was good enough. He swore he didn’t try anything while

sleeping next to you and you just laughed it off but thanked him for taking such good care of you.

If he had a tail, you could’ve sworn that it would’ve been wagging at the sound of your praise.

You patted his head and said, “Good boy.”

Then, you two headed out to the overly expensive brunch place that Jungkook had looked up.

Both of you clad in oversized hoodies, slight bed head and tired but happy faces.

“So do you want blueberry pancakes or chocolate chip?” Jungkook asked.

You two were seated at a booth. However, you two were sat at the same side. You had your head (that was partly covered by a hood) rested on his buff shoulder while he read the menu and gave you the options for brunch.

Like a father and daughter, the way he read it to you as you childishly laid yourself on him.

“Bold of you to assume I want pancakes, bun.” You said while nuzzling yourself closer to him. “Waffles are god tier breakfast food and I’m not even about to argue.”

Jungkook laughed and you felt the vibration from under you. “Waffles it is, babygirl.”

He called over a waiter and ordered the food with suave.

“Jungkook?” You called out.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think you’re more like your mother or more like your father?” It was a question that was meant to get to know a person. Certainly, it would give insight to not only Jungkook’s personality, but his parents. His head turned towards you, and due to your position on his shoulder, your noses were only a centimeter apart and your eyes were extremely close and boring into each others at such a proximity.

“Ummm...I don’t remember my mom that much. She left the country when I was very young. And my dad is very opposite of me. Pretty cold and distant in all honesty.” Jungkook paused, round eyes looking down for a second. “How about you?”

You avoided the obvious land mine that was his sensitive family history. You didn’t want to be responsible for ruining the light-hearted vibe that was supposed to come along with brunch. So, you just focused on answering the question with a joyful smile.

“I’m more like my mother, without a doubt. I’ve always been told I got the smart ass gene from my mom.” You said, peering up at him.

“What’s your mother like?” He asked, seemingly very interested.

“She’s very head-strong and outspoken. When I was in first grade, there was a boy who would pick on me sometimes. I asked my mom for advice. And she knew the boy and his family because they lived near us. She told me to tell the boy that his mom was fat and his dad was bald and the future wasn’t looking bright for him. I got detention but my mom took me out for ice cream because she was proud.” The memory was fond to you as it just showed your mom’s unorthodox methods of raising you into the very witty woman you were now.

Jungkook laughed hard at that, his closeness allowing you to observe his eye crinkles with much more detail.

“I’d love to meet your mom.” he said while gazing down at you with admiration in his big brown eyes.

“I’d love that too.” You responded.

“Is she better after her accident?” Kook asked, surprising you with his memory.

“Yeah, it wasn’t that serious to begin with. Can’t believe your brother found a way to pay for her medical shit.”

Jungkook grumbled at that, face turning pouty. “It’s not fair, if I knew about your mom before he did, I would’ve done something too!”

You laughed. “I’m sure you would have Jungkook. How about you will be the first one to meet her, huh?” You didn’t care how unrealistic the proposition was, you wanted to cheer up the babe. And it worked, his face brightening up almost instantly.

A ding on your phone sounded and you checked to see who it was.

It was Kat.

‘I’m gonna skip past where the fuck you are and go straight to WHY THE FUCK WERE YOU SEEN KISSING A FUCKBOY AT THE PARTY?!’

{AUTHOR”S NOTE: so lmao funny story. Whilst I was writing this, god striked upon me and now only one of my headphones work. Love that. Wish I could make money off tumblr (you know like youtubers do) bc a bitch broke. So school is starting and I gotta say, I can’t pull off that many all nighters anymore. Updates will probably slow down a bit but like I think I gave you guys a lot over my break??? Also, hello to like a bunch of you guys who recently discovered Pandemonium??? A lot of you hoes came out of the woodwork so like hey. Hit up my inbox with what you guys thought of this chapter while I knock out the 17 requests I got.}

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ask-jaghatai-khan · 5 years

Text

The Vampire of Cairn

// A story set on the forgotten Pariah Planet, Cairn. Entirely inhabited by the soulless human mutants known as “Blanks”, the world was settled before the rise of the Imperium and remains cut off from the rest of the galaxy to this day. But secret intelligence suggests that the world is not as safe as it seems, and that danger might still lurk in a galaxy lost to myth.

