#mephisto is all for time meddling

[karurabluew]

"Or the most dangerous." He says, experience telling him that every time a first impression happens, life a bitch and always proves you wrong.

"This city doesn't make sense, its best to not question it for now." A pause.

"Or ever, if we find a way out."

        ❝ Right? ❞ danny's eyebrows quirked, a hand perching on his hip as he gestured wildly with his other. ❝ Like, what's up with all the different themes? It's like the architects couldn't make up their minds. or, ❞ he snorted, rolling his eyes, ❝ some kid who couldn't make up their mind. I bet that giant hole is where they put all the stuff that didn't work at first. ❞

[xvysarene]

𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝

Pairing: Sylus x Fem!Reader Words: ~3.1k Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Eventual fluff Notice: Y/N is not MC, Profanities, Mentions of wounds Summary: There was a connection between you and Sylus that went beyond the typical boss & his right-hand woman dynamic. When you finally had enough of his recent behaviour since his return, you decided it was time to quit.

[ᝰ.ᐟ MASTERLIST]

“We agree to your terms, and as soon as we finish the down payment, we expect to see the firearms—”

Before you could even finish, the heavy double doors swung open with a crash. Sylus strode in, a dark aura clinging to him, and you knew that nothing good would come out of it.

“The deal is off.”

You gasped. “You can’t be fucking serious.”

“Ms. Y/N, I thought you said you could handle this deal solo?” Marcel—that cunning eel of a man—drawled lazily. “Looks like Mr. Sylus here still doubts your ability, even after all this time.”

On any other day, you would have knocked the smug grin off Marcel’s face. But your attention was fixed on your boss, Sylus, whose expression was a cold, impenetrable mask of indifference.

“I’ve worked on this for months. Alone. When you were gone chasing shadows,” you hissed, “You have no right to dictate me.”

Crimson eyes met your gaze with a fire of his own as he stepped closer. “And do I need to remind you who’s the leader of this organisation?”

How dare he!

It took a while for the others in the N109 Zone to stop belittling you, to finally trust you as Onychinus’s indispensable weapon who could hold her own ground, even entrusted to run the organisation in his absence.

And he knew this.

“I don’t meddle in your affairs, so stay out of mine.”

He exactly knew what, or who, you were talking about.

Somehow, this conversation was no longer about the deal; it was about something else that had been creating a rift between you both.

“You don’t understand—”

“You have no idea what I understand!” you snapped, jabbing a finger at his firm chest.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Luke entering the room to usher Marcel out.

“If you’re looking for a new job, my organisation is always open for a pretty little thing, buttercup.” He threw a mischievous wink your way.

The man was clearly not uncomfortable with the commotion; it was satisfying to see Onychinus crumbling before his own eyes.

Kieran cautiously stepped forward. “Boss, Y/N, let’s take a moment—”

“You think I wouldn't find out about your little escapade with ‘Miss Hunter’?”

That struck a nerve; Sylus’s eyes narrowed. 

“What?” you continued, your tone dripping with sarcasm, “Mephisto accidentally charged your card with millions just to buy every single protocore in the auction?”

Any heartfelt emotion you held for him was swallowed by fury and disappointment that had been building for some time. This was the last straw, a volcano ready to erupt.

“I’ve warned you before, Sylus.”

Ever since he came back from doing who knew what, he had been distracted. Physically, he was there—but he wasn't present.

Conversations that once flowed easily between you were now peppered by half-hearted responses.

As a last resort, you decided to prepare dinner for him and the twins that one night, something you periodically did when the mood struck, in the hopes of getting him to come around.

Luke and Kieran were happily munching on the lasagna and sipping wine from Sylus’s favourite bottle, their lively chatter filling up the dining room.

But the man who was supposed to be the centre of it all took only a single bite before abandoning it for his phone.

“Sylus, could you please put your phone down and enjoy the dinner?”

The twins froze, eyes flickering between the two of you, sensing the impending storm.

Yet Sylus didn’t even acknowledge you, his attention firmly fixed on the screen in his hand. Somehow, it was more important than the company around him.

“Sylus—”

“Can you get off my back for once?” Red eyes snapped to yours, flashing with irritation.

“You are losing me,” you repeated the words you had uttered that night. The tremble in your voice was a blend of rage and a deeper, more vulnerable feeling.

Sylus's eyes flashed, revealing the first hint of emotion that you recognised—a wounded look, perhaps, or something else that you didn’t dare to think about.

Kieran, determined to defuse the tension, squared his shoulders. “We all should take a breather and approach this with clearer heads.”

Eyes still fixed on your boss’s handsome face, the words came out with unwavering finality, “I quit.”

Ripping the brooch from where it rested just above your heart, you hurled it with such force that it bounced off his chest before skidding across the floor.

The sharp, unmistakable crack echoed throughout the silent room.

Sylus's jaw tightened, a muscle ticking in his cheek. “Fine.”

And that was it. There were no apologies, not even a 'thank you' for your dedication to Onychinus all this time.

“Please, don't do this. We need you,” Kieran’s voice had a note of desperation in it.

A bitter laugh slipped from your lips. “Your boss has made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t need me anymore. Apparently, he has more pressing matters than ensuring the organisation's interest.”

Sylus crossed his arms, his voice cutting like a cold knife. “If you're going to leave, then leave. We don't have time for theatrics.”

With that, you turned on your heel and walked away.

Luke, having just returned from escorting Marcel out, caught sight of the unexpectedly angry tears in your eyes and called out your name as you rushed down the hallway.

What you didn’t expect from quitting was the depth of void it created in your life. You missed the twins’ oddball humour and even found yourself longing for Mephisto’s often irritating caws.

It felt strange not to see the black bird outside of your bedroom window or atop the lamppost, as it normally would.

Despite the financial cushion provided by Onychinus’s paycheck, restlessness drove you back to the N109 Zone before long.

“Thought that we’d never see you again, missy.”

The familiar surroundings of Elysium provided a soothing balm to the loneliness gnawing inside you—the rich scent of aged booze mingled with the sound of rolling dice filling your senses.

“You’re not the only one surprised,” you muttered lowly, sitting down on one of the stools.

“Guess you are more used to staying here than Linkon now,” the young woman behind the bar chuckled. “Many might see it as a slum, but the N109 Zone has its charm.”

During Sylus’s absence, you had called the base as a second home. Staying there made it easier for you to manage the daily operation, sparing you the hassle of travelling back and forth to Linkon.

“What would you like to drink? It’s on the house.” Before you could answer, the woman beat you to it. “Rum and lemonade?”

A sudden feeling of yearning washed over you. It was Sylus who had first introduced you to this concoction right here, you had even questioned his taste at the time, but it had since become one of your favourite drinks.

You gulped the emotion down. “Yes, please.”

She sent you a sympathetic smile, obviously understanding what crossed your mind.

The burn of the rum started to warm your body as the second glass went down easily. Each sip brought back memories of standing side by side in battles and conversations shared in quieter moments, a foolish longing that settled deep within your chest. 

As you set it aside, you felt someone slid on the vacant stool beside you, encroaching on your personal space.

“What’s a pretty girl doing here all alone?”

“Leave me alone.” You didn’t even look at his direction.

Funnily enough, though you normally no longer felt the weight of the brooch—a symbol of your affiliation with Sylus and Onychinus—you now felt its absence vividly, like a phantom heaviness above your left breast.

With it, no one ever truly dared to come near you, wary of crossing paths with Sylus.

Without it, however, meant you were no longer under Sylus’s protection.

The man sidled closer, clearly not taking the hint. “Still playing hard to get even without Sylus behind you? You should have seen him dragged out of the raid like a ragdoll by his pair of thugs. It was pathetic.”

Your heart stuttered, finally looking at the man beside you. “What did you say?” 

Sylus, hurt? It was unthinkable. You had seen first-hand how his wound healed quickly.

“Heh, you really don’t know, do you?” His smile widened, revealing yellowed teeth. “The idiot went to finish Marcel off by himself last night. Imagine taking down dozens of Marcel’s men alone, with all their weapons.”

He daringly placed a hand on your thigh, fingers digging in. “So bitch, you’d better get off your damn high horse and listen. Without Sylus, you’re just another pretty face.”

In a quick manoeuvre, you slammed his head on the bar. His painful howl was cut short as you drew your concealed gun, the barrel pressed firmly against the back of his skull. “Touch me one more time and I’ll paint this bar with your brains.”

The barkeeper approached, her expression impassive as she took in the sight of your gun pressing against the man's head. However, when she noticed the colour draining from your face, a look of surprise crossed her features.

“You didn’t know?” she asked, her tone softer than you expected. “I thought that was the reason you came back here.”

Ignoring the curious stares of the other patrons, you stormed out of the bar, the weight of fear heavy on your shoulders.

The city's familiar streets blurred past as you made your way to the base, and you thought you heard familiar caws in the distance.

You didn't spare a second thought as the electronic lock still buzzed with recognision when your palm and iris scans were verified. The reinforced doors opened, granting you access just like usual.

Luke and Kieran met you in the hallway, no doubt alerted to your arrival. Whether by Mephisto or the security alert, you weren’t sure.

Even with their masks on, their surprised body language was unmistakable.

“How did you find out? Boss made sure that none of us tips you off,” Luke asked.

“It’s true?” you demanded, your voice was tight with anxiety. “About Sylus?”

The twins exchanged silent glances. “He’s in his quarters,” Kieran said slowly. “But be warned, he is in a foul mood.”

As you moved swiftly down the familiar corridors, your heart pounded in your chest. The smell of antiseptic hit your senses as you slid the door open, revealing the dimly lit room.

Sylus was seated on the edge of the bed, his back to you as he changed his bandages. “I told you guys to leave me alone. I’m fine,” his voice gruff.

You took a steadying breath. “Sylus.”

His silhouette tensed, and the set of his shoulders turned rigid. Slowly, he turned to look at you.

“What are you doing here?” His voice was rough.

“I—” you started, but the words caught in your throat. The sight of bandages covering his injuries made it difficult to articulate your thoughts. “Why did you go after Marcel?”

“This isn’t a place for someone like you right now.”

That comment was odd, but you dismissed it as you crossed the room, closing the gap between you. Up close, you could see the bruises and wounds peppering his body—dark, angry splotches that marred his skin, evidence of the brutality inflicted by Marcel’s men.

While the healing process was slower than usual, it was still significantly faster than it would be for an ordinary person.

You had been working with him for quite some time yet you had never before seen him in such a state.

“I’m fine,” he repeated, catching your concerned gaze.

“You don’t look fine,” you said firmly. “I’m not going anywhere until you explain what happened.”

Sylus shifted on the bed, wincing slightly as he rested his back on the headboard. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke, “Marcel was the one behind the bombing of the hunter’s grandma’s house.”

As much as you felt sorry for the UNICORN hunter, you couldn’t understand why he would put his life on the line for her.

Was it because of the connection they had with the Aether Core? Or was it something else?

Unconsciously, your steps faltered backwards. The anxiety for his well-being took a backseat as the grip of jealousy clawed at you.

It was stupid to feel this way.

Suddenly, you felt rooted to the spot, your body freezing in place. The unexpected use of his Evol caught you off guard. 

“You came all the way here, so you’d better damn well listen to me before jumping to any conclusions.”

Even in his weakened state, he managed to pull you back to the edge of the bed and keep you seated there. He wasn’t close enough to touch, but not so far that you couldn’t see the fatigue etched into his features.

“I kept her around because she was useful. Marcel had been trying to frame Onychinus for the bombing.” His fists clenched, knuckles white. “But that wasn’t what set me off, that scumbag had been running his mouth about you, spreading lies of your incompetence, claiming that you’re nothing more than an empty shell.”

You looked at his injuries pointedly. “You took on his entire army because he taunted me?”

He sighed deeply, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration. “Don’t you see? I was the one feeding him that narrative. He had the front seat to everything that happened that day. I’m the one who unravelled the respect you worked so hard to earn.”

Was that a hint of guilt you heard in his voice?

“He’d been saying that you’d be better suited working in a whorehouse.”

Well, that explained the man's aggressiveness back at the bar, you thought.

“I’m not your responsibility anymore, you don’t need to protect me.”

Sylus looked away. Despite his rough edges, there was a glint of raw, exposed emotion that he struggled to conceal.

“It’s not just about responsibility,” his voice low, “Some things... they’re not as simple as just walking away.”

This was the Sylus you recognised—the same man who, in fleeting moments, had looked at you with an intensity or a softness that spoke of unfulfilled longing.

Everything had shifted since that one kiss, an impulsive act born from an evening of too much drink and unspoken feelings. A kiss that, in its haze, blurred the lines between what was accepted and what was desired.

Yet, every subtle brush of his hands, every act of ensuring your safety, was a quiet rebellion against the boundaries he had set from the start—this was not a place where work and pleasure were meant to mingle.

“That was the reason you called the deal off that day.” You fit the puzzles together.

He nodded. “I had a feeling that he was up to something.”

“And yet, I still don’t understand why you had to go behind my back with the hunter. This”—you gestured to his injuries and the distance between you—“could’ve been prevented.”

You tried to mask the hurt. “I thought you trusted me.”

Sylus shifted closer, and even though you felt that his Evol no longer held you in place, you allowed him.

“It wasn’t about trust, not in the way you think,” his voice was softer now, “If he found out you were involved, I couldn’t risk him coming after you.”

“I don’t need your protection as much as I need your honesty. And you were being a jerk.”

“I know and I’m sorry. I just wanted to keep you safe.”

He reached out, his fingers gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Leaning in closer, he cradled your jaw with a careful touch.

“Thank you,” you whispered, your voice catching in your throat at the intensity in his eyes that he didn’t try to mask any longer. “For caring. But I’d rather not see you get hurt again.”

“Can’t promise,” he murmured, “I will always stand between you and anyone who dares to harm you.”

You could feel the warmth of his breath before his lips touched yours, moving in a gentle, unhurried rhythm.

He wanted to savour this moment, to truly taste you with a clear head, unclouded by any alcohol.

Though, before long, a more primal voice seemed to overtake him. The intensity of the kiss grew, fueled by the unfiltered emotions coursing between you.

It was a fierce, unrestrained need to claim you.

No longer feeling tender, his tongue urged your lips open with a determined persistence. Sylus groaned into your mouth as you parted easily, the need to taste you becoming more urgent.

As he took a fistful of your hair, pulling your head back, your gaze locked with the searing flame in his eyes.

A sudden weight pressed against your neck, and you looked down, startled, to find a crow whose wings arched protectively around a red diamond pendant. It was similar to the brooch he had given you, but this was more than an accessory.

It was more personal—more intimate.

“Will you do me the honour of becoming my partner again?” His voice was husky with emotion. “Onychinus needs you. I need you.”

Carefully, you pushed him down the bed, legs spreading daringly caging his form. “Maybe if you beg a little more, I’ll consider it.” 

Both his eyebrows arched in surprise, visibly taken aback by your boldness.

“But, weren’t we supposed to keep work and pleasure separate?” you teased.

A hint of a smirk curled at the edges of his lips. “I’m the boss. I make the rules. Besides, this is more than just a pleasure.”

His large palms settled on your hips, fingers splaying across the curve of your body with a possessive yet tender grip, pulling you closer.

“Can I start by begging you to kiss my wounds and make them better then?”

As he whispered his request, his masculine hands sneaked their way inside your clothes, fingers trailing a line of fire against your skin. Just as the moment heated up, a rustling noise came from outside the door.

The two of you paused, eyes narrowing with suspicion. 

Suddenly, the door creaked open just a fraction. Before either of you could react, Luke and Kieran let out a startled yelp.

“Oh no! They’re doing the hanky panky!” Luke whispered loudly, scandalised.

In a flurry of hurried movements, the twins slammed the door closed and bolted down the hallway, leaving you both staring after them in stunned silence.

Sylus sighed, hiding his face in the soft bend of your neck. “We’ll definitely have to set some new rules about privacy too.”

⤷ ᝰ.ᐟ MASTERLIST

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

A Family Thing | Yandere Blue Exorcist

Yukio Okumura has had to limit and expand his definition of family many times on his exorcist journey. His brother was the only constant, which he was fine with. That is until his own demonic half awakened. Now alongside his brother, his identity morphed again like his pointed ears. He did think this might happen but he couldn’t help but connect the dots. But you know who made it easier? (Y/n) Pheles. 

You came to him and Rin on a cloud of strawberry-scented smoke. Literally. Wiping at your suit and tie you explained how the last demon you had fought had made its final stand in a churning pot of strawberry jam. You told them not to think about it too much.

With a smile that blinded them, you told of how you took a long trip around the world to meet the boys Mephisto was so keen on watching stalking. You gushed over them like the older sibling neither of them had. That is until you officially moved onto campus. Where exactly? That was never known for sure. All they could gather was that you were close enough to appear at a moment's notice to pinch their cheeks, ruffle their hair, and coo at them as they did their casual routine. 

He knew it was easy for Rin to lean into you, who openly gave affection to him. Yukio knew he couldn’t react as warmly. Was it his fear? His maturity? He just couldn’t do it. Wouldn’t. He thought you’d grow to love Rin more than him because of this only to be beautifully surprised when you lovingly held him in your arms.

“Hey, I love you both all the same. You’re my ducklings through and through! I’ve decided from this day on!”

Soon he was placed with that familiar ache when you waved goodbye from the window of their dorm on training camps. It was a good ache that affirmed the stringing demand that was creeping up his throat. He couldn’t let you leave them now. 

He can pinpoint the exact moment when this feeling first bloomed in his heart. It was so long ago, if he was anyone else he would have written it off as simply being a child, which he did for awhile, but he knew it was something more. It was back in preschool, Rin had returned to the class after a violent outburst at some kid he later claimed was a bully. While the teacher and other students avoided him like the plague there was one who refused to leave. Following Rin from afar, slowly inching her coloring station toward his–he couldn’t tell anyone why this irked him so. He also couldn’t defend his meddling when he crumpled the flowers left in his twin's cubby. He was his brother, who was she to take that from him?

It was an ugly habit of obsession one he realized he shared with his brother, as Rin mused absentmindedly. 

“Why…don’t we just keep them to ourselves, yeah? That way…they…won’t leave us.”

I mean it’d be bizarre if it weren’t for the two of them. With Rin’s inclination to have you baby him dividing your attention and his own perfectly timed conversations, it was nothing but a game to smother your ringing phone. Silencing it hours in advance so that any alarms or texts from whoever this 'persistent dude’ was. It was a tireless pursuit that seemed to unite him and Rin more than their shared demon heritage. 

It came to a head on a Summers's day watching from afar as you chased Rin with a hose. Yukio was particularly peeved not because he wasn’t on duty for distracting you that day he totally was but because your phone had been ringing off the chain. And whoever this mysterious caller was had caught on, texting you with random excuses about a glitching phone. Every time. He. Deleted. The contact. 

“You think you can keep this up?”

The coy question came from a familiar white terrier with a pink polka-dotted bow. Yukio groaned, harshly pushing up his glasses and biting back a snarl of his own. 

“Do you know who Denji is?”

The terrier's ears flattened and if it was possible its eye furrowed in anger. After a minute of likened frustration, an idea was spawned. Bringing a metaphorical smile to the dog’s face as he birthed a plan only obsessed freaks would concoct. 

“So? Will you help me?”

“Fine. But you can’t keep them to yourself. We won’t let you.”

“Of course not. I could only wish.”

It wasn’t long before there were some changes: a ring on your finger, you carrying that stupid dog around with you, and wearing strangely bright accessories that most certainly weren’t yours. All indicative of the newest addition in your life–a fiance named Mephisto Pheles. The principal and their current guardian: Mephisto Pheles. 

Suddenly Yukio and Rin are subjected to chaotic dinners with you and Mephisto. Days that were previously filled with your voice encouraging them were complimented by Mephisto’s ominous laughing and playful insults. But you were there and you were theirs, a promise you firmly upheld whenever you began an uncomfortable talk about your relationship. 

And even as you reached over your purple-haired husband to wave goodbye, blowing kisses as the limousine revved up, Yukio notes the sound of unsatisfied obsession. Watching the hands that linger around your waist and the caked-up makeup on your neck. He makes the realization that this too was a case of that feeling bubbling to the surface. The obsessive arm around your shoulders, the out-of-place stickers on your things, and the oddly convenient way Mephisto was always at the door, waiting to escort you home. 

It dawns on him how similar they are. Perhaps the string of obsession was a family thing. He didn’t entirely hate that.

“Welcome to the family (Y/n).”

[misc-obeyme]

fj;adjkl;asdflkjklj;sdafklj; that's how I feel about this lesson I'm losing my mind and while I don't really have time to write a post about it I'm going to anyway - please note I'm very unhinged

Spoilers for Lesson 30 below (including the locked lesson 30-A)

MEPHISTOPHELES.

I am going to END you.

Normally I am totally on board with scheming against Lucifer because even though I don't hate him the way Mephisto does, it's really funny when people try to mess with him.

BUT.

Because of Mephisto's meddling, I had to tell Solomon that his cake tasted bad and he was so sad.

I was yelling at my phone the whole time! I was saying no you have to let me lie to him, I will tell him every day that everything he cooks is delicious and I'll eat it all too even it ends my life because LOOK AT HOW SAD HE IS.

I know I said before that I wasn't sure if Solomon was trolling everybody, but this lesson has made it ABUNDANTLY clear that he ISN'T.

I mean, unless he's really good at acting incredibly sad that is!

Which I don't think is the case!!

Please, please I felt sooooooo bad. I chose the option to lie because I didn't want to hurt his feelings, forget the stupid trial, but it wouldn't even let me!! The game was all nope you can't do that, you'll lose the trial. And I was yelling at my phone then why did you even give me that option!?!?