—

A fog bank was rolling in, though here in the city it wasn’t so prominent save for on the major streets. What few transports there were, on the roads or in the sky, made themselves sparse rather than deal with the lack of visibility, as people sheltered for a while in the shops and offices to avoid the damp chill. The misty pall seemed to run down the main thoroughfares like a wave. It would pass soon, but for now it hung over the alleys and side-streets, shrouding the tops of buildings and casting the whole world in a dull silver, both the neon signs and midday sun becoming faint and washed-out in the gloom.

Zhi’s destination was an alley downtown, by 26th and Baobeng. His personal transport, a sleek black sedan, navigated itself along the reflective guidelines of the ground-level roads as he went over his notes. He’d not been to this city before – if you could call it a city. It was more of a post-industrial town, now in the final movements towards establishing itself as a cultural center. He didn’t recall what Tianshi was known for and he didn’t much care. The compact little city was not much different from many of these other sparse population centers in the DB Jinkou Provence, but it was the pattern that concerned him. His last lead for his current assignment had been a whole city over, in the more remote Borios. It suggested the mark was not just on the move, but capable of long-distance travel without notice, maybe even without assistance.

There was a ping on the console as the ETA hit two minutes. The Investigator closed his documents and detached his holopad from its charge port, before the government-issue transport skidded around to the alley’s entrance and settled down on its unfolding wheels. There were several other cars there already, some civil service, some civilian, all clustered around the official cordon.

It was lowkey, which was to Zhi’s liking. No flashing lights, no big groups of reporters. One local Sentinel was speaking with a handful of private broadcasters, but all the emergency vehicles were running silent, their personnel milling around inside, maybe processing data. The whole setup made it clear that whatever had happened, it had passed. Zhi’s flat shoes made his approach noticeable as they snapped along the damp pavement, the dark surface of the road reflecting the point lights of the various transport vehicles.

He flashed his badge, but the Sentinel didn’t even try to stop him. He walked with the air of his profession, which was not to be cut in front of. Moving on, the Investigator moved into the alley, cast in long shadows by the spotlights that had been brought in to examine the scene.

There were a couple of sealed dumpsters, a storm drain, and not much more. The adhesive residue marked where posters might have once been put up, but nothing more remained. Compared to the streetfront, where neon signs, greenboxes, and other solar gatherers gave off color and brightness despite the fog, the alley felt quite barren. All grey ferrocrete and weathered service pipes.

The scene of the crime itself was obvious, and rather simple. One body, face down in the damp, looking pretty bloody as well. Dried blood was being rehydrated by the moisture in the air, and was doing nothing for the corpse, giving off a slight smell of iron and onset decay. Two more Sentinels - marked by their dark outerwear, utility harnesses, and subtle insignias – stood about the scene before one took notice of the approaching Investigator.

“Hello.” They said with simple but respectful affectation. Almost questioning, as if Zhi wasn’t supposed to be there.

He extended a hand as he approached, his own dark trench coat matching the local colors rather well.

“Investigator Zhi, Consensus assigned.” Introducing himself, he held up his badge once more. The little metallic chit marked him as under permanent internal security contract to the Consensus Sciences Service.

“Li. I’m with the local Sentinels.” Her precise vocabulary identified her as a woman, and a rather metropolitan one too, for a Sentinel in a northern industrial town. Her hair was styled into a tight pink stripe on her head, and her matching hued eyes suggested cybernetics. Such quirks weren’t common outside the major hives, “We weren’t excepting the Fed.”

“Yes, well we’re just checking all our leads right now and this was brought to my attention.” Zhi clarified. He was far more mundane looking in comparison, as fit a Federal Investigator. Not drawing attention was part of the game.

“And might I ask a little more?” she shot back, still with respect though her body language was unyielding, “This is under our jurisdiction, after all. Is there something bigger we should be worried about?”

Sentinels were local law enforcement, though not in the conventional sense of eras past. They were more like an office between a community watch and a militia. More ad-hoc and concerned with the protection and proper law enforcement of their districts than any higher loyalties. With the right moves they could be amenable, but they were very ground-level and had some of the strongest unions, making outright hostility towards them a bad idea for even Federal agents.

Zhi took off his wide-brimmed hat, making clearer eye contact with Li.

“There’s some suspicion this might be part of a larger series of murders. That’s—”

“You mean the Vampire?” the other Sentinel came up then, no longer content in the background, and with some verve in his voice.

“That’s all I’m at liberty to say.” Zhi’s face went dark.

“Sentinel Chaleb.” Li gestured, “Apologies, though it’s a legitimate question. It’s been around the stations. Could it be that killer?”