My poor sweet sorcerer... and then AND THEN I lied for Luke instead which was all well and good because I didn't want to not lie for him either, but he was so upset about it he started crying?! Crying loud enough that Simeon and Solomon could hear him from OUTSIDE!!!!

Please my poor heart can't take this. I was not built for these kinds of shenanigans.

And as if all of that wasn't terrible enough, now Levi thinks I'm only making pacts with all the bros so I can leave them and while that's actually true it also makes me feel terrible?!?!

Augh!

I haven't gotten to the hard lesson yet so I don't know if it gives further insight into any of these circumstances, but I haven't had quite this reaction to a lesson in a long time so I had to write some of it out.

And the way Solomon's just like oh yeah Simeon told me about the trial. Do you want to go back to where we're from? Etc etc like not even mentioning how you crushed his heart not that long ago!! I would have been explaining right then and there all about why I said what I said and that he should never give up on cooking it doesn't matter if it doesn't taste good as long as it makes him happy!!

Okay okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for this train wreck of a post. I just had a lot of unexpected feelings.

[mitterstorm]

Desired | Chapter 1 | Mephisto Pheles/Original Female Character

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

"I never thought I would come back here. It's been so long."

She was no expert on the subject, but the view reminded her of how houses look on rocky slopes—that kind of top view, or at least that's how she can describe the structure of the school, like a city built on a mountain. A chaotic mess. Although, considering the limited space Tokyo had for buildings, it made sense that the school was made that way since it's only a front for the real deal.

Cram school, where exorcists are made. The irony of it is that a demon king is running it.

«But I'm not here to meddle with that; even if the Vatican ordered it, I don't need to stick my nose where it's unwanted.»

Swiftly, she locates a door to try and open, drawing out the key supplied by Arthur two days ago. He never told her where it would take her, and she asked more than once, but he just said it would take her to the actual school. Exorcists like her were used to handling several keys; these keys increased depending on their rank since they were given a greater responsibility; moreover, the king of time was in charge of making them, so only those of middle rank and above had access to them. Ever since she became an exorcist, this way of traveling has never ceased to surprise her.

That didn't mean it scared her less, not knowing where it led; even if Arthur said it would take her to cram school, he never specified what part of it exactly.

«I hope I won't be interrupting any lecture.»

She really hates not knowing where she's going.

Slowly, the key turned, pushing the door open, welcomed by blinding sunlight, squinting her greyish-green irises slightly until she could make out her surroundings. The light came from a large window.

Good thing she's wearing her sunglasses; otherwise, the light would overwhelm her senses and sensitive eyes, which would finish badly.

"Avalanna Bran?"

Despite having nearly no interactions, she recognized the owner of the voice. It was none other than Mephisto Pheles, the chairman of True Cross Academy, her new boss, and an exorcist of a higher rank than hers. In other words, Samael is the king of time.

"I've been expecting you." Sitting behind the desk with a classic villain pose accompanied by one closed-lip smirk and piercing green eyes.

Thankfully, she still remembers what he looks like.

"Good afternoon, Lord Pheles, and to answer your question, yes, I am Avalanna Bran, the new teacher. I apologize if I interrupted your work. I did not know the key would take me here." Doing a small reverence while introducing herself, not noticing the demon's pleased grin at her manners. He likes her a little if she's this respectful to him; despite her uptight demeanor, she has other perks aside from the strange politeness one, which is her appearance.

He is a demon, after all. The woman in front of him has an innocent face, yet behind that uniform hides a sinful body. Few women form part of The Order, and he knows about all of them.

«So this is the woman who got a recommendation from the Supreme Advisors of the Vatican.»

Mephisto knows Avalanna is another spy of the Vatican, as if he didn't have enough of that rotten woman threatening him with her sword and that demon-obsessed arc knight. Now, there's a third party, and he knows nearly nothing about them, which irritates him.

However, it's not time for that, not when she's in front of him.

"Please, take a seat, Miss Bran." Gesturing the armchair beside her while still leaning on one of his fists.

"Thank you, Lord Pheles, but I must respectfully decline your offer; I prefer to remain standing. It's more comfortable for me this way." There was no sign of distaste or contempt in her voice, just stubbornness. Although he did not know why she was still wearing those sunglasses inside, daylight wasn't bright enough today to bother her.

Mephisto just shrugged it off, disregarding it completely.

"As you know, starting today, you will be the new teacher for two courses: Magic Circles and Seals, in addition to Potions and Poisons. However, that's not the true motive; they gave you a key to access my office." Now he is analyzing her; he will get his answers, or at least some, or she's not leaving the office. "Tell me, why did the Vatican send The Lady of the Lake here? That's how they call you, no?" His closed smile now reveals his fangs to threaten her.

There may not be enough information about her as an exorcist or before she became one, but the Honorary Knight knows at least that much about her.

"Yes, though I still don't get why they call me that exactly..." Muttering the last part more for herself while looking at the side. "As for why they sent me, I know as much as you, Lord Pheles. They ordered me to report on you and your management of Rin Okumura. Since Miss Kirigakure hasn't said anything for a while, and Mister Light turned his investigation elsewhere." Now, she's looking around the office and notices the rest of the furniture while answering the inquiries of the demon; she's not a fan of eye contact, yet she has to admit Mephisto has a peculiar taste. Who would have thought the devil likes pink? The red was no surprise to her, but pink for someone like him?

«Not like I know him anyway, but I thought a big shot like him would be more menacing.» How wrong of her to assume.

He watches as the woman turns and twirls her head and torso.

«Forget about her being polite.»

It irritates him.

"Miss Bran-

"I can only assume they heard about me applying for the position, and since they didn't get the results they wanted with those two, they sent me.. despite my reluctance." Unaware that she had interrupted him, Avalanna continued inspecting the room. On the other hand, Mephisto was trying not to lose his temper; usually, he had proper control of his sentiments. However, he dislikes feeling ignored, and that's how he feels right now.

"Miss Bran, please look at me while we are talking, and don't interrupt me; I find both actions rude." Flinching at the tone, she did as told and tried to focus her attention somewhere around his face, so it would give the impression she was looking at him in the eyes. Now, without losing his smile, he resumes the conversation. "Reluctance, you say. Hah, Miss Bran, does that mean you don't want to be the Vatican's mole? Why would you tell me that and expect me to believe it?" There was a hint of mockery in his tone, although Avalanna didn't notice.

"Being a mole was never in my plans, I'm not interested in whatever mishap you and the headquarters have." Regardless of the ruthless confession, her voice remained robotic without emotion, perplexing the demon somewhat. "The only reason I'm interested in the job is because I seek another type of information for personal interest. I'm simply following orders, but that doesn't mean I'm committed to the cause." That part caught Mephisto's attention, yet she continued flatly answering. "It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, since, just like me, you are bound to follow orders, Lord Pheles."

«Did she threaten me? Reminding me of my place? HAH!» He tightens the hold on his fists slightly.

Now he's getting pissed, but he needs more information if he wants to get back at her for such disrespect.

"And what type of knowledge are you seeking that led you here? Is it connected with Lightning?" The stinky fellow he was referring to is currently searching more about the Illuminati inside the academy, and judging by how fast Lewin was making progress, soon he'll uncover some secrets.

«But she said it involves that ill-mannered excuse of a demon, yet mentioned Lightning's investigation taking a turn.»

"I have no clue what Lewin Light is doing or inspecting. My research is related to demons, or, to be precise, taming them." Again, blandness in her voice; he could barely read her, and her glasses didn't help either, not to mention the body language could only get him so far.

"Aren't you a Tamer already? That's why they call you Lady of the Lake; after all, your familiars consists mostly of Egyn's kin." Mephisto knows Avalanna Bran is an upper first-class exorcist. Why would someone of her level need to learn more about taming demons? If it was a topic regarding any of her other Meisters, he would understand, yet her wish is to know about taming demons.

Granted, Avalanna is a mystery to him; even for the Paladin and Arc Knights, her whereabouts and missions are an enigma; however, what they know about the lady is the fact she's an exceptional Tamer and unchallenged. Lewin may control quite a handsome number of powerful demons; nonetheless, Avalanna Bran earned her alias through skill alone, to the point that it compensates immensely for her abilities as a Knight and Doctor.

"I still don't understand how the kin of Egyn relates to the moniker..." Mephisto overheard her mumbling under her breath. "Yes, I'm a Tamer, Lord Pheles, but the purpose for which I want to research more about taming demons is because I want to know if there was ever someone else who treated demons with the same kindness as the deceased Yuri Egin." He couldn't see how her hands started to get sweaty at the use of such a heinous name in the history of exorcists.

It's incredible how this woman, during this brief meeting, has accomplished to get diverse reactions out of him. The king of time is intrigued by her words, especially the name that came out of her lips.

"Why would you want to know about a woman who is called a witch? Besides, with what goal in mind are you looking for that info?" He asks to provoke her while leaning his chin on his left hand.

"Lord Pheles, how long are you going to keep this interrogation? I thought today was my first day as an instructor for your students, and I don't wish to be late." For once, there's a hint of emotion in her voice. Irritation.

«Did I strike a nerve?»

"Until you answer me, Miss Bran, and I'm sure I don't have to remind you, but you work for me now, and as your superior, not only inside the Academy, I expect respect from you as an exorcist too."

"Then tell me if you believe she was a witch," Avalanna said, this time staring directly into his eyes, though Mephisto couldn't see it due to her sunglasses. One giveaway for pinpointing demons in 'disguise' is their eyes. Samael, who is standing before her, has green forest eyes with a red ring surrounding his slit pupils. "As far as I know, Yuri Egin was trying to show us another side of demons we haven't explored since we are so narrow-minded. She may be cataloged as a witch for giving birth to Satan spawns, yet that doesn't change the fact she was only showing kindness to demons." Avalanna said with a slight scowl directed at Mephisto, no longer holding eye contact, instead staring at his goatee.

«There's passion in her voice when she talks about the twins' mother, and she gets angry defending Yuri's actions.»

"Compassion aside, it does not change the fact she gave birth to Satan's brats; thanks to it, Satan killed many at the Blue Night. Isn't that enough to fault her?" He moved his head to the side with a genuine interest in her answer, his grin no longer present, which made the ambiance in the room more serious.

"No, it's not." Agitated, she no longer remained standing calmly; instead, she had taken a step forward accompanied by the clack of her heel, her posture rigid, and some shallow breathing could be heard. "Yuri Egin was a tamer like me; she had a different mindset compared to the rest of the demon haters inside the Order." Another step, the movement causing her silvery, spiky hair to flick simultaneously with her body motion, the glasses slipping slightly. "Lord Pheles, you should know better; after all, you are a demon." Hooded greyish hazel eyes were seen for a fleeting second until a hasty move of her hand shielded them again with dark shades. "The headquarters doubt you for being one and misjudge you despite all the help and support you offer. Don't you think it's unfair? Shouldn't you be dissatisfied? By the prejudice you and the rest of your kind receive?"

Avalanna now is only two steps away from the chairman's desk, her hand gestures frantic while pushing answers out of the demon, brows furrowed, and an intense stare he couldn't see.

"Don't compare me with lower demons, Miss Bran. They are below me. So why would you care about it? What is it to you?" A dangerous glint from those acidic green irises accompanied by knitted brows, he was slightly angry by the remark, though that's not the real reason he presented himself like this. Mephisto wants to know the truth.

"Why would I care about it? Because it's wrong, Lord Pheles! Demons aren't slaves! My familiars aren't just tools that I can discard once they do the job! That's not how-

Suddenly, she stopped, her eyes widening as if realizing the outburst. Immediately, she bows down. "I apologize-

Mephisto hides his smirk by putting both hands near his mouth.

"That's not how what? Please continue, Miss Bran. I'm interested in what you have to say." His voice carried some playfulness.

"I apologize, Lord Pheles for raising my voice and losing control. Concerning what I was about to say, please forget about it. Besides, I don't wish to be late for my first class."

She hasn't raised her head, still bowing down with tense muscles.

«Back to the emotionless demeanor I see.»

"Hm, you are right." Snapping his fingers, a cloud of pink smoke envelopes them, and their surroundings change spontaneously.

"Mephisto, why are you here?" Shouted angrily, one student jumped from his seat.

"Lord Pheles, what brings you here?" A male voice in a calm, serious tone asked. Avalanna could see a mouth moving and some moles, except the full picture wasn't showing.

"Yeah, you are interrupting my class!" Not a high pitch, nonetheless, it was a bold feminine voice that shouted those words, plump lips, and purple eyes, the same outcome as the boy (she still has a bit of a hard time discerning the age of others). She couldn't complete the puzzle.

Avalanna does not know who they are; not even their voices ring a bell.

«Damn it.»

She knew it would happen! But she thought her new boss would call a meeting to introduce each member of the staff to her! She should have known they didn't call Mephisto Pheles a clown for nothing. The demon just poofed them both inside a classroom, earning everyone's attention.

Sure, she knows the names of most exorcists actively working; even so, if she can't put a face to the name, there's no meaning to it. The woman turned her head to the side and bit her inner lip, clenching and unclenching her fists that were on her back.

"Mister Okumura, I'm here to give an announcement to all of you. Miss Kirigakure will no longer be teaching Magic Circles and Seals; instead, she'll be focusing solely on Swordsmanship and Combat Techniques." Mephisto stated this while standing in front of her as if trying to cover her appearance from the audience in the room.

Yukio said nothing and kept arranging his stuff so he could depart, briefly glancing at the woman behind Mephisto. Shura, on the other hand, didn't hide her curiosity and inquired.

"Not like I'm complaining, but shouldn't you be telling me that beforehand? Besides that, why the change?"

"Yeah, I thought Shura was covering for Lightning!" That voice...hmm. The silvery-haired woman takes a whiff of air, causing her pupils to expand and return to their size.

«I don't know who he is, but he smells like a demon. Someone else besides him has the same scent...»

Does that mean the twins are here?

"Are we getting a replacement soon, Lord Pheles?" A new female voice made the question to the principal.

"Ms. Bran will continue the work Mr. Neuhauss was previously doing with all of you. As you know, Ms. Kirigakure took that charge, and after her came Mr. Light. However, he can no longer impart this class due to other matters, but Ms. Bran will now aid her by teaching Magic Circles and Seals along with Potions and Poisons." Explained Mephisto while gesturing towards her with a sharp grin to the audience surrounding him.

Before the demon could add anything else, she spoke.

"As Lord Pheles said, I'm your new instructor, and I'll specifically be taking charge of both your magic circles and potions studies while at the same time helping train the Tamers of this class." She said in a monotone voice while putting away her sunglasses for the first time, revealing her dulled green orbs along with the slight dark circles surrounding them.

Shura narrowed her eyes, and Rin raised an eyebrow at her statement. Everyone was watching her. Without blinking, she said.

"Miss Kamiki, Miss Moriyama, please take one step forward."

Kamiki, even though she's unaware of who it is, did as ordered, her exterior reflecting calmness. In contrast, Shiemi felt somewhat overwhelmed and clumsily took one step forward.

"Now, Lord Pheles, if you could take us to the training grounds, please."

Intrigued by her actions, he ignored the fact that she just ordered him and did as she asked.

"Einz,"

"Zwei,"

"Drei!"

Another pink puff of smoke brought them to their destination, the same place where they received their P.E. class with Sideburns. Everyone got transported there, even Yukio, whose class was over. There was a reason for it.

«Purple hair and small chest. Blonde with a large chest.»

The new teacher approached each girl and gave each one a paper summoning circle as well as a needle.

"Get your familiars out, I want to test you." Both girls summoned their familiars without hesitation.

"I genuinely call the Deities of Harvest. Follow my wishes, leave none unfulfilled!"

"Nee-chan, come out, come out wherever you are!"

«Byakko and a Greenman.»

Not bad.

"Now, heed my warning, just because I'm testing you doesn't mean I'll be soft with you, so be prepared."

Avalanna took out an earbud on one ear, keeping the box inside her coat's pocket. The familiar sensation made her release a soft sigh, and the music soothed her senses somewhat.

She took off the coat, throwing it away in the process, not even bothered by the risk of dirtying it.

'Overnight'

Without that layer of cloth, what lies underneath it could be seen, exposing her arms covered with tattoed magic circles, yet her gloved hands remained to be seen.

'Making'

"Eerie cries of the dreadful night, Nue. For all who behold its eyes perished, Basilisk. A nocturnal giant of death, Nachtkrapp. Tread on serpents and scorpions."

'The world'

When those words left her mouth, the three creatures attacked, and she joined them.

'My'

Avalanna jumped at the summoner of the Byakko while the chimera charged at the other girl, leaving the reptilian to slither their way towards Mike and Uke, along with the ebony bird whose target was Nee.

'Own'

"W-Wait!" But the woman didn't stop, and by luck, Izumo dodged her gloved fist, aimed at her lower face around her jaw.

"Shiemi!" Shouted Rin, running towards the blonde girl without thinking, saving her from the attack of Nue. However, Shiemi didn't make it unscathed and got a cut on her left shoulder made by the claws of the chimera. Rin growled at the monkey-faced demon at the sight of Shiemi's blood.

"What are you doing?! This goes beyond testing us!" Izumo screams at Avalanna, angered by the situation, Rin supports her claim.

"Hey, that wasn't a test!"

"In a real fight out there, you can't depend solely on your familiar to protect you, even if you have more than one; you must learn how to fend off on your own," Avalanna answers them both while grabbing the blade attached to her hip, unsheathing the sword, a maken. "Professionals know this, and that's why they take more than one Meister to protect themselves and fellow exorcists. It's true, that exorcists work in groups as a team; nevertheless, you never know what will happen on the field." Pointing the sword at the boy who held the blonde girls in his arms, his scent was putrid like sulfur. "That's why I'm attacking you while our familiars fight each other. Who is to say the enemy won't overwhelm you with their numbers? Or that they won't defeat your familiars easily? What guarantees you another demon won't harm you?" She wasn't looking at any of them and stared at random spots of dirt on the floor, swinging the maken with graceful expertise despite using such motions as a distraction for herself. "What will that make you if not defenseless?" She stops her actions, causing the blade to land and point at Izumo. "If Lord Pheles, Mr. Okumura, or Ms. Kirigakure thought it was dangerous, they would have intervened already."

The three that were mentioned remained silent at her comment since it was true. Konekomaru trembled slightly at the sight of the three demons the woman summoned; Bon stared agape at the scene since he just heard the woman use a simplified chant to order those demons; Shima felt a little intimidated by the new teacher, although he kept thinking she was another babe like Shura.

«A new piece arrived at my side of the board, I can already see you'll be much fun, Avalanna Bran.»

----------

<< Prologue - Chapter 2 >>

Yeah that's Qveen Herby song from tiktok. Anyway, regarding the prologue, like I said, I added a bit of my own world-building stuff; for example, the word 'Praise' is a way to thank spirits. I just wanted to say it in case someone felt curious about it.

Here's where I'm going to explain a few things.

Avalanna has a hard time remembering and putting together faces, so if you were wondering how she knew who Izumo and Shiemi were, she distinguished them by their clothes and other features, such as hair color. Another thing is how she knows who Yukio is. Well, she just heard Mephisto refer to Yukio as Mr. Okumura, so she remembered that piece of information.

Plus, as part of my world-building shit, I use chants as a way to communicate stuff better with demons. Example: When Avalanna says, 'Tread on serpents and scorpions' she means to crush them under your feet, in other words, 'Attack'.

Now that that's out of the way, I feel insecure about the way I'm portraying the characters, to be honest, besides the fact that I fear people won't give a shit about Avalanna or any of the stuff I have planned to adapt the world-building ideas I have in order to expand Blue Exorcist's stuff we already know about but don't have enough information on.

So I guess tell me what you think in the comments, please.

[thebibliomancer]

Universe X #8

Cover featuring black panther Black Panther, Queen Storm, albino Beast, and T’Challa’s animal pals.

Black Panther hasn’t been in Earth or Universe X much. He showed up in the first series to refuse to give Captain America the cosmic cube back. He also had some humanimal pals, who were a unique example of the Terrigen working on regular animals. Maybe.

Anyway, cosmic cubes, amirite? They’re a big part of this issue.

The opening exposition dump is handled by Aaron Stack and Nighthawk. Since Gargoyle wandered off to try to unmake a deal with the devil.

Earth X posited a hierarchy of evolution from Celestial meddling. Stage 1 is like Earth. Random superpowers. Stage 2 is like the Skrulls. Uniform power that tends to be control over the body. Mr Fantastic was used as an example of what everyone would be like when humanity progressed to stage 2. Stage 3 is like the Asgardians. Incredibly powerful reality warpers who are constrained by being highly suggestible to outside perception. The Asgardians are stuck in the forms and narratives of Norse mythology because some old skald was their first contact on Earth.

The Aaronhawk exposition dump so posits that the Skrulls attempts to make a cosmic cube, which resulted in the Shaper of Worlds, made a stage 3 Skrull. But also, the cosmic cube AIM made later was also a Skrull so maybe all Skrulls are secretly stage 3, shrug emoji.

I’m a little annoyed that Earth X made this big unifying theory and now Universe X is changing things in it.

I didn’t love everything Earth X did but I had to admire the work it went to tie everything together. But now more things are getting added into that framework and seemingly to make them fit requires previously established things to be readjusted.

The exposition dump also posits that the Supreme Intelligence was a Kree attempt to make a cosmic cube that was less of a dick and more democratically minded. And one out of three accomplished.

All of this cosmic cube exposition is because Mar-Vell is on his way to Wakanda to gather the one Steve left there and Aaron is wondering whether Mar-Vell should have all that power he’s gathering.

Instead of doing anything about it, Aaron and Nighthawk go to find Gargoyle and find him dying for some reason as Mephisto refuses to reverse their deal.

Alas, poor asshole.

Then of all the deep cuts, Ransak the Reject, the Deviant Who Is Too Conventionally Attractive pops up at Daredevil’s circus to demand to know where Reed Richards is.

I have no idea when this happens because fairly shortly in the narration, Ransak will be in Latveria and Daredevil will be in New York.

I don’t know why it happens, except maybe to force Daredevil into the narrative. The writer seems a lot more enamored with him than I do.

Although, I have to admit that him standing up to Mr Church’s mob precisely because Mr Church promises to kill him if he resists…

That almost wins me over.

Gotta love a man who seeks his bliss and how entertainingly wrong Angel is about the situation going on.

Angel is in a dour mood overall. The New York Human Torch is on the verge of being overtaken by Immortus’ mob. Iceman is buying time with an ice wall but it doesn’t seem like the defenders will last the day.

By the way. Everybody keeps yelling at Bobby for trying to lighten the mood. Let him cope!

You’re all about to die, probably! Let him be a goofus as long as he’s doing his part, which he is!

There’s better news out of Latveria. Despite the head of Creel and the time platform being stolen. Despite Reed, Sue, and the Thing’s two children being cornered by the mob.

Ransak and a group of people who WANT Reed to cure them of their mutations show up to save him.

So THAT’S why demon man in shorts.

(Ransak wasn’t even mutated by the Terrigen bomb. He’s always been the one Deviant guy who is too conventionally attractive and unhappy about it. I guess he figures if Reed can fix the mass Terrigen mutations, he can fix his problem too. I’m just happy to see him. He’s the bestworse.)

Sue and Reed: resigned that their lives are just the same shit over and over.

It’s not like death is an escape in this universe. The afterlife is just eternal fighting but you think you’re alive and that the alive are dead.

It sucks so no wonder Mar-Vell wants to kill Death to death.

Thanks to the Earth’s axial tilt being fucked, all of Africa is frozen. Except for Wakanda, thanks to its shields.

Mar-Vell has gone to Wakanda to ask for the cosmic cube. T’Challa didn’t give it to Steve and he doesn’t intend to give it to Mar-Vell either. But lil Bruce arguing that Steve died to help Mar-Vell collect stuff at least convinces T’Challa to let the group stay so they can discuss further.

So things really seem to be cascading towards something. Which means it’s a good time to go to one of those wacky Universe X Specials instead! Womp womp!

[another-lost-mc]

feel the heat: newspaper club edition

mephistopheles turns to you in a moment of desperation.

pairing: mephistopheles x afab!reader

content: nsfw. explicit smut. poly!reader, demon heat/rut cycles mentioned. demon form!mephisto. derogatory language, cursing, sexting/dick pics, first time, frenemies to lovers.

word count: 3.3k

feel the heat series: the demon brothers | the royals edition

You passed Mephisto in one of the hallways of RAD long after classes ended for the day. You were on your way to the student council chambers, and you guessed he was on his way to the Newspaper Club office. He was distracted and walked right into you. He hissed when you made contact with his chest, and he skittered back like you burned him.

You're surprised by the anger in his eyes, but there’s sweat beading along his hairline and he’s panting. You recognize the dark haze clouding his vision, and you try not to stare at the outline of his half-hard cock in his pants. 

Your voice is almost shrill when you ask why he’s still on campus when he’s obviously unwell. He shouldn’t be here in his condition, and you tell him that, as kindly as you can.

He clenches his jaw and grits out that it’s none of your business.

Fair enough, but he’s the one who was stupid to come to campus like this. 

He looks insulted when you ask him if he has someone to help him with his little problem, and he glares at you. 

You offer to help him if he has no one else, and his stunned expression would be hilarious if it were any other circumstance.

He spits more venom at you about how you’re just some meddling human pest and how he wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty by touching you. He nearly shoves past you as he carries on to finish whatever’s brought him back to school in this very volatile state.

You’re not sure what to think, and you know your concern for him is unwanted. You stare at his back as he stalks away, but he doesn’t spare you another glance. He turns the corner and disappears from view, and you listen to the sound of his boot heels clicking on the floor until you hear nothing. It’s like he was never there; he leaves no trace of his presence behind except for the sting you feel from his rejection.

It’s a few hours later when you’ve settled in for the evening and try to forget what happened earlier. You’re watching a movie in your room when your phone buzzes beside you. You’re not sure who’s texting you at this late hour. It can’t be one of the demon brothers - they would just let themselves into your room if they wanted to see you.

You certainly don’t expect to see the name that flashes across your screen.

Mephistopheles: If I send a car for you, will you come?

You can’t contain the surprised laugh that bubbles out of you, because it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever said to you. Why would he do that now, after his scathing response to your offer earlier?

You point out how much of a hypocrite he’s being and ask what his problem is. He might be hot and you might want to get to know him better, but you also know that you deserve more respect than the less-than-bare minimum he’s shown you.

Mephistopheles: You’re annoying and you get on my nerves, and you’re stubborn and naïve and so painfully human it hurts to look at you. 

You: Okay…?

Mephistopheles: And I see the way you walk around RAD, sashaying those fucking hips. I hate the way your ass fills out your uniform. And you’re so clumsy! Do you constantly drop things so everyone has to see the way your perfect fucking tits strain the buttons of your blouse when you bend over?

Mephistopheles: Do you know how tempting it is to push you over a desk and fuck some sense into you when you’re too cheeky for your own good?

Mephistopheles: I’ve spent all fucking night thinking about your lips around my cock. I hate how much I want you.

Mephistopheles: I want you. I want—fuck.

Your eyes widen with each message he sends. Your throat’s gone bone-dry and suddenly it feels a little warm in your room.

His next message contains a photo. 

He’s laying on a bed in a dark room. He’s still in his RAD uniform, but his pants are loose around his hips and his fly is down. His hand - his bare hand, glove tossed aside carelessly - is wrapped around his cock. It looks painfully hard, and there’s a thick stream of cum dribbling from the tip. It looks like he’s come more than once already in an attempt to find relief on his own, like he has a craving only you can satisfy.

You wish you could tell him to fuck off and invest in a good fleshlight if he wants to get off so badly.

You wish you could forget about his filthy admittance of how he thinks about you while he jerks off, and how he’s practically begging you to come fuck his brains out.

You wish you could go to bed and forget this ever happened, but you know you’ll be fucking yourself on your fingers while you stare at the picture of his cock and regret not accepting this very tempting offer.

You wish you were stronger than this, but you’re not - not when you’ve wanted him for so long, and now he’s finally giving you a chance.

You: I’ll be waiting outside in five minutes.

Mephistopheles: The car is already on its way.

Arrogant prick, you think to yourself, but you have to bite the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from smiling.

The ride to Mephisto’s grand estate isn’t as awkward as you think it will be. The car he promised arrives moments after you step outside, and the driver says nothing about your attire when he opens the door for you. You’re still wearing the t-shirt and loose sleep pants you planned to wear to bed. You didn’t see any point in dressing up for the occasion - you won’t be wearing your clothes for long, anyway.

When you arrive, the driver opens the door and offers you his hand. He tells you where you can find Mephisto - up the main staircase, the room at the end of the hall to your left. The house is quiet and you don’t see or hear anyone else, but you assume his family is giving him space and privacy to deal with his heat how he sees fit.

(You’re not sure you want to introduce yourself as his booty call when you’re wearing pajamas, so you think it’s for the best.)

It wouldn’t be difficult to find his room even without directions. When you reach the second floor, the air feels thick around you, like a warm fog. Mephisto’s natural scent and the spicy traces of his cologne grow stronger with each step you take and it leads you right to his bedroom door. 

You can hear the faint sound of bed springs squeaking inside his room and animalistic grunts that punctuate the rhythmic slick stroking sounds of skin-against-skin. The noises stop abruptly when you knock. There’s a rumbling purr just on the other side of the door, and when it opens suddenly, he pulls you inside.

Mephisto crowds your back against the door and it slams shut behind you. He’s still wearing his uniform slacks, but at some point he removed his shirt. His bare chest is sweaty, and his belly and pelvis are slick from when he jerked himself off for relief before you arrived. He’s never looked so sloppy before, but there's something gratifying about seeing the real him and not the perfect, superior demon he pretends to be.

You brush your hand through his sweat-soaked hair to sweep it away from his eyes, and he groans and leans into your touch. He buries his face into the crook of your neck while his hands explore your body over your clothes. He sniffs at your skin like he’s trying to breathe you into his lungs, and he licks over your pulse point.

“You came,” his lust-thickened voice rumbles close to your ear, and your shiver while you stroke his naked back.

“I did.”

He leans stares into your eyes. They’re blown black with lust, but you feel seen by him. “S-stay?” he stutters like he’s having difficulty speaking, but you know what he’s really asking you.

“As long as you want me to,” you murmur before you lean forward to kiss him gently, almost nervously because you’re not sure if he’ll reject you even in his heat. But he doesn’t - he leans into the kiss and whimpers against your lips before he pulls away.

One of his hands slides under the waistband of your pajama bottoms, and you gasp when two of his fingers drag across your slit. You didn’t realize how soaked you were until he touched you. His fingers stroke between your entrance and your clit, not focused on pleasuring you exactly, but more likely he’s surprised - and flattered - that you want him this badly.

“So wet,” he moans against your skin, and he grinds his cock against you, making a total mess of your shirt. 

You can’t help but breathe out an airy chuckle as his fingers continue to stroke you. “You have a filthy mouth on you when you’re horny,” and you cup his cheek. He huffs in amusement but doesn’t deny it.

He explores you a little more, but then he withdraws his hands from between your legs abruptly. You nearly whine at the lost contact, but he holds his fingers up for both of you to see. They’re glistening with your slick and the smell of your arousal hangs heavy in the air between you. You would be embarrassed if not for the way Mephisto sniffs the air and licks his lips. He holds your gaze as he pops his fingers into his mouth and sucks them clean. 

You bite your lip to keep from moaning, but it doesn't completely silence the aroused noise you make. He’s filthy and gorgeous, and his mouth hangs open like he still can’t believe you’re really here. His eyes lack the bitter disapproval he normally shows you, and you know that at least for tonight, he wants you just the way you are.

In a sudden wave of confidence, you reach for the hem of your shirt and pull it over your head quickly. You let it drop to the floor, and you try not to squirm too much when his hungry gaze trails down your body so he can stare at your breasts. He reaches for you and cups each of them in his large palms. His touch is gentle and exploratory, and he sighs while he squeezes the soft flesh. He pinches one of your nipples and you gasp. His eyes snap back to yours, and he does it again; you arch your back into his touch, a silent plea for more.

He steps closer and bends his head low so he can lick at your breasts. He swirls his tongue around each of your nipples and you cradle his head to your chest so he knows you like it. He draws one hardened nipple between his lips and sucks on it gently, and he pinches the other with his fingers.

It’s a wonderfully delightful sensation of pleasure with just the hint of pain, especially when he pinches too hard when you moan loudly into his ear. He hums around your nipple just to see if you’ll moan for him again - of course you do - and he growls his satisfaction. One of his fangs brushes against the sensitive skin of your breast, and you know he won’t hurt you, but the reminder of his demonic nature and inherent power leaves you breathless.

Desire rolls off him in waves, but you’re on the verge of begging him to fuck you. His cock throbs and twitches against your hip when he grinds against you, and you know you’re dripping-wet for him. His earlier teasing did nothing to quell the throb of your clit and you feel desperate for some kind of friction. Every time he moans or grunts as he fondles your body or plays with your breasts, your walls clench uselessly around nothing.

He grins when he realizes your growing desire mirrors his own. His mouth trails between the valley of your breasts and up your neck. The path is littered with tiny marks he's nibbled or sucked into your skin. His hands slide under the waistband of your pants and over the curve of your ass. He gropes you, squeezing and kneading your body greedily, and he drags you closer. 

“Need you,” his deep voice rasps against your ear. As soon as you nod because you need him too, he slides your pants over your hips so they fall down your legs and pool at your feet. You step out of them gingerly and head towards his bed, but you realize he isn’t following you.

The question you're about to ask dies in your throat when you look over your shoulder. He’s standing eerily still by the door, and his eyes are staring at you so intently that you feel vulnerable. His hungry gaze roams up and down your body, and you can see his eyes linger on your face, your breasts, and the mound between your legs. You guess that strange feeling of being watched a few moments ago was him staring at your ass, too. 

Mephisto loosens his pants so they fall down his legs, then he slides his boxer briefs off too. He straightens and rolls his shoulders. There’s a hum of energy and within the blink of an eye, his horns and tail have emerged. You try not to gape openly at his demonic form but you’ve never seen him properly before.

He’s beautiful, and you want him.

You sit on the edge of his bed, and you both stare at each other. His tail flicks behind him and you can hear him purring deep within his chest. You spread your legs wide and ignore the way embarrassment burns your cheeks. He moves quicker than your eyes can track, and he’s suddenly standing between your legs and staring down at you with so much hunger you can hardly breathe.

He leans forward and clasps your shoulders with his hands, and he urges you to lay down. His hands trail over your body and he slides them under the curve of your ass and up your thighs. He maneuvers your body how he wants you until your legs dangle over his shoulders. You’re utterly trapped beneath him while he kneels on the edge of the mattress.

One of his hands holds your hips down to keep you steady while the other guides his cock through your folds. He drags himself up and down your slit, and you moan quietly when he brushes across your clit with the slightest bit of pressure. He does it again, and you whimper.

“Please,” you whisper, and you’re reduced to begging now. You were promised a thorough fucking, and you feel like you’re about to lose your mind.

He’s the one in heat. He’s the one that should be begging to be fucked, not you.

There’s something predatory in the way he tilts his head and watches you beg for his cock, and his body grows completely still. When he snarls and buries himself to the hilt in one rough stroke, you choke on your cry as your body stretches around his cock.

Oh, you never should have doubted him.

He's relentless when he fucks you, and his pace is fast and brutal. He takes you with powerful strokes that punch the air from your lungs. The rough drag of his cock brushing over that spot inside you has you keening every time he thrusts inside with a sharp snap of his hips.

His eyes are nearly eclipsed by his blown black pupils and he pants loudly from the exertion and pleasure of finally claiming you. His bedroom fills with the wet, obscene sounds of his skin slapping against yours and your wet hole squelching around his cock.

He can’t seem to decide where he wants to look. His eyes flicker between your mouth and your bouncing breasts, then he finally looks down so he can watch his cock glide in and out of your body. His cock is coated in your creamy slick, and he growls with satisfaction when he sees your arousal leak from your hole and spread messily across your skin. 

He’s gripping your thigh so tightly that you think - you hope - his fingertips will leave bruises later. His other hand guides your hip back and forth in time with his thrusts so he can bury himself deeper every time his cock slams inside you. 

Your hands are clenched in his sheets. You’re powerless to do anything else but arch your back and cry your pleasure while he fucks through the haze of his heat.

His movements grow more desperate and he's losing his rhythm - you think he’s getting close. He’s still staring at the junction between your bodies, mesmerized by the sight of his cock claiming you over and over and over. 

Your clit throbs as your own desire threatens to consume you, and you reach down with one hand so you can stroke yourself in time with his thrusts. You tilt your head back and your moans grow louder, and you start chanting his name breathlessly as pleasure courses through your veins. Your fingers massage your clit faster because you’re so close you can almost taste it. Your body shakes, but he’s holding you so desperately that it keeps you grounded. You feel your walls flutter around him as the first waves of your release start to crash over you—

A loud growl startles you, and you open your eyes and stare up at him. He was watching himself fucking his cock into you with abandon; now, his heady gaze is locked onto yours. His body is trembling nearly as much as yours is, and he grits his teeth and bares his fangs at you. 

“Come for me,” he rasps, "come on my cock." It’s the hottest thing you’ve ever heard, and there’s no possible way you can deny him that, not when you’re still touching yourself and you’re right there on the edge—

He fucks you through your orgasm, delaying his own pleasure so he can revel in the feeling of your walls squeezing him even tighter than before. You let your hand fall away from your clit, and you blink at him with watery eyes and pouty lips. He finally spills himself inside you, claiming the deepest parts of your body for himself. He pants loudly as his hips come to a stuttering halt and the aftershocks of your orgasm milk his cock dry.

You feel exhausted and weightless and pleasantly full. You raise your arms high over your head and arch your back into a delightful stretch. The sweat on your back makes his sheets stick to your skin, and you squirm a bit on his cock. You gasp when you realize he’s still completely hard inside you, and his grip on your body tightens when you try to shimmy away.

“More,” he mutters harshly under his breath, and his smirk turns feral. His eyes are still black and hazy from his heat. He reaches for your hand and guides it back down between your legs. He laces his fingers through yours and slides them through your sticky, wet folds. Your fingertips graze the base of his cock that’s still sheathed inside you and he moans. He moves your hand back up to brush against your clit and he moves his hand away when you start touching yourself again.

You exhale a shaky sigh and rub lazy circles around your sensitive clit. He looks so pleased with your obedience that it makes your cheeks burn from his unspoken praise.

He can't kiss you in this position, but he turns his head and nips at the skin of your leg still draped over his shoulder. It feels like a filthy, silent promise that he'll never go through his heat again without you.

He starts rocking back into you, slower and more gently than before, and you roll your hips to encourage him. You whimper his name and he starts to move in earnest.

It's not long before he consumes you once again, and all you can see and feel and hear is him.

read more: mephistopheles masterlist | obey me! masterlist

[eldritchaccident]

Timing: April 11th Location: The Party Thrifter Feat: @amonstrousdream & @eldritchaccident Warnings: None! It's very cute! Summary: Teddy brings donuts and hot gossip to Leila

If there were more cursed items in her store, Leila was not certain. 

Within days, she had to deal with murderous turtlenecks, personality changing gamblers hats, and suitcases that held alternate dimensions within them. On their own, that would be a little much for anyone to deal with. Paired with new friendships and relationships that were still defining themselves? Well, that was just downright stressful. 

She was working on a new list of potentially magical items when she heard the doorbell give a cheery little jingle, alerting her that she had company. Leila gave an obligatory glance upward for hardly a moment to voice a “Welcome in,” before ducking back down. Pants from the 70s, no signs of possession, no serious enchantment when worn, simply felt happy and had an overwhelming need to listen to ABBA or Queen. If that was all those pants did, she might keep them for herself for a rainy day. After all, they did fit her quite well… 

It wasn’t until after the figure had walked further into the shop that she recognized the shock of pink hair and the easy smile. “Hi Teddy,” Her shoulders relaxed and the painted on grin became more genuine, if a bit tired. Whoever had made it so that mares could not sleep had severely misjudged just how stressful it was to be undead. “Here for your shirts?”

All things considered, Teddy Jones made out like a bandit with that last escapade. No one even got hurt. And Teddy got a new deal out of it. Not a deal-deal but something the Jones family could profit off of nonetheless. If Leila's shop was a beacon for cursed objects, Mephisto's was going to have a whole new section pretty soon. Excellent. 

The giddy demon strode down the way, ignoring the way their bones ached with the changing of the weather. Nothing could bring them down. Not then. Teddy was normally a pretty chipper thing, but between the cross store team up and the meddling they were very much about to continue with Leila, it was shaping up to be an amazing week all around. Could even excuse the attempted murderer and subsequent sea monster healing period. It was great. 

"Hey there sweets! Shirts, pants, hats, whatever you got!" 

—

Teddy Jones was a delight to have in the shop on any day. She couldn’t remember exactly when they had started showing up at The Party Thrifter, but since the store’s opening, Teddy had become a regular and a welcome guest. She pushed herself up from her place on the floor, surrounded by piles of clothing to go properly greet her guest. 

“A little bit of everything, got it.” At least they weren’t asking about the chaotic events that transpired the last time they had graced the shop with their presence. At least they weren’t asking about Metzli. Light. Easy. “I meant to mention it the other day, but I really do love the new color.” Leila gave a little jerk of her chin, motioning up towards the top of her friend’s head. “You always look so cool. In my next life, I need to take a page out of your styling book.” If she had to leave Wicked’s Rest and recreate herself again, maybe she’d dye her hair purple. Just the ends, though. Nothing too crazy. 

Her gaze fluttered about the shop as if she were trying to locate something before “Ah-”. Leila marched over to a stack of clothing she had been pulling and setting aside, all with the distinct fashion taste of the customer she had grown to know so well. “I saw these, thought you might like to take a look through...”

“Oh! Before I forget, your jelly donuts madame–” Teddy moved closer, rounding the rack of clothing to show off the box of treats they presented as if they were crown jewels. The various donuts were rings of delight. Well. The non-filled ones anyway. Teddy sure was itching to talk about all that had transpired, but they were a good guest and would wait until it was brought up naturally. Always so considerate, that demon. 

“Sweets, you’re too good to me. I like to change it up a lot, but the pink is really nice, gotta say it’s in the top three colors I’ve ever worn.” It definitely helped that Teddy didn’t really have to go through the trouble of actually picking, mixing, and applying dye just to get a color that might not be exactly what they imagined. No, they just had to re-build their body from the ground up. Imagining all the bits they’d like to have different this time. Of course, it couldn’t be too different, people might get a little suspicious then. Even in a town like this. 

The pile of neatly folded clothes immediately drew Teddy’s eye the second it was brought to their attention. The demon melted into a gleeful dance, quickly finding a stable enough surface to lay the box down so they could start rifling through the selections. “Leila! You’ve outdone yourself.” 