“Impossible to say either way until I’ve had a look, eh?” the Investigator tilted his head.

Chaleb. The man must have been from somewhere rural before becoming a Sentinel in Tianshi. His name, inflection, and appearance – paler and with sandy hair – had the twinge of Goth in them. Didn’t much matter, but it was an observation Zhi made.

“Here.” Li stepped aside, gesturing to the body that lay half slumped onto its face in the damp. Zhi got in close for a better look.

Man of about middle age, perhaps seventy-eight, as he seemed in good health. His hair was dark and short-cropped, messy now that the damp had worked through whatever gel it looked like he’d used. He was dressed in simple formalwear, with the open-front black jacket that went down to about his knees, and the black underclothes to match.

“Victim was a Mr. Jia Ming, as our first data responses have come through.” Li informed, “Local. Worked at a distribution firm for signage products, I think. We took his datapad and are seeing about getting permission to access it from next of kin.”

“Injuries?” Zhi asked.

“Broken collarbone and shoulder on the left side—” he could see it, the way the joint folded in on itself in an odd way, “Though the coroner scan didn’t think that was simultaneous with main cause of death. They’re still processing the data.” She didn’t need to point, as it was obvious the man’s throat was cut wide open. It was clean, yet broad, as if done by a swordsman in an action vid. The man’s skin had gone ghost pale in death from how much of his blood had flowed out onto the pavement.

“He was found around 2 a.m. this morning.” Chaleb interjected, “The owner of this sandwich shop was closing up and found him.” He pointed to the wall on their right, against which the dumpsters sat.

“You say the shoulder wasn’t simultaneous with cause of death.” Zhi stood back up, content in verifying the facts.

“No, but it wasn’t from a blow either. The blunt force trauma doesn’t seem to match up from what the scans show. The pattern looked more like—”

“Impact from above?” Zhi shot in. She was good. Maybe trained to be a Sentinel.

“How’d you know?”

“Oh that’s spooky.” Chaleb shook his head, “Absolutely the Vampire. Did you see that one clip online? They were saying they could probably scale sheer walls.”

“Yeah so can I, if you sweet-talk my quartermaster enough.” The Investigator cut him off, “Was there anything else of interest?”

“Possible cam footage. We can’t get it, though.” Li gave him.

“Why not?”

“It’s the security cam from the sandwich shop. The owner’s spooked, maybe drowsy. They didn’t want to give us access.”

“I’ll talk to them.” Zhi assured, gesturing with his hat in a vague direction “away” from the scene, “Do you want to be involved, then?”

Li nodded, signing off to Chaleb that she’d be leaving and that he should guard the area of the corpse. It might be good, if the Sentinel had talked to the storeowner beforehand, to have her there again. With luck, the civilian might be put more at ease by the continuity.

As they got out of earshot of the other Sentinel, rounding the corner of the alley side by side, Li turned towards the Investigator.

“Do you think it’s the Vampire, then?” she asked, though the look on her face told Zhi that she wasn’t keen on using the name, her pink eyes squinting.

“I’m getting sick of hearing that word.” Zhi walked forward another pace, annoyed at the stop, the sign and door of the sandwich shop visible just down the road.

As far as he knew, the nickname had been picked for the style in which the killer worked. Clean kills, along with the untraceable escapes. Still sounded stupid to him, but then most spree-killer nicknames tended to be.

“There’s been a lot of strange things in the news. People have been putting together all kinds of theories.” She continued, trudging beside him, “There were those signals they were talking about from the Jingshe belt that they said were nothing a month later. Then that meteor strike just a few weeks ago near Shuguan, and the murders in Shuguan they stopped reporting on after a week, and now these deaths going from city to city all the way here.”

“So what then, alien serial killer from outer space?” Zhi tried to sound as sarcastic as possible, wishing they could just pick up the damn pace.

“Maybe? There’s precedent. The Men of Iron came from space. We came from space.” She wasn’t wrong.

“Sounds like a fun story.” The Investigator just brushed it off as they reached the shop. The glass sliding door was barred with a shutter but knocking still produced a solid sound.

“I’m just saying, that’s what the theories have been online.” Li finished her piece, face flushing a little as if she’d been embarrassed at getting so caught up in the theory.

“Don’t believe everything you read on the net.” Zhi replied. The Sentinel glanced at his eyes – the man couldn’t have been much older than her based off looks, but his eyes – they seemed to be weighed down, drooping with some deep fatigue the rest of his face resisted.