A whole dozen donuts sat in the box, sugary and fresh and delicious. She had smelled them when Teddy waltzed through her door, but hadn’t said a word. Smelling a box of donuts from that distance would have been strange to say the least, and while she was fairly certain that they wouldn’t hold a little strangeness against her, Leila wasn’t in the mood to chance it. 

“Have I told you lately that you are the absolute best?” The mare chirped as she took the box and practically danced it over to the counter. Lemon meringue donut first. She plucked it up as if it were the most precious thing in the world before taking a bite and letting the sugary rush akin to dreams crash into her. “God, that is good…”

Leila perched herself up on the counter’s edge, kicking her legs with childlike glee as she happily munched away at her donut. “I do try… otherwise, why would you keep coming in? Consider this an apology for yesterday’s chaos.”

“I could always stand to hear it more.” A kind of sing-songy lilt carried the words from the scrounger at Mt. Clothing. Doing their damndest to act like a miner combing through the valuable ore for the diamonds. Only it seemed the entire pile was rare and shiny goods. Rather than just a few. Really took all the work of going to a thrift store out of it, which was excellent. Teddy liked shopping, sure, but this seemed so much more personal. Like a hug from the store itself. Collaborative. 

The demon smiled, turning with a swish as they held up a paisley number that looked straight out of the 70’s. Long and kind of a tunic, kind of a dress. That beautiful androgynous style that the hippies co-opted and went wild with. “This one might be my favorite of the bunch. But they are all perfect” Teddy grinned, this one was absolutely going in regular rotation. Maybe with that little belt and– Oh right. C’mon Jones. Pay attention. 

“Well I’d come in for the lovely company and your impeccable taste in music.” Teds laid the clothes down (with a great amount of reverence) and waltzed over to the counter. Draping themselves on their elbows and plucking up one of the other donuts to munch on. “Nah but, you are so sweet. It’s no wonder Metz likes you so much.” 

She swore she was in donut heaven. The lemony, fluffy thing she was trying not to cram into her face in three large bites. Leila had always had a bit of a sweet tooth, but ever since her change from life to death, desserts had become a survival mechanism. The sweetness of the sugar was the closest thing in terms of mortal food to a dream. When she couldn’t (or wouldn’t) dine on dreamers, she turned to the nearest candy store or bakery. 

Leila raised food-dreamy eyes to look at Teddy, who had found the paisley piece she’d snuck into the middle of the pile. A grin blossomed across her face at their joy. “I thought you might like that one. Plus, it compliments your eyes.”

She damn near choked on the last of her donut at their mention of Metzli. If she were alive, her cheeks might have gone scarlet. The mare could only pray they didn’t start shimmering like a diamond. Leila gave their arm a playful whack and shook her head. “They do not like me, Ted.” 

Teddy hummed into their choice of pastry, apple, just like they’d said online. Getting a little of the good good goo on their mustache in the process. A snack for later perhaps? Or just something to be noticed by a good friend. Or as close to one as Teddy really had. There were a number of folks in town Teds considered friends, but that wasn’t like capital F ‘Friends’. Something they weren’t sure they’d ever really achieve. But Leila was lovely, and a pleasure to be around. So they’d enjoy it while it lasted. 

“Aww, charmer. With or without the glasses?” With a waggle of their brows, the demon leaned in. Peering over the lenses just enough for their eyes would still look big and brown rather than the strange dark inky color with a bright teal pupil at their center they normally were. Occasionally when the mood struck, they did shift enough to actually hide their more sea-worthy bits. Enough to go out in public and dissuade people from thinking that they had something to keep secret. 

“Oh yeah? Survey says otherwise.” They were close enough now for a wink and a nudge. “Trust me, I know these kinds of things. Also in addition to Spanish, French, Ancient Latin, Korean, and a bunch of others, I speak the language of loooove.” 

“Both. I am the master of pairing people with clothing for all situations, sweetheart.” She chuckled and wiped at the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. If she wouldn’t look entirely ridiculous, Leila would have immediately snatched up another donut to bite into. Patience, it is a virtue… she heard her mother’s voice chide in her mind in a long ago echo. “Heads up: You’ve got a lil apple, there…” She motioned with her thumb to their mustache. 

The mare rolled her eyes and shook her head. Nope, no, impossible. Teddy may have been a master of several languages, even love, but Leila wasn’t someone who got a romantic happy ending. Or even a little romance. She was a nightmare: she fluttered about from place to place in an attempt to preserve herself, and that was that. Metzli called her ‘friend’. That was enough. Besides- she had seen their post. They didn’t want to ruin a friendship, and there was someone they already liked. 

“The Survey of Teddy? Total number of surveyors, one?” Leila sighed a little and bowed her head. “They are my friend, and that’s all…” She pushed away the disappointment that followed that statement. “Besides, there’s already someone they’re fond of.”

The apple remained, as it would until the matter at hand had been settled. Teddy rolled back into their shoulders, bobbing with the sudden laughter that overtook them. “Stars in the sky– You two are exactly the same.” Once again, shared in that oldest of tongues. Only a Jones could understand the words, but the tone and exasperated smile were enough to convey the meaning. The giggling fit that shook them soon subsided, leaving a friendly gaze with just a hint of loving judgment. 

“Lei, hun, I wouldn’t be bringing this up so much if it wasn’t so obvious. It’s you. You are the one they like. They are just too scared to do anything about it ‘cause they think they’re gonna ruin something somehow. You guys gotta communicate, babe.” Teddy took a finger full of jam and booped Leila on the nose. The bright red mark as clear to Ted as the emotions both the (probably) undead dears ‘tried’ to keep hidden. 

“Both of you are so worried about making the first move. You like them don’t you? And I know they like you. Verbal confirmation. Scout’s honor.” Okay so the demon had never been a scout, but Leila didn’t need to know that. “I could set something upppp if you don’t wanna???” 

Teddy shook with laughter in a language unknown to her. She felt a bit silly, though she knew their laughter held no malice in it. Just a tiny hint of judgement tinged with friendly love. While it was obvious to Teddy that Metzli was supposedly in love with her, it wasn’t obvious to Leila. She sighed heavily and head drop back to stare at the ceiling.

“Impossible,” she muttered under her breath. Because it was. It simply was. “They only want a friend.” She said, a sad certainty settling over her. “Why in the world would they be inter-“ Teddy booped her nose, promptly shutting her up. The smell of strawberry jam was utterly intoxicating. 

Did she like them? As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Leila was slowly coming to the conclusion that Teddy was right. She did like Metzli. At least, probably more than a friend should. “Right, they like me as a friend, Ted.” They had to have misconstrued… right?  “What if they go out with me and then don’t like me, and I lose a friend?”

Sometimes, to put some good out in the world you had to work at it. Sow the seeds so you could reap the reward when the harvest came. Other times you had to chip away at a mountain of self doubt and almost willful blindness to something that was clear as the waters in the Bahamas. If Teddy didn't like Leila so much, if Metzli hadn't been to fun to poke around with, maybe they would have lost interest by now. But at this point it was starting to feel like a personal sleight that neither was taking the hint. 

"Leila." Teddy straightened up, placed a hand on either of the woman's shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "I would not lie to you." To many others, sure, but not her. "So listen to me when I say, Metzli had the exact same worry. Cares about you in the exact same way." Their expression softened, a tinge of concern and the weight of experience giving their smile a more wistful tone. "Even if it's scary, I think it's worth it to try. You are both adults, and I know you aren't the type to leave someone in the dirt just because you aren't compatible like that. You won't lose a friend, I promise." 

With a twist and a hop, Teddy joined Leila up on the counter. Grabbing another two donuts and handing one off to her as they took a small nibble out of their own. Marmalade, delicious. "Life is too short to get caught up on the what ifs. Sure, you could play it safe. But don't you think it would eat at you never to know? You deserve that kind of sweetness, Sweets." The demon offered a playful nudge, almost almost admitting they knew something about Leila's lifespan. How it might be longer than normal because of a certain condition. It wasn't too hard to guess that the strange wanderer wasn't exactly human either. It didn't matter if you were immortal, life was still too short. "Plus you two would look just so cute holding hands and kissing. They're like twelve feet taller than you! Metzli would have to swoop you up in their arms, it'd be like a fairytale!" One where the monsters had a chance at love too. 

She was very distracted by the strawberry jam that was still on the tip of her nose. Leila quickly swiped it off with her finger and stuck the jam-nose-evidence in her mouth. It was a good distraction from the thoughts that were now barraging her mind due to Teddy’s observations… But a short-lived distraction. Teddy’s hands were on her shoulders and they were looking her dead in the eye as they all but promised all they had said was true. There was a sudden weight in her chest, her heart rising into her throat. They were right. It was scary. A better word was probably terrifying. Absolutely utterly terrifying. The irony was not lost on her that she was a thing made of terror. But being cared for by someone she cared about was so utterly foreign, that Leila feared that despite Teddy’s words, it might not really be true. 

The mare’s shoulders drooped a little, the weight of her newfound knowledge pulling her in on herself. And then, just like magic, a donut was hovering in front of her nose like a promise that everything would be alright. A little sweetness in her life. Her. She almost folded and told Teddy why that didn’t make sense. That life was entirely too long for her. That she was a destroyer of sweet dreams. But none of that mattered… what more, Leila knew that none of it mattered to Metzli. Look at the brights, Leila… 

A crooked little half smile crept onto her face as she took the donut out of Teddy’s hand. Blackberry. Another favorite. She savored that bite she took, and she swore that for just a moment, it made her feel a flicker of hope. Like maybe telling Metzli what she felt wasn’t such a bad thing. Leila laughed as Teddy continued on, talking about how cute they would look and other things that didn’t seem to matter as much as the truth that Teddy had shared with her. Another bite of blackberry jelly. She would tell Metzli. Soon. When she’d figured out how to say it. And she’d say a prayer to the moon that they might actually feel the same way.

[marvelvsmarvel]

WandaVision Ep7 Speculation #2

Episode 7: Breaking the Fourth Wall left a lot to be digested and honestly too much for a single post so I’ll be doing a few topical breakdowns.

Wrong: So before the series premiere contrary to popular opinion I predicted that Agnes wasn’t Agatha Harkness and while I still have reason to hold out that she’s hasn’t been manipulating everything let’s just run with it. Not afraid to say I’m wrong and again I don’t go against the grain to be edgy I’m honestly glad to see she is a comic book character in Agatha but I just like to predict and fancast outside of the box so no need for I told you so’s.

Agnes: Was Agatha all along... I saw someone say that they don’t remember Agatha Harkness being a straight up villain to which I agree. So I’m gonna go with the many who believe she’s just a pond for a greater threat which would explain the scary mystical book. We saw another example of this with Kaecilius working on behalf of Dormammu in Doctor Strange where seemingly his dark dimension is where Kaecilius drew his magic from and used a page in a similar book to summon him to Earth. However we have reason to believe that she is not working for Dormammu because when anyone did use his magic their eye line would be burned or some type of physical indication would show on their face. Before jumping into guesses of who she’s serving there’s also the why Agatha would want to partake in any of this? Many would assume its “for the children” but she really doesn’t seem all that interested in them for herself but perhaps her magic backer does.

Prediction: I imagine it has something to do with Wanda’s ability to as Tommy said “fix the dead” to which she seemed *gasp* “You can do that?!” In MCU fashion I believe she’s a Wanda parallel where she lost her husband “Ralph” which explains why we haven’t seen him yet and is doing whatever it takes to get him back including serving a greater more evil master and meddling with the likes of Wanda aka Strongest Avenger.

Not Pietro: I would say not to hold your breath that Evan Peters still might be the Fox X-Men Quicksilver Peter Maximoff just brainwashed by Agatha. I also don’t believe he’s Agnes’s husband Ralph either but of course I’ve been “wrong” before. So naturally I don’t believe he’s the bigger bad of Dormammu or Nightmare or Mephisto. For the sake of being boring a wanting a more self contained Wanda and Vision storyline I believe he was just there for a mid season finale type thriller and he’s just a small time pond of Agatha’s.

Prediction: If you recognize the sweaty face above that would be Robert Coleman aka The Whizzer from Marvel Netflix Jessica Jones. Who dat? The “other” lesser known Marvel speedster who actually debuted in the comics in a Scarlet Witch title - the Whizzer Robert Frank that is. That would explain his super speed ability and would be a nice nod to the forgotten man PLUS apparently there was an Easter Egg for him in the Ep2 intro - blink and you might miss it. To be clear I believe Evan Peters is the actual Whizzer Robert Frank. Why he is doing any of this is beyond me but if anyone knows that comic reference of him or how it ended for poor Robby Coleman up there... Well it doesn’t end pretty.

Magic: I love just bringing this up because I’m sure it’ll come up later. Ant-Man established that energy can be pulled from another dimension (come to think of it the way Vision awakens people in the Hex is exactly the same way Janet Van Dyne manipulates Quantum Energy). Doctor Strange established that magic too is pulled from another dimension and manifested in our world. Then Thor way back when said that where he comes from science and magic are on in the same. We know that Wanda isn’t actually a witch doing magic and that her powers derive from the Mind Stone but for Agatha that book and wherever it came from is the source of her powers. For those wondering both Agents of SHIELD and Hulu’s The Runaways depicted the Darkhold to literally have it spelled out on the cover. So the book in the basement is not it unless Kevin Feige was just like “pfft Marvel tv” like he does. Others have predicted that it could be the Book of (insert villain). The library at Kamar Taj showed many books not explaining that any one of them were Books of Somebody. So take it that Agatha really is an old school witch with a book of spells and a cauldron but however she came to have that book means she seemingly could be messing with the multiverse more than she knows.

[your-frenchblondgirl]

Marvel's Loki: 12 Easter Eggs, Hidden Meanings, & Plot Details From Trailer

The God of Mischief is up to no good again.

Marvel President Kevin Feige unveiled the first in-depth look into Tom Hiddleston's debut solo series, Loki, which will follow the consequences of the 2012 version of everyone's favorite horned anti-hero as he makes a timeline-disrupting escape. From references to other Asgardians to apocalyptic alternate futures, Loki's trailer is full of hints to the show's mysterious plot.

Without further adieu, let's break it all down. Here are 12 things from the Loki trailer — including Easter eggs and hidden references — that you (probably) missed.

Endgame Effects

The first 25 seconds of the trailer contextualize where we are, and how we got here.

To recap, Avengers: Endgame's time heist was not a perfect mission. When the team of Tony Stark, Captain America, Hulk, and Ant-Man travel to the events of 2012's The Avengers, they successfully obtain the Soul and Mind Stones without problem, but fail to capture the Space Stone. After being knocked aside by an irate Hulk (stairs!), the Tesseract pops out of its briefcase, landing at Loki's shackled feet. Behaving like a true God of Mischief, Loki picks up the cube and dips through a portal.

From there, our solo series begins.

Iron Man Callback

Loki crash lands in a desert, located in what appears to be Mongolian-era China, considering the attire of the three people that approach him. Desert crash landings are no stranger to the MCU, as fans will recognize this moment as emulating Tony Stark's crashed escape from the Ten Rings' cave in Mark I of the Iron Man suit.

Owen Wilson

He may not have looked like him, but he sure sounded like him.

Owen Wilson makes his first appearance as a character that goes unnamed on-screen, but closed captions reveal him to be Mobius M. Mobius. What a name! Mobius does not have a rich comic history, but he has been involved in the prosecution of the Fantastic Four before. Interesting timing, don't you think?

Mobius takes a shackled Loki down an elevator, saying he's bringing him somewhere to talk. Loki, donning a Time Variance Authority prison jumpsuit, claims he doesn't like to talk, but Mobius immediately calls his bluff.

Here, Loki is a prisoner of the TVA for his time crimes. This group of timeline FBI officers are tasked with ensuring that everything operates as planned. When 2012 Loki escaped with the Tesseract, he essentially broke the timeline laws, and is now being remprimanded for it.

The Minutemen Meet Mysterious Figure

The TVA's cybernetic police force make their first appearance in what looks to be ancient China. Known as the Minutemen, these guys are tasked with carrying out TVA laws and directly deal with individuals that have interfered with the flow of time.

Here, the Minutemen are searching for someone, or something, in a past time period. If it is indeed ancient China, this would put it at the same location Loki crash landed into at the beginning of the trailer.

While the Minutemen execute their search, a mysterious cloaked figure drops a lantern on surrounding grass, and the smoke brings at least one Minuteman to his knees. There's no telling who this mystery man is, but if reports are to be believed, it could be Jonathan Majors's Kang the Conqueror debuting ahead of his lead antagonist role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Kang has been rumored to be introduced in Loki for months, and there seems to be more tangible evidence of his existence in future frames.

More on that later.

"Glorious."

The MCU is stacked with notable quotes, but there's no one that delivers a Shakespearean line quite like the God of Mischief.

In just one word, Loki calls back to his character-defining statement from 2012's The Avengers: "I am Loki, of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

Oh, and this line is uttered in Stark Tower. Evident by the particular mirror design, it looks like Loki will return back to the timeline he escaped from.

The Three Faces of the TVA

Twice in this trailer we see three figures displayed in an area of prominence.

The three faces first appear behind Gugu Mbatha-Raw's high-ranking TVA executive, who is presiding over Loki's trial. The faces appear once again a couple of frames later, this time attached to full-scale bodies in the form of massive statues.

The faces have been speculated to belong to the Time-Keepers, three time-travelers who head the TVA. The trio, and the TVA organisation, have had disputes with none other than Kang the Conqueror, often fighting over temporal territory across the universe. Loki's timeline meddling might have disrupted Chronopolis, Kang's metropolitic city of conquest that combines all eras of the Conqueror's rule. If Kang is indeed an enemy of the TVA and Loki meddled with his city, Loki's may be in for a whole world of hurt.

Flashback Failures

Wilson's Mobius shows a shackled Loki footage of the God of Mischief's 2012 failed conquest of Earth, to which Loki disapproves. This could begin Loki's identity stuggles, which will be a central theme of the series.

Similar to how General Ross showed the Avengers their past destructions in Captain America: Civil War, it's likely that Mobius is taking Loki on an unpleasant trip down memory lane.

What will be particularly interesting is if Mobius shows Loki future events that he is unaware of. Remember, this Loki has only lived up until 2012's Avengers, so he has not experienced anything from Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Infinity War, and beyond. What if Mobius shows Loki that he did in fact get the Asgardian throne at the end of The Dark World? How will Loki react to watching Thanos choke the life out of him in Infinity War's opening act?

Roxxcart... Roxxon?

Loki is seen with the Minutemen embarking on a mission inside a supermarket.

'Roxxcart' is prevalent throughout the aisles and entranceways, making this location all the more intriguing. Fans will recognize the 'Roxx-' prefix as attached to the Roxxon Energy Corporation, a company that is prevalent on the Marvel comic page. Roxxon has been engulfed in some shady business in the comics, and has been teased to appear in live-action before. If this supermarket is under the Roxxon banner, Loki might have just gained a massive conglomerate adversary.

Upon entering Roxxcart, the Minutemen hold a man at taser-point, though it's unclear if he's their target or simply an innocent shopper. All the while this is going on, the cloaked figure from earlier in the trailer watches from security footage.

Mephisto

Mobius and a Minuteman approach a young boy in a church. The boy offers an object to Mobius, which he accepts. As the two speak, a notable stain-glass window sits behind them. The window depicts a devil-like figure sitting royally, with many speculating this could be the extra-dimensional demon, Mephisto.

Let's start deep diving into speculation.

Considering Loki takes place in a branched timeline and will utilize time travel as an integral plot device, it's fair to assume we will not only visit the past, but also the futures.

Dystopian futures.

We speculated in the WandaVision trailer breakdown that Mephisto would play an integral role to Scarlet Witch's series. Let's run with the idea that Mephisto is not only in WandaVision, but is defeated. Could this tribute-like window indicate this takes place in a future where Mephisto wins?

In the comics, Mephisto spans centuries, popping up in the earliest days of Marvel lore. What if this scene is in the past, when Mephisto was worshipped as some form of god-like figure? There is no telling how Mephisto will factor in to any MCU projects, but if he does indeed debut in WandaVision, this mural becomes a lot more interesting.

Avengers Tower in Ruins

Remember what I said about exploring dystopian futures? This frame gives us our strongest indication that that is a tangible possibility.

Here, stands alone in what is presumed to be Central Park. Around him are jagged ruins of collapsed skyscrapers, complete with overgrown grass indicating that some time has passed since this destruction occurred. Still standing somewhat upright in the skyline is none other than the Avengers Tower in rough shape.

These ruins likely take place some time after Avengers: Age of Ultron, considering the famous Marvel tower has a closer resemblance to its Avengers' style than its original Stark model. Could this be a future where Thanos wins, and humanity gives up on solving it? Or better yet, what if this is Ultron's success story?

Clean-Cut Loki

A suit and sunglassed Loki boards an aircraft looking a lot more like Tom Hiddleston than the God of Mischief we're used to.

Loki is likely undercover here, or at least does not want to be recognized. From here, he jumps out of the plane, calling for Heimdall to time the Bifrost just right to prevent him from falling to his death, like Black Widow (too soon?).

His appearance resembles that of D.B. Cooper, a mysterious man that held a plane hostage, took its passengers' money, and leaped from the plane, never to be found. Could Loki be placing himself in key historical moments?

It is unclear if Idris Elba will return as the Bifrost's gatekeeper in the series, but it is worth noting that Elba has expressed interest in portraying Heimdall again.

Vote for Loki

The final shot of the trailer features a suited up Loki complete with a new horned crown and a 'LOKI FOR PRESIDENT' pin.