There was a clanking, a latch-releasing kind of sound, and one of the individual panels that made up the collapsible door screen pulled away to reveal the eyes of a middle-aged individual. A woman, maybe, though as a city-man Zhi never made assumptions by habit.

“You’re back?” they asked.

“I heard you might have recordings that could help us.” The Investigator spoke up, while Li just provided aesthetic support, “Really all I’m interested in. Wouldn’t take a moment of your time, and I won’t cause any trouble.”

“Who are you?” their eyes were brimming with concern.

He flashed his badge, though he doubted they’d recognize it by training, “Federal Investigator. This might be important; you’d be doing us all a big favor.”

They shook their head, “I-I don’t want to get involved with anything. This is all really messed up.”

“Yeah, that tends to be the case.” He nodded, “May I ask your name?”

“Ling.” they gave.

“Your shop?” Zhi asked.

“It’s my shop, yes.” They answered.

“I’m not fully authorized for this, but I could promise you a degree of protection if you agree to help me, Ling.” Zhi tried his luck, “Maybe a vacation ticket as a gift? You can leave town for a little bit, and I imagine even if there is danger it’ll have blown over by then. Does that sound amenable?”

They seemed to mull it over for a bit, before their eyes conveyed a nod, and the latch shut. A few moments later, and the automated rails of the door screen were lifting the metal plates into the ceiling, and they were let inside with the accompanying ring of a bell.

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Ling stammered, “It’s just this kind of stuff never happens out here. Maybe the occasional thief, but nothing like this.” They ushered the two inside.

It was quite a large shop, with a good amount of sitting room. Zhi suspected outdoor seating might not be so popular in this town, what with the fog drifts being predominant for most of the year. It was amazing the greenboxes on the buildings were in good order.

“Here, just follow me. I haven’t checked the footage. Just download it off, if you want. I’d really rather not look at it.” The shopkeep was rather short, old in appearance but with a youthful demeanor and a neat bun hairstyle. Altogether regular and tidy, and very out of place in any kind of trouble.

The duo was led back through the shop, past the kitchen, up a flight of stairs, and through a locked door to the second level. Their destination was one of several doors lining the hallway, like a janitorial closet. Ling gave them access with her datapad. It was a small room, though very neat and with an impressive computer setup, with multiple monitors and a decent unit from what Zhi could surmise.

“Pretty heavy-duty stuff. This all for security?” Li inquired.

“This building is actually bigger than just this shop. There’re some offices upstairs, a few other food places around the back, and uh, some apartments. Very compact. I live here too.” They explained, “It’s just I’m also the building manager, so I deal with ensuring most of the security and utilities.”

It wasn’t so uncommon. Zhi just didn’t know how they had the energy to run an eatery while also being the community in-between for the whole building. He’d be as high-strung if he had to deal with anything more than what his one job already dumped in his lap.

The civilian logged in and gestured to the chair, stepping out of the way of the two officers.

“Just, uh – do what you need to do and then you can just leave it. I’ll give you space.” They smiled, “Oh but uh, just the security cam footage please.”

“Of course.” Li assured.

“Yeah, I’m not looking for a lawsuit, I’ll just be a moment.” Zhi was a bit brusquer.

“Strange one.” Li commented once they were alone, as she leaned over Zhi’s shoulder to watch him at work.

“Overworked. Could’ve been anything, they’d have snapped from the stress. Just unfortunate it had to be a murder.” Perception was something of a trade specialty. Having dealt with all manner of civilians who had actual things to hide, he’d grown accustomed to sussing out the weird from the suspect.

Li watched with some surprise as the Investigator brought up one of his hands. She hadn’t noticed until now, but he wore a drab brown glove on just one hand, having done most of his gesturing with the other until now. He pulled off the covering to expose unfleshed augmetics – a silver and angular surrogate with many odd details about its surface. With a few internal adjustments, as the various components moved on their own, one prong stuck up from his index finger. He inserted the interface probe into the input port of the computer. At once, his operations on the monitor moved ten times faster, as he navigated as quick as thought.

“Cool aug’.” she commented, as one cyborg to another.

“Trade tool.” He said without much passion.

In moments he’d located the cam files and sorted through the different streams from the few sentries around the building to the one that sat at the edge of the rooftop, watching the alley. So much security. If he was a Sentinel he’d maybe be concerned that something unsavory was up in this commune, but it wasn’t his department. Maybe some kind of hedonist club. So long as it was nothing sketchy it wasn’t a problem anyways.

“Alright, and—” he muttered, as he spun back the hours to the night before, looking for the moment at which the body on the pavement would stand itself back up again.

“There!” Li pointed, as if he couldn’t see it. The man had been cutting through the alley, and a whirl of something fast had dropped him like a bag of rocks. Zhi did his best to zoom, but the resolution was lacking in the darkness.

“Someone over him.” He assessed, “Holding him down.” He pointed with his free hand. On top of the form of the victim was a hunched figure. Dark, though its head stood out by a faint glint in the shadows. It was stooped over the man, holding him there as he writhed, doing something. They waited.

There was a sudden flash of movement. The figure’s arm came up holding something in its hand, and the victim’s head jerked back with it. His throat had been slashed. Without pause, the killer stood and rushed with almost inhuman agility over to one of the dumpsters, vaulting off it, then the sheer side of the wall, and they were out of frame.

“What on Cairn?” Li muttered.

“Wait.” Zhi wanted to check something. He rewound the footage, back before the first attack. He played it slow, watching it unfold as the dark figure returned to the kill, and then shot up into the sky.

“Augmetics? How’d they fall like that?” the Sentinel asked.

“You’re killing me. Please.” Zhi shushed her, his gaze trained on the screen. She glanced at him in irritation but noticed something had come into those drooping eyes. They were locked on the monitor like a sniper’s scope.

“Here.” He pointed again. It was at a portion of the roof’s edge just caught by the camera. There was a shadow and – a foot. A black-clad boot, resting just at the very corner of the camera’s periphery.

“What kind of camera—? Ah.” The Investigator check the readouts in the corner of the footage, “Microreceptor. Explains the resolution as much as why our perp didn’t catch the camera.” Partial-3D microreceptor, a kind of microcam preferred for being very small and discreet in part, but also for its unique rendering pattern. You could “rotate” microceptor footage in three dimensions to some degree, making it easier to spot details in normal blind spots.

“The peripheries on these things are usually blurry.” Zhi spoke. Li had some familiarity, but she was more focused on the footage, “But if I uncrop the frame let’s see what we can get.”

He did so, as the whole edge of the recording pulled back to show the actual rendering of the scene. It was circular, the center in full clarity while the edges feathered out in the peripheral vision of the microceptor. Li gasped, while Zhi sat still as a dead man.

It was a humanoid figure perched on the edge of the rooftop, kneeling as if ready to leap. The outline was blurry from the recording technique, but the image was clear enough. Human, or humanoid, with a black skintight suit enveloping its entire body. Faint distortions in the silhouette suggested items strapped to the figure’s frame, though it was hard to tell.

What was clearest was the face. Inhuman, twisted, insidious. It was a mask, as far as Zhi could tell. He hoped it was, at the very least. It was made in the shape of a leering white skull, distended at the cranium into an elongated form that curved back over their shoulders. As if that was not strange enough, one eye was absent, instead being replaced with a much larger augmetic lens, which swept back with its own tube casing parallel to the side of the mask. The distortion gave them just the bare form – the stylized skull, the one odd eye, the freakish head, all set atop the otherwise sleek, lithe body. Zhi restarted the footage and watched the ghoulish shape leap from out of obscurity down into the alley, crushing the unsuspecting man beneath its weight. going about whatever it had subjected him to before the final cut.

Li didn’t say it aloud, but she thought it in her head. The word seemed right, for such a ghastly anomaly. “Vampire.”

Zhi wished he could’ve been happy with finding his mark. Instead his thoughts were flooded with threads, choices. There was going to be untold friction with the CSS, to say nothing of the matter of catching whatever this – thing was. Its skull face just leered with cold, unmoving expression as he rewound the footage again, staring into its empty mask eyes. The body of a human – and the visage, the movements of something else.

The world of Cairn did not yet have an answer for this.

#warhammer #40k #pariah planet #culexus #homebrew

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high5nerd · 4 years

Text

The Halcyon Nightmare

This doesn’t have any relationships, just father and daughter angst/drama. Weird take I did where the narrator speaks to the reader.

Yeah, not doing that again.

That’s what happens when you find the fountain...

Have you ever heard the mythical story of the fountain of youth? Or at least heard of a natural miracle dwelling in the secret corners of the earth with unfathomable gifts that humans cannot even imagine?