The God of Mischief is joined by armed warriors from different time periods, who quickly turn their weapons to the titular character. It is possible that Loki has been gathering some form of an army every instance that he travels through time, and this is the band of misfits he came up with.

Let's talk about that presidential pin!

It remains to be seen whether or not Loki is running a legitimate campaign or if the pin is just for show, but sign me up for an alternate future that sees Loki in the oval office.

While we covered as much as we caught, there's always more information to be found. Speculation has run wild about a possible Black Widow appearance in the trailer, and new findings are surfacing seemingly by the minute.

Loki is set to stream on Disney+ in May 2021.

x

[movie-magic]

Loki: Every MCU Easter Egg In Episode 1

Loki has officially begun on Disney+, and Tom Hiddleston comes bearing plenty of Marvel Easter eggs in the premiere episode. Here's what we found.

The premiere episode of Loki is burdened with glorious Marvel Easter eggs, from potential future villain teases to skulking Skrulls. Even before the considerable success enjoyed by WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier, MCU fans were eagerly anticipating Tom Hiddleston's return as the God of Mischief. Now blessed with his own Disney+ solo series, Loki has all of time and space to bother, and the premiere wastes little time throwing Hiddleston from the Avengers' frying pan into the TVA's fire.

After using the Tesseract to escape The Avengers in Avengers: Endgame, Loki is swiftly picked up by the Time Variance Authority - a seemingly omniscient organization overseeing the entirety of time and space. Evidently not ones to take prisoners, Loki's fate at the TVA looks grim, but Owen Wilson's Major Mobius intervenes, handing the silver-tongued variant a reprieve. In the opening episode, Mobius successfully digs to the root of Loki's dastardly ways, breaking him down to (presumably) build him back up, all with the aim of enlisting Loki's services as an ally to hunt down an especially vicious variant murdering the TVA's Minute Men.

Loki's premiere is predictably heavy with exposition, and relatively limited in scope, mostly taking place within the walls of TVA HQ. Nevertheless, Michael Waldron (creator) and Kate Herron (director) pepper the 50-minute installment with an array of references to the Marvel comics, MCU history callbacks, and hints of the multiverse madness to come. Here's every Easter egg we discovered in Loki's "Glorious Purpose."

The Avengers Intro Sequence:

Loki's introductory scene is somewhat of an Easter egg itself, retelling the famous Tesseract heist from Avengers: Endgame. Much of the footage here derives straight from the 2019 box office behemoth, meaning no other MCU stars filmed additional footage or recorded new dialogue especially for Loki. With that said, a few extra Tom Hiddleston moments are spliced into the existing footage to show events entirely from Loki's point of view. The villain's Steve Rogers "search and rescue" gag is zoomed-in, and there's a closer shot of Loki waving goodbye to Hulk in the elevator, as well as fresh reaction shots during the Stark scuffle in the lobby.

An Iron Man Callback:

After commandeering the Tesseract in New York, Loki finds himself falling from the sky above Mongolia's Gobi Desert, landing unceremoniously in the sand below, and this scene might trigger a sense of déjà vu for longtime MCU fans. In 2008's Iron Man, Tony Stark escapes capture by creating a rudimentary suit of hi-tech armor. Flying to safety, the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist also lands roughly in a remote desert. There's a symbolic correlation in how Iron Man marked the beginning of the MCU, while Loki is now ushering in a whole new chapter, and both begin with their protagonists in matching predicaments. Both characters also crash while evading incarceration, though only Loki immediately finds himself in chains once again.

"Burdened With Glorious Purpose":

As a man who rarely shuts up, Loki has plenty of wry MCU catchphrases, and one of his most famous would be "I am burdened with glorious purpose" from The Avengers. Disney +'s Loki premiere leans heavily into the line's popularity, with Tom Hiddleston repeating the quote on several occasions throughout the episode, the phrase becoming less sinister with every utterance.

The TVA:

The addition of the TVA to MCU canon was confirmed ahead of time via Loki's trailer and, sure enough, the paradoxical pen-pushers play a prominent part in the premiere. Although their motivations and methods are somewhat altered from the source material (as well as their aesthetic, which now sits closer to The Umbrella Academy's Commission), the TVA hails directly from the Marvel comic books. They were introduced by a 1986 issue of Thor that featured several time-hopping agents, one of which picked a random Earthling up for jaywalking.

A Skrull At The TVA:

Given their propensity to shape-shift and assimilate the forms of other races, it's not surprising that a Skrull might be lurking around the TVA's front desk. One of the MCU's green aliens can be spotted in the background as Loki gets marched in, and though it's not clear why the Skrull is present, the distinct lack of guards would suggest they aren't a variant. A timely reminder that Secret Invasion is right around the corner.

The Time Twisters:

As you'd predict, Loki tries running away. With minimum effort, Hunter B-15 (played by Wunmi Mosaku) clicks a device, and Loki is pulled back to where he stood moments earlier, effectively making escape impossible. These time twisters appear to be standard issue at the TVA, and have a vaguely similar counterpart in the Marvel comics called the Retroactive Cannon. Far more lethal than Loki's little clickers, these devices would rewind a person completely until they were unwritten from history. Like The Algorithm in Tenet, but less confusing.

Life Model Decoys:

For someone who spent many, many years unaware he was actually a Frost Giant, Loki probably shouldn't be shocked that some people don't realize they're secretly robots. Heading through the TVA's airport scanner, Loki passes the test with flying colors, though he remains perplexed by the idea someone could be unknowingly cybernetic, Loki's line is a nod to Life Model Decoys, which have appeared in both the Marvel comics, and Agents of SHIELD. These lifelike androids can mimic mankind so perfectly, the LMD itself isn't always certain of the truth.

Secret Wars?:

Whether you've accidentally arrived late for work, or just escaped a group of costumed vigilantes by seizing a glowing blue cube from the beginning of time, being labeled as a variant is confusing stuff. Luckily, the TVA has put together a short animation to fill quantum criminals in on the basics. The helpful Miss Minutes finally provides an explanation of the MCU multiverse, revealing how, long ago, separate timelines fought an inter-dimensional war for supremacy that almost resulted in total annihilation. Since then, the TVA has strictly maintained one single reality - the Sacred Timeline *echoes*. The history lesson bears some similarity to 2015's Secret Wars comic event, in which conflicting universes came together in Battleworld (the setting of the original Secret Wars), and attempts were made to streamline Marvel's sandbox.

The Time-Keepers:

The TVA's infomercial also confirms the organization are led by three Time-Keepers, who oversee the combined reality and dictate the proper flow of history. This big-faced trio were first introduced in the late 1970s, created from the sole remaining survivor of the previous universe's destruction. The mysterious overlords performed much the same function in the comics as they do in Loki, and possessed virtually complete mastery over time.

Kree And Nova's Attack On Titan:

As the animated exposition rumbles on, Miss Minutes (voiced by Tara Strong) uses "starting an uprising" as an example of something the TVA might potentially frown upon. The corresponding image shows two armies clashing, with the blue folk on the left appearing to be Kree, and the force on the right possibly the Nova Corps. Based on the spiky ruins in the background, the battle is taking place on Thanos' home planet of Titan. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan confirmed the Kree and Nova Corps were at war for 1000 years - was the TVA involved somehow?

Nexus Events:

This week's lesson from Miss Minutes explains how stepping off one's designated path can create a "Nexus event," and spiral out of control to spawn countless alternate timelines that trigger another war. This word has cropped up several times in the MCU, first as an internet facility in Oslo (Avengers: Age of Ultron), and then as an antidepressant drug during one of WandaVision's fake commercials. The latter was most likely a reference to the Nexus of All Realities from the Marvel comics, which is essentially a gateway between every possible timeline. The TVA's Nexus events could take their name from the very same source.

The Timeline Diagram:

Throughout Loki's Disney+ debut, the TVA repeatedly use diagrams of a single flowing timeline with branches shooting off to represent unwanted deviations. MCU fans might recognize this from Avengers: Endgame, where the Ancient One drew something extremely similar while explaining the consequences of time travel to Bruce Banner. Perhaps Ms. One has visited the TVA herself once or twice?

Devil In The Church:

MEPHISTO. There, we said it. When Mobius asks a young girl who committed time crimes in 16th century France and the child points to a stained glass window depicting the Devil, Loki knew exactly what it was doing. WandaVision dropped several hints that Marvel's own Satan would appear, all of which proved fruitless, and Loki seems to be heading down the same hellish vein. Alas, there could be a simpler explanation. Mobius claims to be chasing an alternate version of Loki, and it's highly likely the child has mistaken the God of Mischief's famous horned helmet for the demonic horns of Lucifer.

Ravonna Renslayer:

Though her name isn't mentioned in Loki's premiere, Gugu MBatha-Raw's TVA judge is actually Ravonna Renslayer, who made her debut in a 1965 Avengers issue. In the comics, Renslayer is a human from the far future, most often a villainous figure associated with Kang the Conqueror. She certainly isn't a legal official sat behind a desk. One would imagine Marvel Studios has something more interesting in store for Renslayer further down the line.

Explaining Endgame:

During his TVA interrogation, Loki quite rightly points out that it was not he who meddled with the timeline. T'was those pesky Avengers who penetrated the Quantum Realm and disrupted the natural course of events in the aftermath of the Battle of New York; Loki merely picked up the Tesseract that fell at his feet. Unfortunately, this excuse falls on deaf ears, as Gugu MBatha-Raw confirms the Avengers' ambitious time heist was entirely sanctioned by the Time-Keepers. This exchange more or less clears up every single timeline wrinkle in the MCU, including Steve Rogers' reunion with Peggy, and Gamora from the past staying in the present. It's not altering time that irks the TVA; it's altering time in a manner the Time-Keepers haven't permitted.

Loki's "Wooing":

After Owen Wilson saves Loki from being "reset," the pair sit down for a more friendly conversation, but when Loki warns Mobius that cooperation isn't an option, the TVA officer retorts with, "even when you're wooing someone powerful you intend to betray?" Loki has betrayed a fair few people during his time, and Mobius' accusation could easily apply to Odin or Thor. Most likely, however, Mobius is alluding to Thanos here - a powerful figure Loki tried buttering up with intent to usurp him once the universe was brought to its knees.

Josta:

While not strictly a Marvel reference, it's worth noting that Mobius is a big fan of an ice cold Josta. Viewers of a certain age might not recognize this soda brand, but Josta is a genuine Pepsi product that was available in the late 1990s before being discontinued. An early variety of energy drink, there's evidently a few perks to hunting down timeline criminals. In Mobius' case, this includes sugary contraband.

Loki's Greatest Hits:

In a twisted version of It's A Wonderful Life, Mobius tries to change Loki by examining his choices in the past, present and future. Unlike the jaunty 1946 holiday classic, Mobius has access to a handy hi-tech screen which displays Loki's "greatest hits." The footage begins with the God of Mischief's defeat and arrest in 2012's The Avengers - perhaps not an entry Loki himself would've picked for the highlight reel. The screen next switches to Phil Coulson's death (which Loki definitely would pick), before moving on to images of civilian deaths from the Battle of New York, the gala eyeball removal scene, and the dictator speech, all from The Avengers.

D.B. Cooper:

More an Easter egg from real-world history than Marvel lore, Loki reveals the truth about D.B. Cooper - it was Agatha Loki all along! In 1971, an as-yet-identified man boarded a Boeing 727, held the aircraft ransom for $200,000, then parachuted out with the cash. Mobius' dive into Loki's past reveals that, thanks to a lost bet with Thor, the God of Mischief descended from Asgard to pull the plane heist himself as some kind of stunt. From Loki's hairstyle matching the real D.B. Cooper artist's impression to the smattering of bank notes left behind, there's an impressive attention to detail in this scene.

Infinity Stones In The Desk:

The Infinity Stones... Thanos would give his own daughter just for one. Entire worlds brought to their knees by their power. Humans turned into Gods at the merest touch. Gary from the TVA's HR department using one as a paperweight. Threatening Casey with a fishy demise, Loki finally gets his hands back on the Tesseract, only to discover even Infinity Stones are useless within the TVA's jurisdiction. To Loki's immense surprise, Casey's desk draw is chock-full of discarded Infinity Stones, most either of the Time or Reality variety (no surprises there). The scene essentially confirms that the power of these fabled jewels has led to more than a few timeline variant incidents over the years, but perhaps also undermines the once-unstoppable power of the Infinity Stones. Well, the Infinity Saga is over.

A 3rd Millennium Kang Hint?:

In its final scene, the Loki premiere might just be hinting at the future villain of Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. The MCU will soon introduce Kang the Conqueror, a major comic book baddie played by Jonathan Majors, and "Glorious Purpose" could represent the first step toward his arrival. Called out to 19th century Oklahoma, TVA agents find a piece of technology hailing from the 3rd millennium. Though it might be a coincidence, Kang hails from the 31st century, and is known for using advanced tech in his dominion of the timeline. The mysterious hooded figure is more likely a Loki variant than Kang himself, but since Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania and Loki both deal in temporal themes, it wouldn't be strange for the Kang foundations to be laid on Disney+.

- Screen Rant

Loki releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

[thealternatefangirl]

I had such high hopes for WandaVision. It was one of the most creative and interesting things Marvel has ever created. They had so many options to make the characters and the world so much more fascinating but instead they reduced the entire series to just another set up for the next phase. It just felt like another introductory first movie at the end of it all. Monica is now full Proton powers (hell yeah Captain Marvel 2.0). Grey Vision has fucked off and is now out in the world. Wanda is more powerful then ever. Agatha has been subdued and is just around for whenever they need exposition in the future. Pietro was nothing but a fucking dick joke (I will be over here seething about Ralph Bohner for the next forever). They set him up to be Fox Quicksilver right up until the end with his stupid man cave and then were like PSYCH! And what a waste of someone as talented as Evan Peters! He could have been Mephisto, he could have been Fox quicksilver pretending to be MCU Pietro because he was under a spell. He could have been ANYONE. The set up for the next phase / movie wasn’t even that good or exciting. They could have given us House of M! They could have given us the multiverse! They could have given us a cameo from Fury or Carol at least but did we get that? Nope. Instead it was all just a set up for the next Doctor Strange. And Benedict Cumberbatch, Dr Stephen Strange himself, protector of time and space and what not didn’t even pop up to yell at Wanda and be like ‘what the fuck is happening here?’ Where is the Luke Skywalker like cameo we were promised? I loved this show so much but honestly the last episode was kind of disappointing. Sure Vision philosophizing his was out of fighting himself was perfect writing. Seeing Wanda go full Scarlet Witch was incredible. And I begged the television to let Hex Vision live and not make him disappear and yet despite all of that the episode and the end of the season were lacking. Also why was Hayward such a bitch to take out at the end. He was basically just a scooby doo villian shouting that he would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling kids. Not to mention where the fuck did Darcy fuck off to? Marvel was like we don’t have time to finish your character arc, you can go to wherever Natalie Portman went after the second Thor. Congratulations Marvel you ALMOST had me. But why be creative when you can just fall back on the same, old, crusty formula??

[bella-gunn]

More Blue Exorcist conspiracy theories!

I apologize, first thing for this "Wall-O-Text"(tm), anyone who knows me reasonably well knows I have a lot of thoughts that turn into mountains of words.

Unfortunately I still haven't found a way to toggle from rich text to html on my phone app (if such a thing is even possible). I do pretty much everything with my phone, so I'm sorry, no pretty text cut here.

Without further ado...

yuri-egin-123 asked some fantastic questions and this is my humble attempt to answer them, theoretically.

"...going back to Yuri's past, when Rin first saw satan, did Satan feel it? because it has already been proven that Rin can feel powerful demons nearby and Satan also in chapter 107. Now, does Satan know that Rin has been in the past?"

Rin is powerful, true, but I don't think Satan would have noticed Rin for two really good reasons and one kind of theoretical reason.

Good reason #1:

Satan is incredibly arrogant. He can sense all demons, weak and powerful, but frankly he doesn't care because he knows he far out classes anyone else. So it doesn't make sense for him to take special notice of Rin in all the mess of demonic activity around him.

Good reason #2:

Rin is powerful, but he isn't more powerful than Lucifer, Mephisto, Egyn, Iblis and Asteroth, who are also in close proximity to Satan. Mephisto has been acting as Rin's personal tour guide, even Lucifer has ignored Rin in Mephisto's presence and they were in the same room practically face to face.

Theoretical reason:

Satan may not be able to tell the difference between Rin and his own power. The other demons respond to Rin's power just like it's Satan's, until Rin asserts control over his flames there is even some concern that they are actually Satan's flames. So I think it's unlikely that Satan would notice Rin because he would feel familiar and "same".

What. An. Ass.

"...and in question the shiemi, at first I thought she was a clone of Shemihaza but nevertheless in chapter 99.5 they said "your mother awaits". I do not think Shemihaza is the mother of Shiemi, maybe Shiemi is Shemihaza herself, do not you think?"

I agree with you 100%; I do not think Shemihaza is Shiemi's mother in the traditional sense. It's clear there is a connection between Shiemi's birth and Shemihaza but I think it is less direct than Shiemi being a Shemihaza clone.

As far as Shiemi being Shemihaza let's examine what we already know from the story so far.

There are two upper demon ranks, the Baal and the Sol, Satan is above all.

The Baal are the 8 demon kings, the Sol are the emperors of nothingness and creation, Armumahel and Shemihaza respectively.

The most recent chapter has given us suprising information; Armumahel is the source for holy water. Armumahel's influence "hollows out" humans, eventually making them "soul less", his influence on demons seems to cut their spiritual connection to Assaiah, sending them back to Gehenna.

This is wild, the whole thing from holy water to the experimental Illuminati weapons had me thinking:

If this is the power of nothingness made manifest in the material realm of Assiah, then what would the power of creation do!?

I have been turning this over in my mind since the Grigori representative called Shemihaza interacted with Lucifer in section 13.

Lucifer acknowledges the Grigori representative as Shemihaza but also appeals to their humanity. It is apparent the the Grigori representative was at one time human, but has put aside their humanity to take on the role of actually being Shemihaza in reality. This is no mere playacting, all signs point the the Grigori representative of Shemihaza as being a manifestation of Shemihaza.

Certainly there is some limitation, Shemihaza the Grigori isn't all powerful, but she is certainly well respected by Lucifer, who only respects power greater than his own.

Then there is the matter of Shemihaza the Grigori's seemingly unaging enterouge of obviously related people. They are all different shapes and sizes but they have very strong common traits, traits that are shared with the Lucifer clones.

Which brings me back to the question of Shemihaza's power in Assiah.

Creation much like Nothingness are broad concepts, without indulging in much philosophical navel gazing, I think the most obvious power of Shemihaza in Assiah would be making something exist spiritually that didn't exist before, perfectly opposed to and balanced with Armumahel's power to erase something spiritually from material reality.

As we learned from Reiji Shiratori and numerous other reminders, demons possess things that are spiritually aligned to themselves. It's somewhat problematic for the higher ranking demons, especially the kings, there is difficulty finding someone who is compatible, then they have the issue of their power destroying their host body.

So the section 13 researchers had two problems to solve:

1. Make the body resilient to demonic power.

2. Make the spirit compatible with the demon who will take possession.

The first problem was solved by taking tissue samples from Lucifer, Samael and Azazel, the three most powerful of the Baal.

It is obvious by the massive scale of the project, the images of the rows of birthing tables and cribs, that they tried surrogacy initially. It doesn't seem like that approach was entirely effective as they had begun using cloning vats/cylinders (Lucifer still uses that method currently so that indicates that it was a later and more successful method).

Out of the hundreds of clones there were only two successful clones (as in they suppoted posession): Ambrosius, a clone of Samael who was spontaneously possessed by Amaimon. There is some subtle indication Mephisto meddled, Amaimon certainly seems to owe him for something.

The other was Goro, the Azazel clone who was eventually possessed by Satan. Goro was not a perfect clone, he was damaged (if we go by Shiro's reactions) and was ultimately put in a semi vegetative state in a cloning vat because of his regenerative abilities.

There is something about that which is off putting to me. I kept getting hung up on the idea that this clone, Goro, who was essentially fully developed was placed in a vat and he didn't decay, didn't degrade. Bodies don't work that way, they begin to adapt to their environment on a cellular level, his skin at least would have been extremely damaged from years of submersion and any liquid medium he could have been placed in that would arrest that process is not conducive to keeping him alive.

With the revelation of where holy water came from it smacked me in the face; the liquid in the cloning vats is derived from Shemihaza.

This "water" derived from Shemihaza may be the base of the "elixer" and a sort of fountain of life but I wouldn't be in a hurry to fill up a cup! At best it is very unpredictable and difficult to control such a broadly active substance, after all you would want to grow new cells at a controlled pace, otherwise you end up with something cancerous like and truly monstrous. Michael Gedouin and all those poor people he experimented on are a cautionary tale.

Also, it seems that long term exposure to Shiemihaza's "water" may have the opposite effect of Armumahel's "water" and make things in Assiah more susceptible to possession.

Of course this is conjecture, there is nothing in the book that says I'm right, but it makes sense and explains why Shemihaza, the Grigori, is so involved in something as reprehensible as section 13.

Granted, the entire Grigori would have needed to approve and be involved with the project to some extent but we never see the other two, only Shemihaza.

Shemihaza is also deeply invested in Lucifer's decision and the outcome of the project in a way that indicates personal interest, which makes sense if you consider the spiritual and emotional connection of being the source of life for all those poor clones as well being, well, the Emperor of Creation. Even the misshapen more demonic clones that Lighting and Sugaro encountered would have been her progeny.

Going back to Shiemi, she shares certain characteristics with the Lucifer clones, namely blond hair, green eyes, a mysterious past and amnesia. Shemihaza's entourage identifies as her family so there is s very real possibility that Shiemi is a successful clone, not necessarily for Lucifer, but to be the next Shemihaza.

I think Mephisto was hiding her in plain sight, as it were, to keep her out of Lucifer's hands until the time was right for her to be brought to Shemihaza. She seems to have some disordered memories from her early childhood that relate to the garden she is taken to so it is very likely she was never in section 13. It is possible Shiemi was created directly by Shemihaza in the garden, which would explain the mother comment and her inclination towards growing things.

So I posit that Shiemi was created by Shemihaza, possibly from the Lucifer clone lineage, to be the replacement for Shemihaza the Grigori.

She is already most of the way to being able to channel Shemihaza, which she demonstrates by manifesting a forest to contain Rin just after his immolation. Obviously Mephisto knows something about it (poor Amaimon doesn't figure it out until it's too late for him to make a real marriage proposal, lol) and Shiemi's mom knows something because she told Sheimi enough for her to be prepared when the Grigori representatives came for her (very creepy people by the way, just a shade too perfect to be entirely human).

It will be interesting to see where things go but what really has me twisted up right now was Lucifer's casual demonstration that he has perfected the cloning method.

Up to this point we have operated under the assumption that the elixer was the only thing sustaining him and all of his efforts were going towards the creation of viable clones.

Now we know that not only does he have perfect clones for himself (which implies he appeared before Mephisto in a compromised body as strategy to keep Mephisto from knowing how effective his cloning process is) but he also has been collecting demons with regeneration abilities and is planning on cloning a body for Satan.

I have so many questions about this.

Satan seems to think his perfect body is running around, inconveniently occupied by his demon son, and would like to take it. But he is hanging around with his wimpy human son for some reason. Yukio is immune to the flames, all flames, has a temptaint so bad it's a wonder he wasn't posessed by a demon years ago except that he can't be possesed...

What do they want with Yukio?

Even better, why the hell did Lucifer give Yukio the Armumahel guns?

I think the answer is twofold.

They, Mephisto and Lucifer, are setting Rin and Yukio up for a showdown, a sort of battle by proxy.

Mephisto and Lucifer are playing chess to determine the fate of the world because they cannot fight each other directly.

So Rin and Yukio are pawns that are poised to become queens on the board.

My magic 8 ball says "as I see it, yes":

*Yukio will confront Rin, because Rin can't let Yukio go.

*When that happens Yukio will use the Armumahel guns and damage or partially remove Rin's soul; in that moment of weakness Satan will have his opportunity to possess Rin.

*Yukio will immediately realize he has fucked up and will try to fix his mistake by killing Satan, or at least removing him from Rin as much as possible.

*More Armumahel gun action......

If everything goes Mephisto's way Satan wil be reduced to a shade of his original power and banished back to Gehenna (serves him right for being such a prick and dropping a helicopter on Mephisto's head), Lucifer will have to concede defeat and back down as per their wager.

If everything goes exceptionally well Rin's soul may even be restored to his body (I have a feeling Shiemi would have something to do with that).

But either way the balance would be restored and Assiah would be preserved.

If Lucifer gets his way Rin's soul is forfeit, Yukio is a way more fucked up Abel than the original bible story, Satan gets his groove on, Samael has to step back, allowing Satan and Lucifer remake reality unopposed.

I think the reason why Lucifer needs Satan is because Lucifer has the power to collapse everything back to the moment of creation but that's the best he can do on his own.

Essentially that is suicide.

He threatened it before, when he was trapped in a decaying shell, unwilling to allow himself to return to Gehenna. But now that he has a viable means of sustaining himself, and Satan has entered the picture, his plans haven't changed so much as they have shifted.

He still wants to end suffering but now he wants to remake the world, not destroy it, and to do so he needs Satan's power.

To Mephisto, destroy to create anew or destroy permanently, is all the same. Everything that makes him demon king of Space and Time, everything that makes him himself will cease to exist. He *has* to oppose Lucifer's plans, to do otherwise is to negate his own existence, which is something Mephisto is not capable of.

@yuri-egin-123 , thanks again!

Which is cool by me, otherwise this story would have been over before it began!

[foxydivaxx]

Abel and Cain Chapter 4

I owe you all this chapter so here we go.

Iblis and Beelzebub snicker as they walk down the hallway of the dorm. They had just finished terrorizing some of the students there and it was so much fun. Although Beelzebub can be a bit of a blubbering idiot, he can be competent when they] get down to business. “Hehe. That was pretty refreshing ya know? Seeing their faces.” Says Iblis with a sadistic smirk in place. 

“Is that so?” 

The two Demon Kings stopped in their tracks. The last thing they wanted was to bump into their older brother Samael or any of the other Demon Kings. But alas, the Demon King of Time was right behind them with their three brothers. 

“What are you doing here?!” Iblis snarled. Mephisto folds his arms. “Same question we ought to ask you given your meddling.” He says in a stern tone. Beelzebub cowers in fear. Shit. I hope he does not know the truth!!

“H-Hey….d-don’t ya think you are taking things outta context?” says Beelzebub in his usual cowardly manner. Amaimon glares at him. “Those wounds inflicted on Kirigakure….surely that can’t be any of our minions or familiars. Those seem to be your handiwork. Or are we lying?” Astaroth says as he scrutinizes his brothers. Wherever those two bumbling idiots go, there is always some form of mischief involved.

“Tch!! What’s the big deal over that anyways?” says Iblis. “To you, it may not be a big deal but you do know that I am the Headmaster of this school and if anything happens to the staff, I would be the first suspect due to my demonic heritage.” Says Mephisto as he squints at his brothers who simply keep quiet.

“Ah Mr. Pheles, fancy seeing….” Yukio stops in his tracks as soon as he sees Mephisto and their other brothers. He figured that sooner or later the Headmaster would figure out their wicked game. However, he can still manipulate things for a while until the jig is up. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked, using his acting skills to feign innocence despite being the one that brought the duo there.

Mephisto simply shakes his head with a fake smile in place. He had always been suspicious of Yukio for a while and would need to keep a close watch on the boy just to see what mischief he gets up to. That is if his theory on the boy turns out to be true.

“Oh just saw these two miscreants here and was having a chat is all.” He said. Yukio nods. “Ah well if you excuse me, I have a couple of errands to run.” With that, he walks off. Once Yukio was out of earshot, Mephisto then turns to his brothers. “You both better leave these premises or else..” With that, he and the other two Demon Kings walk off.

“That was close.” Says Iblis, heaving with a sigh of relief. “You both were not smart.” They whip around in shock to see Yukio standing there, arms folded. “B-But you said you had errands to run…” says Beelzebub, earning a knock in the head from Iblis. Yukio simply rolls his eyes. “I am shocked that Mephisto did not see through my deception or magic. So-Called King of Time manipulation.” He says. He then smirks. “But no matter. This will make our game even more fun…”

Meanwhile, Rin, Paku and Izumo were in the limo on their way to Mephisto’s mansion. “So what next Rin?” Paku asked. Rin raises an eyebrow. “You mean like whether I would continue with Exorcist stuff right?” Paku nods. Izumo leans forward, waiting for his reply.

Rin then sighs. “To be honest with you. Even I don’t know. Part of me wants to continue and another part of me wants to take a different path. The question now is which path.” 

“Do not rush yourself. You will figure it out eventually.” Says Izumo. Rin then smiles softly. “You know Izumo. I prefer people like you because at least you are honest about shit unlike the other pussies in that class.”

Izumo chuckles. “Me? Oh, come on. Sometimes it isn’t nice to be brutally honest.” She says. “But sometimes it is necessary.” Says Paku. 

“Depends on some people. Back then, I used to think that it was better to be nice but now I learned the hard way that niceness does not help anyone. One needs a thick skin to survive in this world.” Says Rin. 

Izumo then turns to him. “Heard that you had a rough childhood.” Rin nods. “Yeah. Was called a demon even before finding out that I was one.” Izumo then looks down. “I can relate since I got bullied as a child not just because of my eyebrows. But also because I was able to see spirits from a young age. Curse of being a descendant of shrine maidens.”

Rin then looks at her, a sad expression on his face. No wonder she is often a bitch to others. I guessed as much. “I understand that feeling well. This world is so cruel at times. No matter what good one does, people would shit on your efforts like there’s no tomorrow.”

As soon as he says those words, Mephisto and the other Demon Kings arrive. “So anything?” Rin asked. “Nothing yet though we still have our suspects who so happen to be the other Demon Kings.” Says Astaroth. “Except Lucifer. Lucifer has his own separate agenda but Iblis and Beelzebub like to mess around at times so they are the main suspects.”

“But why Mrs Kirigakure?” says Paku. “There is no way those two would attack her unless….someone who hates her struck a deal with them.” Says Izumo. “Someone like Yukio.” The others stare at him. “Why do you think it is your brother?” Izumo asked.

Rin lets out a mirthless laugh. “I know that fool like the back of my head. You see, the two of us have always been rivals right from day one and always tried to upstage each other. My biggest mistake was ever showing that boy mercy. Now, I am no longer the merciful Rin that I used to be.”

A devilish smirk appears on the older Okumura twin’s face, something that scares the girls a bit. “I miss being the bad boy that I once was.” He then begins pacing around. “Now we agreed to not attend the funeral. However, there is only way to truly confirm my suspicions about Yukio and his possible meddling and I believe you can help me here Mephisto.”

Mephisto raises an eyebrow. “How so?” Rin’s smirk broadens. “Oh it’s that simple but Izumo and Paku might not like what I am about to suggest…”

Weeks later, Shura’s funeral is held at True Cross Academy and Rin, Izumo and Paku kept their word and chose not to attend the funeral, a move that did not sit down well with the other Exwires. “So he actually made good on his promise, that good for nothing bastard!!” Bon yells angrily. A couple Exorcists glare angrily at them. “Hey keep it down. We are at a funeral. No need to act disrespectful.” Konekomaru warns him. Shiemi meanwhile keeps on sobbing. Yukio who was next to her, holds her close and pretends to comfort her.

Hmmmph….the foolish girl. She would be the perfect pawn for my game. Just need the right opportunity.

Mephisto attended and keeps a close eye on Yukio. So far, nothing out of the ordinary unless said boy was just being very cautious and if he is, then he is truly smarter than they would give him credit for. But probably not as smart as Rin actually is when he decides to drop the sweet act and actually shows his true colours.

Will have to check in on that boy later.

Once the funeral was over, Shiemi prepares to take her leave when Yukio calls out to her. “Ah Yuki.” She says in a soft tone, a sad smile on her face. Yukio plasters his signature friendly smile. “Say, mind coming over to my house for some tea? You look like you could do with some company.” He says. “O-Oh…yeah sure.” She stutters as she runs over to him and follows him to the dorm.

Meanwhile in Gehenna, Rin and Mephisto arrive in Hell. Satan who was seated on his black throne stares at them in amusement. “Oooh…..what’s this? You brought Rin here?” Mephisto smirks. “Actually Father, Rin wishes to speak to you.”

“Really? What a change in character.” The King of Gehenna says as he carefully watches his son. He is aware of the animosity between the twins and the chaos that unfolded following Rin’s heritage getting exposed. What baffles him was how Rin bore the brunt of the hate and Yukio never once got heat for that.

Rin steps forward, all the demons staring at the boy cautiously in order to see what the boy would do next. The boy stops in front of his father’s throne. “How much do you know about Yukio?”

Satan then nods. Of course, the child would ask him that and he deserves to know. “Enough to know that he is a menace to all.” He then raises from his seat, his imposing height looming over his son’s. “I am aware of the nefarious activities of that boy alongside Iblis and Beelzebub.”

“Just as I suspected.” Says Mephisto. Rin simply glares at his father. “I thought that the fool came to you for powers.” Satan scoffs at that. “Him? Come to me? Bah!! That boy already had powers ever since he was a baby and had always been good at deception right from birth. He had been manipulating not just you but also your earthly father too.”

As soon as Rin heard this, he clenched his fist. This is what happens when you become too trusting of others and allow them to manipulate you. “That bastard will pay for this!!” Satan raises an eyebrow. “And what do you intend to do son? That boy might turn True Cross into an actual army and wage a war against us at Gehenna.”

Rin simply smirks. “Simple. We fight fire for fire and also prepare ourselves should he be planning what I believe it is he could be planning.”

This chapter was a lot harder to write than I thought.

[takerfoxx]

RD: Walpurgis Nights 8, Epilogue

On top of the hill on which Freehaven nestled a being whose mere existence quite frankly defied mortal comprehension stood, looking down at the town.

To be clear, the word “stood” is an anthropomorphism. As is “looking.” The being did not possess physical legs on which to stand, nor did she have eyes. To be even more specific, she never had, as her original species’ means of locomotion and sensory input differed greatly from most other species. Still, as a descriptor of what that being was doing, those descriptors are close enough. The bulk of her essence was located on top of the hill, and it was surveying what was happening below it with a mixture of approval and slight relief. And as for those last two, those are not anthropomorphisms. The rules that governed Irn’s existence may have changed, but she still had emotions, and at that moment she felt quite satisfied with how everything had wrapped up, especially considering how much of that mess was her fault. Sure, the mess was going to take far long to clean up than it had been to cause, but at least everyone was moving in the right direction.

Then she became aware of another presence approaching, one just as strange and inexplicable as her own, though it shimmered with a different sort of energy. Irn performed the highly evolved equivalent of a wince. Oh shit, she was here, no doubt drawn in by all the effects of Irn’s direct intervention in mortal affairs.

For a time, the two ineffable beings of entirely separate origins but quite comparable existences…existed, for a lack of a better word, side-by-side on the top of the hill, examining the fruits of Irn’s labor. Irn was quite uncomfortable with the whole thing. Much like Astrid was not necessarily friends or even on good terms with the other unwitched girls simply due to having gone through the same rare transformation as them, Irn was likewise not on good terms with all of the other Ideal Witches. A couple of them, yes. Even creatures such as herself needed friends, and there were only so many sentients that could relate to her. But not all of them, and certainly not this one.

But she also knew better not to provoke this one. So instead of demanding an explanation, Irn just stayed put and waited.

Finally the other Ideal Witch “spoke,” her voice as droll and flat as always. “So,” Mephisto the Witch of Dreams said. “I’m guessing your little spy mission went a wee bit sideways.”

“A bit,” Irn admitted.

“You unwitched someone. Again.”

“Yeah,” Irn sighed.

Like Irn, Mephisto did not have a physical body. But if a mortal were to behold her, their mind would translate her existence as a dour-looking teenaged human girl, one with shabby clothes in need of both a laundress and a seamstress, half-lidded eyes framed by heavy bags, multi-colored dreadlocks, and more metal stuck into her body than an acupuncture enthusiast. “That makes, what, four? That’s like, nearly half of the total.”

“I know.”

“You just can’t resist sticking your tentacles into shit that don’t concern you, can’t you?”

Though Irn knew better than to make Mephisto angry, she found herself speaking before her mind had a chance to stop her. “Not everyone thinks of them as food, Mephisto.”

If Mephisto took offense to the jab, she made no sign. “At least I wait for them to come to me instead of going to their villages and mucking around.”

“Then why are you here?”

Mephisto was silent for a time. Then she said, “Well, to tell the truth, I don’t give a shit if you unwitched some dumb bitch. Ain’t no bother of mine. Still, word has reached me about you copping on my territory?”

“What?”

“Dreams, bitch. You’ve been letting the stupid microbes settle their spiritual dissonance through dreams. Dreams are my thing, remember?”

Irn tried not to show fear. Give Mephisto a little, and she took it all. “You work with dreams. You feed through dreams. That doesn’t mean they belong to you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Look, our titles are just something that they gave us to make things easier. We don’t have any kind of specific domain. I like watching the ones working their way through their problems through sheer force of will, so they call me the Witch of Determination. You feed on people through dreams, so they call you the Witch of Dreams. That doesn’t mean that there’s any kind of trademark or whatever.”

“Except,” Mephisto said coldly. “When you start using my thing to do your business, so all of them start thinking that it was me. That’s a problem. Or have you forgotten that this whole stupid place is literally shaped by their collective dumbness, and we are kinda sorta tied to it? If they all start getting weird ideas about me, those ideas might start having a kernel of truth that weren’t there before, you see what I’m saying.”

Oops. Irn hadn’t thought of that. “There is no history of something like that happening.”

“That we’ve noticed. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t and we haven’t just been brainwashed into thinking it was always that way. So Imma just say this once: don’t fuck with my business, and I won’t start making life miserable for your pets. You get this one pass. Got it?”

“Got it,” Irn said without hesitation. “My apologies for infringing upon your…trademark.”

“That’s what I thought.”

The essence of Mephisto receded. Once it was gone, Irn allowed herself a bit of relief. She had already done enough damage to that small group with her own well-intentioned but poorly thought out meddling. There was no end of the trouble a being like Mephisto could cause, especially considering that Irn still had one last dream to give. She was just going to have to be discrete about it.

Then she turned her attention back to the small family that she had watched for such a short period of time, but one that had still come to mean a great deal to her. She watched as they all set about trying to deal with the changes that Irn had a hand in forcing upon them.

…

Change happens whether we like it or not.

Some changes we see coming. Some changes we make happen. Some changes we welcome. But some happen when we least expect it, and are brought about from circumstances almost totally out of our control.

We may not like it. We may want things to go back to the way they were. But change does not care. It will happen regardless, and when it does, all we can do is choose how we react to it.

In some cases, it means working to pick up the pieces after everything you built up had been knocked down…

…

While she knew it was the right thing to do, Candeloro was wholly unprepared with how hard leaving turned out to be.

She knew it was going to be difficult. She knew it would hurt. And yet, as she walked down the stairs with the last of her bags, she found herself stopping about halfway down, just so she could stare at all the framed pictures on the wall.

They had been taken over the course of the sixteen years of her and her soul-sisters’ existence, with only the changes in fashion to denote the passing of the years. Some were of them when they were still in the integration program, while most were from the years that had happened since. There they were for the first group photo right after they had bought their house. There they were on their graduation day in their gorgeous dresses (well, she and Charlotte were. Ophelia was of course wearing a snazzy white suit while Oktavia had on a blouse that mirrored the coloration of her tail so perfectly that they seemed to be a single piece), there they were at Charlotte’s first book signing, there they were at one of Oktavia’s concerts, there they were at the Honey Hive after Candeloro’s treats had finally won an award. Some of them were of them as individuals, or in duos, such as the one of a very sweaty Ophelia claiming victory at a dance competition or Oktavia playing the guitar at a beach bonfire. Here and there Gretchen and Homulilly popped up, sometimes in the group pics and other times all by themselves.

And of course, there was Candeloro and Charlotte on their wedding day.

The pictures didn’t cause any strange flashbacks or slips of identity like she had been experiencing, but Candeloro still felt like a knife had been driven through her chest. So many happy memories, so many shared triumphs, and all of them with her family.

And now she was having to leave.

She knew it wasn’t going to be forever. In fact, it probably wouldn’t be more than a few months. To those who had been around the longest, that amount of time flitted by in the blink of an eye. But it was still her family, her soul-sisters, her Walpurgisnacht. She had literally shared a single soul with Oktavia and Ophelia, and also had a spiritual connection with Gretchen and Homulilly. That single weekend on her own had been bad enough. Now it was going to stretch on for an indeterminable amount of time. And sure, Charlotte would be there with her, but it still tore out her heart to have to do this.

With a sad shake of her head, Candeloro walked the rest of the way downstairs and out the front door.

There, Ophelia and Charlotte were loading their luggage into the house’s transport tube. They could have just called a zipper, but they had already attracted enough attention as it was. No need to give the neighbors more reason to start talking.

“Okay, this is the last of it,” Candeloro said, handing them her bags.

Ophelia nodded and took her bags without saying anything. She moved to place them in the tube, but then hesitated.

It was only for about a second, and she placed them in and sent them on their way right after. But Candeloro noticed.

“So,” Ophelia said. “I guess this is it. For now.”

“Oh, come on,” Candeloro said. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Yeah, but still. It’s going to feel longer, what with you not around.”

“I know,” Candeloro sighed. “I’m sorry, but if there was any other way-”

Ophelia held up a palm. “No, don’t start with the apologizing. You’re doing what you gotta do. Besides, it’s not like you won’t keep in touch.”

“Of course we will,” Candeloro said, making sure to emphasize the “we.” Sure, Charlotte had been a bit of an idiot and hurt everyone deeply, but she didn’t want her feeling ostracized on her way out. “I guess you’ll be in charge while we’re gone?”

“Like I wasn’t already?”

Candeloro shot her a look.

“Yup, it’s definitely still you,” Ophelia snickered. She leaned in and gave Candeloro a tight hug. “Be good, okay?”

Candeloro lowered the taller girl and gave her a kiss on her forehead, making sure it was on the part with actual flesh rather than the very convincing fire-cap. “I’ll make every effort.”

Then, before anyone could say anything else, they heard the patter of running feet. A lot of running feet.

“Wait!” Gretchen called as she rushed from the street toward the house, Homulilly in tow. And literally at that. Rather than try to keep up with her much faster girlfriend, Homulilly was riding on Gretchen’s back like a backpack.

Gretchen bounded over the fence and came to a stop next to the group. She lowered the panting Homulilly to the ground, who immediately crouched down with her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath.

“Um, sorry we’re late,” Gretchen said. “But we made this for you.”

She pulled a small, clear box from her pocket. It looked like a jewelry box, one that contained a necklace with a slender, gold chain and a golden heart-shaped pendant. In the center of the pendant was a pink crystal.