You’re not exactly wrong for believing them, even believing that such myths exist. I’ve seen many things in my life. You know that fairly well, don’t you? You always appear whenever I’m alone. You’re in my head, I constantly hear your warm whispers but I can never place your name or who you are to me.

I might as well confront you about this since you’re the only voice that speaks kindly besides the fearlings and the monsters that dwell within the walls of the darkness I reside in. Nightmares make great henchmen, not good friends or listeners.

I never have found this fountain of youth. You know that. Nor would I find that the least bit interesting, I have no need for it. Why would I want something like that when I myself am a spirit with a never ending life? Besides, I don’t want to be young again. Imagining myself as a youngster again does not sit well with me. Pining for something like that seems like a waste of time, and I’ve got all the time in the world. No, instead of finding this legendary fountain, I found this...strange labyrinth leading to a single pool of frozen water.

The labyrinth was quite challenging. I remember getting lost four or five times, always finding myself in a dead end with the walls of the labyrinth surrounded by ivy, clover and scatterings of wolfsbane. It was the near spring, yet it was mildly surprising to see walls of every curvature from north to south covered in freshly green leaves and the ground already sprouting healthy moss and witch grass. Know this: witch grass is always a sign of magic closeby. After the centuries I’ve spent on this planet, this sign is easy to pick up. I absolutely hated the butterflies and moths that flew around inside the walls. It’s as if they never escaped and knew how to fly up and out. They would just fly back and forth, quickly rest below my feet, and just before I might bump or step on them, they’d flutter off like annoying bees around me before hiding once more in the innermost branches and vines of the walls. The many warblings and twitters of field sparrows, bluebirds and robins triggered something within me. I suddenly felt homesick. Homesick to where, you ask? I am not sure, I cannot quite place as to why I felt like that. I had no home, but the closest place I can think to one resembling a home was the earth’s core, under the Isle of Sicily. You know the one, the one with the elaborate cages and ruined marble pillars. Destruction is such a beautiful and flattering display.

No, it wasn’t that. Something told me I was not missing the comfort of the darkness despite the bright sun hurting my eyes from it’s radiant glare or the sound of those chattering birds. For some reason, the sounds, smells of the nearby forest and the forthcoming water source comforted me. I felt closer to something I could not name, and a part of me did not want to leave at all no matter what this feeling was inside me.

I finally escaped the labyrinth into the core of the puzzle, and there sitting in the sunlight was a pond-sized pool, frozen through and glimmering in the sunlight. It confused me greatly at the sight of the frost coating the top with snow at the corners of the circular pool. Why would the pool be frozen over if the rest of the labyrinth was in full bloom? It didn’t make any sense to me. There even were lotus and lily pads on the surface, unfazed by the frigid waters and the choking ice. It slightly angered me that I didn’t understand this type of magic. How could these plants be completely fine in something that could kill them? This was a type of magic I’ve never witnessed before. Someone who cared for the labyrinth sure was powerful, or at least knowledgeable in the art of herbology or plant manipulation.

Something made me reach out and touch the surface of the ice. It didn’t look right to me. It started to look more like frosted glass, not actual wintry ice. The frost looked symmetrical and fraudulent, like a pattern in fabric. I’ve seen frost before. Jack Frost made patterns in his frost making, yes, but they were always at random and never repeated themselves, like how a snowflake should. In the frost I know to be real, there are hidden images of ferns and snowflake patterns, cracks and swirls, stars and ribbons and nighttime sky explosions and trees. In this? They were only swirls.

At the hesitant touch, the ice melted into cool water. Now it looked like actual water, and the lotus flowers glowed white and pale purple against the sunlight. To me, they looked like they grew bigger in size at the release of the iron grip the ice had on it’s leaves. Just seeing the beautiful water swirl and dance around my fingers as I brushed my hand back and forth made me thirsty. The water looked so inviting, seducing me into a dehydration that I never actually had, or at least had felt in a long, long time. I cupped my hands tenderly together, getting enough water into them before lifting my hands to my lips and quickly sipping the water before it slipped through my thin fingers.

I never should have drunk the water.

Immediately something lit on fire inside me, both my mind and my chest. It didn’t hurt; I felt no pain, but a warmth that I wasn’t used to that I almost mistook for pain. Despite the water being so cold and refreshing, what flowed through my blood and made my head swim was not. I felt like I was getting sick. I felt like I needed to lie down lest I faint at being upright for so long. And I did. I fainted, and before I did, my eyes saw the clouds rush to hide the sun from witnessing me discovering a truth that the nightmares have forbidden me to see all this time.

There was a forest, unlike what I strolled through before stumbling upon the labyrinth. It was sparser, with a view of an everlasting, golden meadow full of wildflowers and a manor in the distance with gossamer flags fluttering at the precipice of the roof.

I know those colors... I thought to myself, they’re the flags of the general of the golden army…

I don’t know how I remembered what army I recalled, or how I recalled the flags’ origin or the fact that they relate to a person. It isn’t like that person mattered to me. But I wasn’t there, I was here in the woods. At this point, I had no recollection of drinking the water from the pool, or even fainting at the consumption of it. All I knew was that I was put here to witness something, and that I can’t go back unless I see it.

The forest wasn’t like Earth’s. Granted there was evergreen and the whole earth seemed to be smothered in emerald, but there were hints of silver in every seam of every leaf, and the soil was richer and close to a maroon hue, and the trees towered, tall enough for one tree to create a two story-tall cottage with a possibility for an outhouse or a tool shed. Even the bark shimmered like dew covered it, but was bone dry except for the wet moss growing in the crevices of the bark.

“Emily Jane Pitchiner, where are you?!”

The sudden voice out of nowhere scared the living daylights out of me. Not only was it out of the blue...but it was mine. I recognized my own voice. But I don’t remember speaking at all. Did I say that without noticing I yelled? Who was Emily Jane?

I turned to see myself, searching before myself like a scavenger. I couldn’t help but become afraid. I...I was witnessing something that I never could get without help from another source. Worse yet, this version of me hadn’t yet seen me. I was terrified my presence was going to change the moment that was to happen, or worse, have this version of myself see what a monster he was in another life.

He looked better than I ever could. His hair was the same as mine, as was his posture and his general physical form. But his eyes were gold like the trimmings of his tunic, strong yet warm and fatherly. His skin was browned from constant exposure to sunlight, even burned on the bridge of his protruding nose. I didn’t realize how big my nose was until I saw myself like this. He wore leather battle training boots, with metal buckled straps that hugged the knees of his navy-colored trousers with silver trim, but his tunic was a plain, fairly worn out peasant shirt but with gold at the edge of the sleeves and bottom. I almost didn’t notice his silver wedding band until he stepped further into the sunlight, squinting to find whoever this girl was.

“Emily Jane, your mother is worried sick. You’re not in trouble, I promise,” he resorted, untensing his shoulders and putting his hands on his hips.

Out from the nearby underbrush arose a brown haired girl with paler skin, but her eyes golden nonetheless. Her lips were pulled into a fearful frown, her eyes wide with curiosity as to why this version of me was not mad for her running out of the house. Her dark hair was so long, it brushed almost to the back of her legs, and shone just as brilliantly as dark topaz stones.

The version of me sighed, smiling softly and kneeling down to look her in the eyes, “Always running away to the woods, little flower. You really are like a druid.”

“I don’t want to be a lady. I want to be a druid. Or a fairy.” Emily Jane whimpered, looking down at her bare, dirty feet.

He smirked, a teasing one I’ve never seen myself do out of something that was not for spite or insult, “Not a fairy, I hope. They like to eat bugs and tie knots in little girls’ hair.”

Emily Jane held a strand of her hair tenderly, but defiantly looked up at him, “I’ll be a good fairy! The one that delivers gifts to babies when they laugh for the first time. I don’t like eating bugs, anyway.”

“I remember quite well you once ate fried grasshopper, and you liked it.” he grinned.

She shyly smiled back, “Only if they’re cooked, I guess.”

The version of me laughed, amused at her honesty. I couldn’t help but smile as a response. Something about this laughter I’ve never produced myself made it contagious, it made the air fresher and my mind clear of all worries. I could tell for Emily Jane, it was the same way. She smiled and laughed with him, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Was this a memory? Or was it a life I could have had if it weren’t for the nightmares? Perhaps it was both, sometimes magic like this was vague to the most extreme point. All I knew inside and out, and exuded it from my very soul, was that I wanted exactly what I was seeing. I wanted his happy, strong laugh that held no sadness or anger and someone like this child to look at me like a role model. I could never have those two things as the Boogeyman.

“Emily Jane, why did you run out of the house?” the version of me asked carefully, sitting next to her on the carefully cut stump fringed with creamy white mushrooms, “you know that wasn’t right.”

Her shoulders sagged at the knowledge of that, “I...I just hate the etiquette lessons. I hate them. I don’t want to be a lady.”