The chain and the heart were of a single piece, with the chain having an oddly flattened appearance, which then connected at the bottom and looped around to form the sides of the heart.

“It’s your ribbons!” Gretchen said excitedly, pointing the chain out. “I mean, it’s supposed to look like your ribbons, and it does, right?”

“It’s beautiful,” Candeloro said.

“And the crystal is a data crystal! We went and made a whole bunch of personal messages from us, from all your friends. Like, from the bakery, from the library, from-”

“Wait, the library?” Charlotte said.

“Of course! I mean, we want you to come back too. This is for the both of you!”

By then Homulilly had recovered enough to straighten up. “Don’t worry, we didn’t tell them what’s going on,” she said. “Just that you’re both sick and need to spend some time away to get better.”

“We even got Corbit Fausk on it!” Gretchen said. “Hers was, uh, really dirty actually. But really funny. Plus we put in a bunch of pictures and holos in there as well. From all those trips we went on, you know?”

Candeloro felt a lump forming in her throat. She didn’t know how many of those memories she could revisit, seeing how she was leaving to specifically avoid having those flashbacks triggered. But just that they went through all that trouble for her told her how much she was loved.

“Thank you,” she said as she embraced the two. “Both of you. I’ll treasure it forever, even after we’re back.”

“Take as long as you need,” Gretchen said.

“Just not too long,” Homulilly added.

“Promise,” Candeloro said, giving them one last squeeze.

Then Gretchen immediately ran over to Charlotte and threw her arms around her too. “Take care of her,” she said. “I’m going to miss you too.”

Charlotte honestly looked stunned at the sudden display of affection. She swallowed and awkwardly patted Gretchen on the back. “Um, of course! No more running. Only helping and healing.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Oktavia said wryly. She was coming in from the backyard, Cheese riding on the back of her chair.

“Where’ve you been?” Ophelia said.

“Trying to get the words right.”

“Huh?”

Oktavia turned toward Candeloro, her face dour. “Okay, let’s just get this out of the way,” she said. “I don’t want you to leave. I think it sucks that you’re leaving. And I don’t see why you think you need to leave.”

Candeloro couldn’t help but wince. “Oktavia, I-”

“Don’t…Don’t try to explain,” Oktavia huffed. “Look, if you think you need to, then fine, that’s your decision. I’m just not happy about it, is all.”

“None of us are happy about it, Tavi,” Ophelia said.

“Well, I can be the one whose unhappy and raising a big stink about it! I mean, we’ve only been together our whole lives, so I figure someone should make more of a fuss over this!” Then Oktavia sighed. “But…just because I don’t get it doesn’t mean it’s not…a-and I don’t want you to go thinking that I hate you or anything. So…do what you gotta do, but promise me you’ll hurry back.”

“Of course I will!” Candeloro leaned in to give Oktavia’s forehead a kiss of its own.

“Good,” Oktavia said, though the tension had not left her face. “Good. Glad we know where we stand.” Then her face heated up, and she abruptly wretched her chair around. Not to leave though. No, she turned it just enough so that she was pointed directly at Charlotte.

“And as for you!” she snapped, thrusting a finger at the target of her ire.

Charlotte stiffened. “Uh…”

“I am very glad that you came to your senses and didn’t just bail on us like you were all set to do. But you’re still leaving anyway, and you’re taking Candeloro with you!” Oktavia sucked in air through her teeth. “And you still were all set to shut us out of your life and turn your back on everything! And okay, forgive and forget, but that is not okay!”

“I…” Charlotte lifted up her hands as if to make a point, only to let them drop with a defeated sigh. “Okay. I guess you’ve got a whole lot you want to say to me. And I deserve it. So…go ahead. Hit me.”

There was a pause, and then Gretchen hesitantly ventured, “Um, do you mean literally, or…”

“I mean say everything she wants to say. Go for it, Oktavia. I have it coming.”

Despite being granted permission, Oktavia’s face just contorted with frustration. “That’s…just it though. Words are your thing, and I don’t even know where to begin…I don’t know what to say and…” Then she took a deep breath and then said in a much calmer voice. “Fortunately for me, even though I don’t have the words, that’s not a problem.”

Charlotte frowned. “Er, why not?”

“Because he does.” Oktavia tilted her head toward the parrot still hanging out on the back of her seat. “Hey, Cheese. Sinister Star.”

Before anyone could ask who or what a “Sinister Star” was, Cheese immediately perked up. Throughout everything that had been going on, he had been happily ignoring the drama taking place, content to just sit there and preen. But at Oktavia’s command, he started violently bobbing his entire body up and down while screeching, “Fucking bitch-ass traitor, turning your fucking back on her when she always had your back, only to backstab her like the slimeball you are! She was always there for you, and this is how you treat her? No shame, no decency, no honor at all! Well, just try to bring that attitude down here! I’ll stick my big, shiny boot so far up your ass that you’ll be flossing your teeth with my shoelaces! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, and you can shove that belt right up your candy ass!”

Then, his rant done, Cheese went back to grooming.

Everyone just stood in stunned silence. Candeloro especially had no idea what to say. Yes, Cheese’s mouth was foul, but he had never spat quite so much venom all in one go before. Hopefully the neighbors hadn’t heard. That would be embarrassing for the other to try to explain.

It was Homulilly who finally dared to speak, though all she could say was, “Uh…what was that?”

Cringing, Ophelia raised her hand. “Er, sorry. That was me.”

“Of course it was,” Gretchen mumbled.

“Uh, this wrestler I really liked straight up betrayed her partner at this one show, and that pissed me off. But Cheese started copying my rant, and that made me laugh, so I kind of trained him to say all that whenever he hears her name.”

Homulilly said, “What, Sinister-”

“No! Don’t say it out loud!”

“Well, it was pretty much everything I wanted to say, minus the stuff about the belt,” Oktavia said. She looked much happier now. “But in all seriousness, hurry up and come home when you can. Both of you, all right.”

“I promise,” Charlotte said, holding up both hands. “Just don’t sent me any more avian death threats.”

“Don’t do anything that’ll make me want to then.” And with that, Oktavia turned her chair around and marched off, Cheese still riding along.

When she was gone, Charlotte turned to Ophelia and muttered, “Seriously. You have got to un-swearify that bird while we’re gone.”

…

In other cases, it means looking back at how you reacted to change and accepting that mistakes had been made.

…

The storyteller reconciled with the griever…

Charlotte finds herself in another lobby, this time not of a hospital, but of a library. Her library, where she worked and spent a great deal of her free time. It was large and circular, with the various stories of the library rising up around the curve of the lobby, displaying the shelves and shelves of books. To her right was the check-out desk, and emblazoned on the floor is the New Life Alliance crest. The columns, the walls, and the ceiling decorations were all designed to resembled ancient crumbling ruins being devoured by coral.

Whenever she had dreamt of being in the library in the past, she had always lost her way. The place would reorganize itself, new floors would appear where none had been, new sections of total nonsense would take the place of areas she was familiar with, and she was never able to find what she was looking for. Not this time though. Though the hazy, dreamlike feel remains, the layout stays how it was supposed to be, and soon she finds the place she was looking for, the place she likes to visit the most.

The Young Romance section.

There is someone standing between the stacks, someone with an open book in her hand that she is thumbing through. Charlotte isn’t close enough to get a good look, but she recognizes the book immediately.

“You know,” Nozomi says as she closes the book and places it back on the shelf. “I never wanted to be a writer. Hell, I never even considered being a writer. I mean, I was always good at it, but never enough to write a whole stinking book.”

“What did you want to be?” Charlotte asks as she nears.

“A cook, believe it or not. Like in a big, fancy restaurant.”

Charlotte shrugs. “Well, I do like cooking. Just for me and my family though. Cooking for hundreds of people every day sounds like not much fun.”

“Instead you speak to thousands of people all the time. Funny how life works.” Nozomi sighs. “Well, credit where it’s due. You owned up and did the right thing. Kudos.”

“It had to be done,” Charlotte said. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what? Smashing your face in? Because I swear, if that ended up awakening something in you-”

“No, that’s all right,” Charlotte said hastily. “I mean stopping me. Keeping me from making the biggest mistake of my life.”

“I made the biggest mistake of our life. You were about to make the second-biggest.”

“Nah,” Charlotte said. “You had your life, and I have mine. Maybe we are the same person, but we had different lives.”

“Fair enough.”

Charlotte looks around at the books around them. Violence in the library is strictly prohibited, but she is reasonably certain that those rules hadn’t carried over. “So. What happens now? You still gonna beat the shit out of me every night?”

“Nope. No point, is there? You got the message, and you fixed the problem.”

Charlotte frowns. “Well, not entirely. It’s a start anyway.”

“It’s a start,” Nozomi agrees. She walks out of the stacks and sits down on a wooden bench. “Fortunately, you got nothing but time.”

Charlotte sits next to her. “Time. Yeah.”

“I just wish I did,” Nozomi sighs. “I should have thought about things longer, asked more questions.”

“Because of Mom?”

Nozomi looks down at her hands. “Yeah,” she said. “Because of Mom.”

“What happened?”

Nozomi doesn’t answer right away, and after several seconds had gone by Charlotte begins to wonder if she ever will.

Then she sighs. “I screwed up. When the Incubator came to see me and offered me a wish, I didn’t think that a cure was possible. Yeah, I know. Magic space alien thingy was talking to me inside my head, but something like that couldn’t be real. So I didn’t wish for one. And she died.”

“What did you wish for?”

A dark look passes over Nozomi’s face. “A cake.”

Charlotte isn’t sure if she had heard her correctly. “What?”

“A cake. I wished for a cake.”

“Um…”

“Mom was dying,” Nozomi says in a flat tone. “The doctors gave her days at best. And, well, Mom and I used to bake together all the time. Cheesecake was our favorite. And with her dying, I figured we deserved to share a cheesecake one last time. You understand, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Charlotte says. “But a cake?”

Nozomi raises her hands. “Look, we’ve both made stupid decisions.”

“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Charlotte sighs. “At least you made me stop mine in time.

“Damn right I did. And Speaking of time, mine is almost up,” Nozomi says as she stands up and brushes off her knees. “I did what I was supposed to do, so it’s time to step back and let you take the reins for good.”

“Yeah, about that,” Charlotte says as she stands as well. “What is our deal, anyway? Like, what happens to you when I wake up?”

Nozomi looks her up and down. Then she reaches for Charlotte’s face.

Charlotte instinctively flinches back, but fortunately Nozomi isn’t trying to attack her. Instead, she merely flicks Charlotte between the eyes. “That’s up to you, dummy. Remember, I am-”

“Yeah, you can stop with that whole song and dance,” Charlotte says as she rubs the stinging spot on her forehead. “That’s clearly bullshit.”

“Eh?”

“Look, we may be the same…soul, or however it works. And maybe we’re the same mind. But we’re clearly not the same person. This whole talk kinda proves that. You know stuff that I don’t know, and you had…opinions that I didn’t have.”

“It’s called not listening to your common sense,” Nozomi says with a sigh. “Sometimes that part of you needs to take actual form and beat some sense into you.”

“Give me a break. We witches wouldn’t have such a bad reaction to our old names if what you’re saying is true. And how about Candeloro’s weird identity slips? It’s clearly not as cut and dried as you’re making it out to be.”

“What is?” Nozomi says with a shrug. She sighs again. “Look, if there’s one thing that we’ve both learned about personal identity, it’s that it’s tricky as hell. Some people just know who they are and they live it no matter what. Some people have to make up other versions of themselves just to cope with different situations. Some people spend there whole lives trying to be something that they’re not, or someone else tries to make them into something that they’re not, and they get weird complexes. Some people think that they’re one thing until they find a part about themselves that ends up changing everything. And some people never seem to figure themselves out at all.”

“Okay,” Charlotte says. “And that answers my question…how?”

Nozomi spreads her hands. “I ain’t got any answers for you, New Me. But I am you. I’m just not…all of you.”

“Friggin’ vague-ass metaphors or whatever,” Charlotte grouses.

“Technically, that’s not a metaphor.”

“Shut up, I don’t care.” Then Charlotte sighs. “Well, that’s as good as I’m going to get, aren’t I?”

No answer.

“I said, that’s as good as I’m going to-”

There is no one else standing in the library with her. It’s just her.

But then, technically speaking, that’s how it always has been.

Charlotte opened her eyes.

She was still in her seat on the elysian. All around her, the other passengers were sleeping, reading, watching videos, listening to music, and otherwise just passing the time, so there was probably still a fair amount of flying ahead of them. She checked the time. Sure enough, they still had another three hours to go.

Then she looked over to the seat next to her.

Candeloro was fast asleep, enjoying a rare moment of peace. Lately the stress of everything that had been happening always left her looking tense and hollow-eyed, but now she was fully relaxed, her golden hair cascading down around her round face as she slowly breathed in and out.

She looked so beautiful.

Charlotte felt her throat start to close up. She had been such a fool. How close had she come to losing her? Wait, no, not losing her. “Losing” implied that it was due to circumstances outside her control. And, okay, it partially was, but it had been her choice to reject Candeloro. It had been her choice to run away. And Charlotte had a feeling that no matter how much time passed, no matter how long they were together from here on out, that breach of trust was going to haunt her every day.

Well, never again. No matter what happened from here on out, no matter what sort of changes Candeloro went through, Charlotte was going to be by her side. Even if for whatever reason Candeloro decided to start calling herself Mami Tomoe, Charlotte was just going to get used to that. Because no matter how much some things changed, Candeloro would always be the person that Charlotte had fallen in love with.

Then Charlotte glanced down. Even though she was asleep, Candeloro had left her new hands nestled in her jacket pockets, a habit she was starting to develop. But Candeloro’s left hand had slipped a little out of the protection of her jacket pocket.

Charlotte still preferred the ribbons. True, Candeloro could summon up ribbons whenever she wanted, it just wasn’t the same. Charlotte had loved the way Candeloro would wrap hers around Charlotte’s entire hand and forearm whenever they went on walks, or how they would entwine their bodies together when spooning in bed. She had loved the way they felt, how they smelled, how they could always wrap around her entire self and drawn them closer together. She was going to miss that.

But even so…

Charlotte reached down and took Candeloro’s hand in her own. Though she remained asleep, Candeloro reflexively curled her fingers around Charlotte’s. She mumbled something, the cadence of her breathing changed notes, and she tilted her head a little toward Charlotte.

Her hand still holding onto Candeloro’s, Charlotte settled back into her seat as the golden elysian bore them to whatever their future held.

…

Other times, it means coming to terms with that through no fault of your own, everything you had known is now gone, and the only thing to do is to face the future with your eyes facing forward…

…

“All right girls, we have a new member that’ll be joining us today!” said Dr. Bertha. “Everyone, this is Hitomi Shizuki.”

Hands clasped behind her back instead of the front so nobody could see how badly they were shaking, Hitomi bowed low. “Uh, h-h-hello,” she said. “I hope we can all become good friends!”

“Hi!” said one of the girls off to the side with a very enthusiastic wave. Nobody else reacted, but that was to be expected. Dr. Bertha had warned her of that. After all, everyone was still only a few weeks into the program, and most were still coming to terms with their own deaths, to say nothing of the entirely unexpected place they had found themselves in. All things considered, just getting a warm welcome from one of them was actually very encouraging.

The group was small, only having about eleven other individuals. Apparently that was the norm. After all, classes were dependent on girls having died at roughly around the same time and ending up in Freehaven by happenstance. As someone used to going to a very large school with multiple classes packed with children, being a part of such a small class for the rest of her schooling was going to take some getting used to. But all things considered, something like that ranked extremely low on the list of things she was having to get used to.

“You can sit wherever you like,” Dr. Bertha said. “We’re pretty informal here.”

No kidding. It wasn’t even a classroom, but rather more of a group therapy session, with couches and chairs arranged in a loose circle. Apparently the actual school part of the integration program wouldn’t even begin another couple of months.

Hitomi looked around the room. Most of the others weren’t even looking at her, and those who were didn’t seem all that friendly. That was another thing Dr. Bertha had warned her about. “It usually takes some time before they start to open up,” she had explained. “Right now, they aren’t sure who they can trust or even if it’s safe to trust anyone at all. So don’t take it personally if you get some cold reactions.”

Maybe so, but it did make finding someplace to sit a little awkward. Fortunately, the one that had said hi to her had a space next to her on one of the couches, so Hitomi went for that.

“May I sit here?” she whispered.

“Of course!” the girl said. She patted the seat next to her. “Sit! Sit!” She had very long reddish-orange hair that seemed to be in much need of a comb and, oddly enough, bright blue eyes. Having one’s hair and eyes be of contrasting colors was kind of rare, and Hitomi wondered if that meant that she was a witch.

Hitomi gratefully sat down. However, as soon as she did, her new friend leaned in way too close and started sniffing her.

“Uh,” Hitomi said as she instinctively leaned away. “Excuse me, what are you doing?”

Then the girl sitting on the other side of the sniffer grabbed her and yanked her away from Hitomi. “Papika, stop it!” she hissed, sounding mortified.

“But she smells nice,” Papika complained, as if that explained her odd behavior.

“You can’t do that to complete strangers!” the other girl said. “It’s rude!” She had short, dark violet hair and brown eyes. Maybe that anomaly was more common in the afterlife…for whatever reason.

Then the girl with a seat next to the couch started laughing. She was sitting backwards in a folding chair that faced away from the group, leaning over the chair’s back with her arms folded. “It’s your fault you know,” the girl remarked. “You choose to sit next to her, you get what she gives you.” The girl was shorter and more petite than the other two, with straight blonde hair with red highlights that hung just past her jaw and deep purple eyes. Another anomaly.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Hitomi said with what she hoped was a warm smile, though to be honest it was probably coming off as strained and awkward. “Honestly, it’s nice to meet someone so friendly.”

“Friendly. Tch. That’s one way of putting it.” Then the blonde stuck out her hand. “Yayaka, by the way. You already met the spice-head, and the other one’s Cocona.”

“Um, Hitomi,” Hitomi said, accepting the handshake.

“I know.”

“So…you three are, uh, friends?”

“We partnered together back…before,” Cocona told her. “Until, well…”

“We died!” Papika said cheerfully. “Like this!” She grabbed her own throat with both hands and made a big show of strangling herself, pitching this way and that while gagging loudly.

“Papika, stop it!” Cocona hissed, giving her friend a hard flick in the forehead. Sure enough, some of the other girls were shooting them some pretty unfriendly looks, no doubt due to the insensitive nature of Papika’s performance.

“Um, a witch did that?” Hitomi asked.

Yayaka winced. “Er, no. It was a magical girl fight.”

“And Yayaka was on their side!” Papika declared.

“Only at first! Jeez, I straight up got shot in the back for helping you two.”

It took several seconds for Hitomi to fully comprehend what she was being told, and even after she had figured it out she wasn’t sure how to respond. “You were killed…by other magical girls?”

“Yes,” Cocona sighed. “There was supposedly an infestation of witches in Osaka. Papika and I went to investigate, but Yayaka’s group was already there.”

“And you turned on them?” Hitomi said to Yayaka.

Yayaka grimaced. “Well, yeah. I mean, I actually already knew Cocona before any of us became magical girls, and, well, I couldn’t just let them hurt her!”

“So they killed you?”

“It happens,” another girl sitting nearby broke in. “Competition for grief seeds got pretty fierce sometimes. I’ve never seen it get like that myself, but I have heard stories.”

“Well, I never really liked any of them anyway,” Yayaka said. And then I wound up here with those two. Kind of puts things into perspective, now don’t it?”

“It sure does,” Hitomi said.

“Well, what about you?” Yayaka said. “Were you part of any kind of group, or…?”

“No,” Hitomi said, shaking her head. “Just me. Probably why that witch got me.”

“Well, you can stick with us then!” Papika said.

Hitomi started. She had known that it would probably be a while before any of the other girls warmed up to her, but she hadn’t expected such an enthusiastic invitation so early.

“Are you sure?” she said. “I mean, you just met me, and…”

“Huh?” Papika quizzically tilted her head. “Don’t you want to be our friend?”

“No, I do, I don’t see-”

“Get used to it,” Yayaka said. “You’re pretty much adopted now.”

“Yay, Hitomi!” Papika grabbed Hitomi with both arms and squeezed her tight.

“Papika!” Cocona again pulled her friend away. “You just met. Behave!”

“No, it’s okay,” Hitomi said. “To tell the truth, it’s nice to find someone so…welcoming. Is it really okay if I stick with you though.”

“Eh, I don’t mind,” Yayaka said with a shrug.

“Of course not!” Cocona said. “I mean, we’re all in the same boat, right?”

That was a great way of looking at it, especially since apparently she wasn’t going to be able to talk to Gretchen or the others for a while. Hitomi had been scared of facing her future without having any of them around.

But as she looked around the small room, she realized that even though it may be some time before she saw any of her friends again, there really wasn’t anything stopping her from making new friends. After all, it was like Cocona had just said: they were all in the same boat. Might as well look after each other in the meantime.

Hitomi smiled. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

…

While other times it means taking responsibility for your actions in having made that change come about…

…

The front door to the Freehaven courthouse opened, and the guilty marched out.

All of the conspirators, sans Hitomi of course, had been tried together, and had all been given the same judgment, to varying degrees. Of course, Homulilly and Gretchen had gotten the worst of it, seeing how it had been there idea and they were the ones who had done the actual absconding. But there had been plenty to go around.

“You know, that went a lot better than I thought it would,” Mitty said.

Sasha, whom it should be noted had been stewing in a silent ball of fury the whole time, whirled around to face her. “Better? Better? I got fired! You got me arrested! I have a record now!”

“Sure, but at least we’re not going to jail,” Mitty said.