“I know you don’t, but it’s something every young girl must learn. Even boys have to learn these as well.”

He was very fluent and capable of talking with her. Never has Emily Jane once talked back or looked at him with disapproval or distaste. She merely held the air of a learning child, a child not entirely willing to listen but knowing full well that her actions were unjustified and contained relief that her father was understanding of that.

….Her father….

I...was her father? Me. The Boogeyman. No, not the Boogeyman. Who was this version of me from another life I’ve never seen before?

Kozmotis Pitchiner.

Kozmotis Pitchiner, the General of the Golden Army and Royal Prison Guardian.

“What do boys have to learn?” she asked, snatching me from my thoughts.

“How to dance, just like you. How to eat properly at meals, how to talk to elders and guests and strangers. How to be a good host, the proper rules of games and how to properly ride a horse when in town or in the presence of aristocrats, and learn the many languages of the other planets around us, even our own.”

“Do they know how to sew? Or how to cook and fix things and clean?” Emily Jane huffed, folding her arms and setting her head on her knees.

“They do. I did as well when I was your age.”

Emily Jane looked up, in awe. Her own father went through the same lessons as her? I could just hear her questions in her head, just by how readable her eyes were. It made Kozmotis smile as well as myself.

“Of course I did. Emily, the moment I was born my parents--your grandparents--wanted me to join the army and serve the King and Queen. Not only did I have to learn how to stitch up my own clothes if they got torn, but also stitch up other people if they got badly cut or wounded. If I hadn’t learned how to cook from nothing, I would have starved when I went to the Battle of Orion’s Belt.”

Emily Jane grinned, “Did you eat bugs?”

Kozmotis laughed and tickled her side, her giggling at her joke, “Yes I did, you little flower. I ate worms and crickets and ants the size of fingers. My favorite, if you put hot sauce on them.”

“Ew! Hot sauce?”

Kozmotis threw back his head and laughed, “I love how the condiment is the only part that grosses you out!”

Emily Jane laughed along, scooting closer to hug him around his middle. I could tell the constant joking and casualness relieved her of feeling like she would be punished for running out on her lessons. I suddenly grew sad at the sight. Sad doesn’t even cover the emotion I felt. Heartbroken, empty, lost...I finally yearned to feel my daughter’s hug again. I’ve never felt the need for family love until now, and it pained me, because I never felt it before until now, and I was only feeling the neverending pangs of it that happen once it’s been taken away.

They sat together in silence, just staring at the dancing leaves above them with faint smiles of content. I envied Kozmotis greatly. I wanted to be a general, I wanted to be married and have a daughter, I don’t want to be plagued with nightmares every time I close my eyes and hear the constant threats and hisses of the fearlings if I didn’t do what they wanted me to do. Only in my sleep did I hear that I was controlled, and in my waking life did I freely be who I thought I was, yet wasn’t. The Boogeyman was a form I took unwillingly. In this life, everything I was witnessing was a collection of the greatest choices I’ve ever made, because they produced beautiful beings into my life and produced beautiful memories, memories of victory, love, trust, and strength.

“Little flower, no matter how many times you run out in the middle of a lesson, nothing you do will ever make me angry. Do you understand, baby girl?” Kozmotis gently touched her cheek.

Emily Jane looked up at him with honest yet worried eyes, “Even if I do something awful?”

Kozmotis nodded, “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my little golden flower.”

Her smile was brighter than I’d seen yet. She hugged Kozmotis tighter, and whispered into his side, “And you’ll always be my Papa.”

Suddenly I felt like my entire body fell through the ground, without any warning or even feeling the earth shake. The earth swallowed me whole and spat me out, and I woke up lying on my back, with the halcyon dream as a memory and the radiance of the sun blinding my eyes once more. I leaned up and rubbed my eyes, but felt my whole world shatter before me when I saw the familiar dark brown hair of someone I just saw. She wore a dress formed of complete, fresh green vines and a circle of golden pansies around her hips. Her eyes were exactly like the ones I saw in the flashback, but mixed with the honest light was sorrow, of heartbroken truth and shock that matched mine.

Emily Jane was no girl anymore.

#pitch black #emily jane #seraphina #serafina #mother nature #family angst #angst #hurt/comfort #rotg fandom #rotg fanfiction #rotg fanfic #fanfiction #fanfics #rise of the guardians #rise of the guardian fanfics #kozmotis pitchiner

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