“At least…” Sasha made a noise not entirely unlike a steaming kettle. “I should have just let you turn me in! Your favor made things so much worse for me!”

“Not my fault they got caught,” Mitty said, giving Homulilly and Gretchen something of a stink-eye.

Homulilly sighed, though to be honest she was feeling kind of relieved. Though it was clear that the FIB was not happy with their actions, cooler heads had prevailed, and she and Gretchen were not destined for time behind bars. They didn’t even have to pay a fine. Which wasn’t to say that there hadn’t been consequences, it’s just that the consequences were a lot less severe than they could have been.

Well, maybe not a whole lot less…

“What’s jail like in Freehaven anyway?” Gretchen said.

“Why ask me?” Mitty said.

“Because out of all of us, you’re the one most likely to have been inside,” Homulilly said.

“Hey, that hurts. I’m not that bad. Besides, I only just graduated a few weeks ago. Kids still in the integration program don’t go to jail. They serve detention and get extra work.”

“Which you would know,” Homulilly said.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I don’t mean to brag, but I happen to have-”

“One of the longest and dirtiest records in recent FIB history!” Alyssa said as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere to grab a handful of Mitty’s hair. “And not one month on the outside and you have a criminal record! Well done, Mitty! Well. Done!”

“Hey, I was just trying to help!” Mitty complained. “And leggo of my hair!”

Alyssa complied, though it was only so she could seize Mitty’s upper arm instead. “Well, consider this a wake-up call!” she said as she marched Mitty away. “You are going to shape up and start taking responsibility for your actions! This is more than just some light-hearted trouble, this is serious! And it’s high time that you…”

Homulilly and Gretchen watched as the pair walked away, Alyssa ranting the whole way while sullenly marched along with her.

“I hope we didn’t ruin things for them,” Gretchen said.

Homulilly just shrugged. It was a little too late to start worrying about that.

“And, um, I’m really, really sorry for getting you in trouble,” Gretchen said to Sasha. “Believe me, we didn’t intend-”

“Save it,” Sasha grumbled. “Just…save it, okay?”

She stomped off as well. Gretchen and Homulilly glanced at one another and winced. Sasha had been given the same sentence as them, albeit for a shorter amount of time. Working with her was going to be…awkward.

Well, it was what it was. And in the meantime, the two of them had their own music to face, specifically in the form of the pair of figures waiting for them at the bottom of the steps.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Ophelia asked as Homulilly and Gretchen approached. “I mean, they’re letting you walk out, so I’m guessing you’re not bound for the territory penitentiary.”

Homulilly sighed. “No, it’s community service.”

“Well, hey! Let’s hear it for mercy! You got off easy!”

“Sort of.”

“Huh? What’s that mean? What they got you guys doing?”

Homulilly handed her the data crystal.

Ophelia activated it and threw the readout into the air. “Ooooh, working in an Old Town homeless shelter. Gnarly.”

“Yup,” Homulilly said glumly.

“For…” Ophelia frowned. “Five hours a day, four days a week, for…seven years?”

“Yup.”

“It was either that or six months in jail,” Gretchen said.

“Huh. The jail might’ve been easier. Still, that seems…kind of excessive?”

“Not really,” Oktavia said. “I’ve read up on it. Since everyone here is immortal and will probably be around for a few hundred years, community service sentences tend to go a lot longer than people expect. I guess after a few decades they have to ramp it up to make it mean anything.”

“Ah. Well, sucks to have it happen this early then.” Ophelia frowned. “Still, Old Town. I’ve been there. You two are in for a rough time.”

“Thanks,” Homulilly said dryly.

“I mean it. You caught a glimpse of it during your heist, sure, but it’s a pretty mean place. And you’re going to see that firsthand.”

“Plus, it’ll delay your schooling,” Oktavia said.

Homulilly hadn’t thought of that. “Oh.”

“It’s okay,” Gretchen said. “I mean, it’s an opportunity to help, right? And we can still take online classes in the meantime. So maybe when this is all over, we’ll have an easier time getting in to someplace good!”

“That’s the spirit!” Ophelia said, giving her a slap on the back. “Keep up that positive nature!”

“Well, let’s head home,” Oktavia said. “Enjoy your last few days of freedom before you start atoning for your crimes.”

As they walked, Homulilly took the time to ask. “So, uh, Ophelia? I’ve been meaning to ask. Since we were found, uh, guilty, did you get our bail back?”

The look on Ophelia’s face wasn’t quite a grin and wasn’t quite a grimace, but fell somewhere in between. “Nope!” she said. “But I was given a receipt. Hope Charlotte doesn’t blow all her money while they’re gone, because she owes me. Big time.”

…

At times you find yourself helping others come to terms with the changes in their lives…

…

The large, submerged gates slid open, connecting the tank to the vast body of water that lay beyond.

At a glance it seemed like they had done so needlessly. Nothing seemed to swim out, and nothing came in. The sort of stale water in the tank mixed with the fresher, cooler water beyond, and that seemed like it was it.

But it someone were exceptionally sharp-eyed, they might detect the tiniest glimmer of motion around the gate after more than a minute had gone by. It wasn’t much, and it didn’t go beyond the gate itself. But in time the hints of motion picked up, and the big creature slowly moved out into the open water.

“And the Big Baby has left the crib,” clacked Niss, the vekoo curator of the Sunside Biological Preserve. “Repeat, the Big Baby has left the crib.”

The observation room broke out into cheers. From where she stood next to where Niss was sitting, Demmi allowed herself a small measure of relief. Patching up the karnuk had been touch and go, and it had left it with a large scar that had ruined the transparency of its hide.

Fortunately, Sunside was much better equipped to handle that sort of damage. Though there still was a little bit of visibility around the wound, it was very slight, and most people wouldn’t even notice if they weren’t looking for it. And now the karnuk had a whole lake to itself, stocked with plenty of prey that was neither sentient nor capable of blasting through its thick, gelatinous hide.

“I wonder what he’s thinking,” Demmi said.

“Eh, who can say?” Niss said. “Karnuks are pretty temperamental creatures. Normally they’re skittish as hell, but they can get pretty bold once they’ve realized that there’s nothing bigger than them about. That’s probably what happened with him. Otherwise, he would have probably split the moment those castaways of yours started fighting back.”

Demmi had, of course, been very sparse about the details concerning the karnuk’s wound. All she had said is that a group of people had ended up caught in the storm, had been attacked by the karnuk, and they had panicked and injured it in the ensuing struggle. Any further details were strictly forbidden, but that was a lot of people to keep one secret, and Demmi was increasingly worried that it would leak any second. Oktavia von Seckendorff was a frequent collaborator of hers as well as being a close friend, and Demmi had a feeling that should it come out that the news of Candeloro’s transformation had been broken by one of her girls, both relationships would end up severely damaged.

Fortunately, the people at Sunside had accepted her explanation. It was the truth, after all, just with certain sensitive details redacted. They hadn’t been thrilled about the karnuk’s injuries, but what was anyone supposed to about that? Of course those people had defended themselves! And the big dumb lug had come out of it alive.

“Anyway, we figure we’ll give him some time to get used to his new home,” Niss went on. “That fight probably gave him a big scare, so he’ll probably be pretty cautious for a while. Don’t want him to get spooked once we introduce the female.”

Demmi’s ears perked up at that. “The what?”

“I didn’t tell you? That’s right, I didn’t tell you! Yeah, we managed to find a female! Yeah, we were really surprised too. Back on their homeworld, the butontikos and the nask would rarely ever encounter karnuks, especially the young girls that we get here, so it’s hard for someone to bring enough memory of them to get us any karnuks over here. But if we can get ourselves a breeding pair, that might actually change! We just need to build up this poor guy’s self-esteem so that he doesn’t bolt in terror the second he senses her.”

“Well, that sounds interesting. How long you think that’ll take?”

Before Niss could answer, the sensors tracking the karnuk’s movement suddenly flared up. For whatever reason, he had suddenly stopped exploring his new home to flee in the opposite direction as fast as his bloated body could swim. Which, it should be noted, was pretty fast.

“What happened?” Demmi asked. “What spooked him?”

“Um…” Niss checked the recordings. “According to this…he bumped into some gostuns.”

Gostuns were a small species of crustacean native to the same planet as the karnuk. They looked a little like tiny swimming dragonflies, and tended to swim together in large groups. The butontikos and nask ate them like shrimp.

“Gostuns,” Demmi repeated. “He was spooked by gostuns.”

“Yup,” Niss said. She let out a wheezing sigh. “You know, I think we’ll hold off on getting him a girlfriend a little while longer.”

…

Sometimes it means coming to terms with realizing that while you have stayed pretty much the same, everyone around you has changed, thereby altering your life as well…

…

The hardest part of being the only ones who didn’t do anything wrong or hadn’t undergone any drastic changes is that when all the others have to go deal with the consequences, you’re kind of left all alone.

Ophelia and Oktavia lay cuddled up in each other’s arms on one of the lawnchairs in the backyard, watching the forest as the day bled into night. Candeloro and Charlotte were off trying to get a grip on their issues and Gretchen and Homulilly were away on their first day of community service and weren’t expected to be back for a couple more hours, so until then it was just the two of them.

For the first time.

In sixteen years.

The forest was paradoxically a very peaceful place at night and yet very lively. On the one hand, there was no one else to be seen, with the only other sign of human life was a far-off conversation of a couple of people walking down the street that could only be discerned if they focused on it specifically, which they most certainly were not. The wind was gentle, doing nothing more than rustle the grass and make any leaves that had survived being blasted off by the storm flutter a little. Even Cheese, who was sitting nearby on one of the grill’s handles, was quiet for one, content to sit and groom himself in peace.

On the other hand, the forest did have a night life, and it was starting to wake up. The chorus of hums and the chirps of the night insects had begun. Over by the stream that ran not too far from their house, the croaking of the local frogs was joining the song. The fireflies were coming out, little fairylike lights that bobbed their way between the trees. Every now and then an owl would start hooting, while the last of the daytime birds sang their going-to-bed song.

Just lying there listening to the forest sounds was something that Ophelia and Oktavia enjoyed doing often when they just needed to wind down. However, this time it was different. In times past Candeloro and Charlotte would always be in calling distance somewhere in the house. Sometimes they would even be out there with them, inhabiting one of the other lawnchairs. Not today though. Now their soul-sisters were off far away. And the two newest additions to their family were well on the other side of town.

For once, the house was truly empty. It was a big house of course, big enough to accomondate so many bodies while still giving everyone some measure of privacy. But walking around one could be expected to run into someone, whether it be a housemate or someone’s friend. And when they had brought in Gretchen and Homulilly, they had expected things to get even more busier.

But instead, the big house had nobody else in it. Now it felt entirely too big, and much, much too quiet. For those notorious for making the most noise,

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Oktavia said.

“Well, someone has to,” Ophelia said. “Me, I was about to settle into a blissful state of mental oblivion. So thanks for ruining that.”

“How’s that different from any other time? Anyway, I noticed that during this whole mess, you and I are the only ones that didn’t totally screw up or get totally screwed up.”

“Yeah, I had noticed. Seeing how we’re still here and nobody else is. Which is kinda weird, if you ask me. I mean, aren’t we supposed to be the troublemakers?”

“Only the fun kind,” Oktavia said as she shifted around in Ophelia’s arms and draped an arm across her girlfriend’s chest. “But, you know, sooner or later Candeloro and Charlotte are gonna come back.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Sooner or later Gretchen and Homulilly are going to finish up their sentence.”

“And then they’ll probably be off to university,” Ophelia pointed out.

“Yeah, well, that’ll end eventually too. Point is, eventually everyone will come home, and we won’t have to stick around and hold down the fort anymore.”

Ophelia frowned. “Wait, you wanna split as soon as they all come back?”

“Not permanently, of course. But think about it: have we ever had a vacation? Like, just you and me?”

Ophelia’s brow rose. “Go on.”

“I mean, on trips in the past, we’d always have to compromise with what everyone else wanted. But what if, after everything’s settled down, we just took a week or two? You and me? Go and have some fun, our kind of fun.”

“Huh. Well now, music girl. I am liking the sound of that melody. Tell me the lyrics.”

“Well, okay, here’s a catchy tune for you,” Oktavia said. “New Lesbos.”

Ophelia felt a grin forming. “For real?”

New Lesbos was a very exclusive tropical resort island that catered to a very specific clientele. Specifically, those who liked to have fun, and weren’t overly hung up on such archaic concepts like “social decency” and “moral standards.” In short, it was a place where debauchery was the name of the game and the Seven Deadly Sins were more of a weekend checklist instead of behavior to be avoided.

“Why the hell not?” Oktavia said. “I’d say we fit the bill.”

That much was true, but still… “I don’t know. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we are openly perverts of the finest stock, but we’re not exactly…polyamorous.”

“So? Swinging isn’t required. There’s plenty of stuff to do for just us. Like deep-sea diving! They’ve got one of the craziest coral reefs to be found in a human territory!”

Ophelia made a face. “I thought you were trying to sell me on this.”

“Oh, fine. And they got slingshot skydiving.”

That made Ophelia’s brow shoot up, along with her interest. “Oh, do they?”

“Yeah. And mountain base-jumping. And some kind of absolutely insane kind of bungee-jumping. Like, the kind where you start on an airship a couple of kilometers up, then after a couple bounces they release your cord and you fall until the people in the next airship catch you and hook you up to their, and repeat for like four ships.” Oktavia shuddered. “Ugh, psychos.”

“Do they got that thing where you can do parkour on a hovering obstacle course with no ground?”

“Probably, yeah, you lunatic. Plus, there’s the buffets, the shows, the monster safari tours, the rides.”

“Hmmm.”

“And oh yeah, all of it clothes-optional.”

“Hmmm.”

“Naked waitresses, skinny dipping, pole-dancing competitions.”

Ophelia sat up a little. “Wait, hold on. Pole-dancing competitions?”

“Yeah, I thought that would get your attention.”

“Is there a trophy?”

“You already got a space picked out for it, don’t you? Tell you what: I know you’re probably not too keen on water again thanks to recent events, but if you start up on those therapy sessions again, I’ll do the same for my little issue with heights. That way, we can do those activities together.”

Well, Ophelia wasn’t exactly keen on any kind of diving, but the thought of doing it with Oktavia while butt-naked had a definite appeal. As did everything else she had said. “Deal,” she said.

“I thought so.”

“Though you do realize that between the kids’ community service and their schooling, it’ll be years before that happens.”

“Well, hey, we’ve got nothing but time. Though something just occurred to me.”

“What’s that.”

The hand that Oktavia had laid on Ophelia’s shoulder had started to move, caressing her as it went. “Seeing how we’re here alone for a little while longer, things are pretty clothes-optional right now.”

Ophelia’s grin turned lecherous. “You know, you may have a point there.”

Oktavia’s hand wandered across Ophelia’s front until it stopped at the top button of her shirt. Then it started to work its way down, undoing each button as it went.

…

And finally, though it will always hurt, sometimes it means learning how to let go and move on…

…

Many years later...

“And don’t forget, school gets out at one on the dot! We have those new trackers implanted, but even so, I still want you to check up on him!”

“I will,” Tomohisa said as Junko put the last of her papers together and shoved them into her briefcase.

“And make sure to walk him inside instead of just dropping him off! And to pick him up directly from the classroom. Be there waiting for the door to open!”

“Already on the list.”

Junko was heading for the door, but she stopped about halfway there. “Oh, and don’t forget-”

“Junko. Sweetie, it’s okay,” Tomohisa said as he laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll take care of him. Nothing’s going to happen, I promise.”

“Are you sure though? You know, statistics say that-”

“Junko.”

Junko smiled sheepishly. “I know. It’s just…if anything happened to him…”

“I know, I feel the same. And trust me, I’m going to make sure he gets home safe. Nothing will happen to him.”

“All right,” Junko said after a pause. “I leave it in your capable hands. Now give me a kiss.”

Tomohisa was more than happy to comply. “Knock them dead, sweetie!” he called as she rushed for the door.

“Bye, Mama!” Tatsuya called, waving.

Junko paused just long enough at the door to shoot them both a confident wink. And then she was off.

Tomohisa couldn’t be prouder of his wife. The last few years had been hard on them all, but Junko had been devastated by the loss of Madoka. The first year had been nothing short of terrible, with Junko nearly driving herself and the rest of the family to ruin in her obsession in finding their daughter. Tomohisa remembered the feelings of helpless as he had watched her deteriorate day after day, from the times he had to pick her up from the police station to getting angry calls from her work about her blowing up at her coworkers for some perceived slight. He would sit with her almost every night trying to console her as she just drank more and more, sinking further into her well of grief and self-pity. With Sayaka Miki having disappeared only a few weeks before Madoka, Junko had been convinced that there was some kind of kidnapper about. She refused to listen to anyone suggesting that her daughter had been a casualty of that terrible storm. It was just weather! And they would have found her body if that had been the case, right? And when Hitomi Shizuki ended up vanishing as well, it only fueled her paranoia. It wasn’t just a kidnapper going after Middle-School girls, it was a kidnapper targeting her family and their friends as well. It had to be a rival from work, or a competitor to the company! It had to be this, it had to be that, and she was going to get to the bottom of it!

In the end, he finally had to confront her. It wasn’t fair, he had told her, to allow herself to fall apart like that. It wasn’t fair to him, and it wasn’t fair to Tatsuya. Of course he knew that she was hurting, and he was doing his best to support her. But he was hurting too, and so was their son! Tatsuya could barely even talk, but even he seemed to understand that his beloved older sister wasn’t coming home, even if he didn’t know why. And between taking care of the two of them, Tomohisa barely even had time to grieve himself.

In the end, it was when he threatened to leave her that she began come to her sense. It was a rough journey, and for a long time things between them were…not good, but slowly but surely she began to piece herself back together, and along with her he began to heal as well. Burned bridges were repaired, fences were mended, and though there was a gaping hole in their hearts that would probably never be filled, they were learning to live with the pain.

And now Junko was back in the game! She was almost like her old driven self again, and Tomohisa was overjoyed to see his beautiful, strong wife once again out there fighting the good fight.

In the meantime though, he had a fight of his own.

“Okay buddy, now hold your hands up,” he said to Tatsuya. “That’s right, like that.” He helped his son into his uniform jacket and handed him his backpack.

It was the first day of kindergarten, and Tatsuya was facing the day with a mixture of pride and, well, sheer terror. Though he knew it wouldn’t be fair deny his son the chance to have a normal schooling experience, Tatsuya was all they had left. Though he was doing his best to maintain his friendly, encouraging smile, his hands were shaking as he buttoned up Tatsuya’s jacket.

It’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. Stay strong, Tomohisa. Stay strong.

Taking Tatsuya’s hand, Tomohisa headed for the door.

Then, though he didn’t want to, he stopped.

On a table by the wall, a small shrine had been set up, one ringed by perpetually burning candles and flowers. On the wall was his daughter’s framed academic achievements and other small memories, from pictures she had drawn of their family when she was a child to letters she had written while away at summer camp. And in the centerpiece were three framed headshots, surrounding a larger picture of the owners of the three headshots all sitting together with their arms around each other as they smiled for the camera.

The pictures were of Tomohisa’s daughter Madoka, and her two best friends Sayaka and Hitomi.

Tomohisa did not like to think of what Madoka’s final moment might have been like. He knew she was gone though. He wasn’t sure how he knew, it was just a truth he felt deep inside his heart. He was always going to miss her, even when she came to visit him in his dreams.

Tomohisa was not necessarily a religious man, but he dearly hoped that wherever she was now, she had reunited with her friends, and that they were happy together.

…

Change happens whether we like it or not, both good and bad. And sometimes we react badly to that change.

But there is nothing that says that we cannot bring a new change of our own, to fix what has been broken and to turn a bad situation around. And even if something good has been lost, there is always a new good that can be found. We just need to be willing to find it.

[mal-likes-biscuits]

Hi Mal, which demon lord do you hate!

Hate is a strong word, Malthael thinks, as he considers the query. Particularly when the beings in question represent concepts as much as specific crimes. 

I loathe the Lords of Hell the same as I do the existence of evil or misery. That is, generally, and with the acknowledgement that they are as part of the fabric of reality as the Light. To hate the Hells is to be eternally fraught with anger. They thrive in chaos, particularly when it strikes their opponents. As such, they are a force that should be opposed with level-headed strategy, lest we concede them an advantage.

That aside, I understand the foundation of your question. And there are particular demons I dislike opposing more than others.

Mephisto is cunning, certainly. He approaches war strategically as I do. Though, any advantage he may have over the Angiris is lessened by his inability to properly corral his siblings. We should be grateful the Evils are as fixated on back-stabbing each other as they are on the Eternal Conflict.

Belial’s illusions can also circumvent my efforts, though I have found the Lesser Evil’s execution to be somewhat lacking. Lies are only effective when your opponent cannot see through them. And an astute observer would notice subtle changes in individuals or locations due to Belial’s meddling.

He is avoiding answering the question. Malthael knows the answer, though part of him hesitates to admit it, because doing so concedes a battle that he still immensely regrets losing. One that continues to haunt him and the other Angiris, and is perhaps the Hells’ greatest victory over his kin.

Of all the Great Evils, the most dangerous, and thus my greatest adversary, is Diablo. His domain is terror, and though it may appear to be a simple evil to overcome, it is also the most insidious. Fear lingers and festers, even in the most stalwart of hearts.

Diablo’s patience and cunning surprised even myself. I believed the Angiris Council was immune to his power. I was wrong. He buried the seeds of distrust between us, and when the time was right, he fractured our unity irreparably. It has never recovered. And that defeat, at the Lord of Terror, is one we may never reclaim.