#oh and both the names of those two are related to the dead. Corpse and Slain | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shijiujun · 5 years ago

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Okay I’ve decided to do a single rec after I finish one novel hahaha because if I wait to get around to it all it’ll never happen! Anyway because @sarah-yyy has been reading it and I’ve gotten a lot of asks/replies on this, I’m just going to do one huge list for one of my faves so everyone knows what’s going on and where to find things XD

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua (You’ll have to download the KuaiKan app, the chapters are currently all free)

Characters:

1. 景韶 Jing Shao - 3rd Prince and is the first out of his three other brothers to be given a title 成王 (cheng wang). He’s referred to as 王爷, and also 小勺 (xiao shao) by Han Zhang. Went out on his first war when he was 14, and was thus given a title before any of his brothers. He’s known for being a merciless, cold and fierce army general/commander, but this was before his second life with Han Zhang, where he puts on like his doting mode and is basically a dumbass XD who listens to Han Zhang with a lot of trust, which is cool and all.

He marries Han Zhang when he’s 19, and in his first life he was very reluctant and resistant, and neglected Han Zhang for 10 years, until he was charged with treason and hunted down.

In his first life he wanted to snatch the throne, even from his blood-related brother Jing Chen, but more out of spite than anything else because he felt he was dealt an unfair hand by having to marry Han Zhang. Not only that, but Jing Shao is not his father’s favourite son, and he always felt that the emperor was biased against him. Anyway, a huge accumulation of daddy and anger issues, which is fair.

When he realizes that Han Zhang died for him, he decides he will be good to Han Zhang if they are reborn in their next life.

2. 慕含章 Mu Han Zhang - The 2nd son of Marquis Bei Hou’s, born to a concubine. He’s called by his 表字 which is 君清 (jun qing) by Jing Shao. Official First Wife Bei Wei Hou-furen and her son (who is in line to inherit the Marquis title from his father) has bullied him all his life, and wanted to push him into greater desperation by marrying him to Jing Shao, knowing he will suffer at the hands of the supposed merciless/heartless wangye. He has a weak body because of an accident when he was younger, and in his first life he was really sick after being neglected for 10 years, and knowing this in their second life, Jing Shao does everything he can to take care of him.

He is incredibly smart, has a brain for business and sales, and is also very good at handling people, especially scheming ones. He aids Jing Shao in the beginning of their second life, and then Jing Chen later as well, as both brothers begin to fight to put Jing Chen on the throne, against the 1st and 4th Princes. Is an incredibly good tactician in war as well.

3. 景琛 Jing Chen - 2nd Prince, Jing Shao’s blood related older brother who is handsome af too. His title, given later in the novel, is 睿王 (rui wang). He was misunderstood by Jing Shao in the first life as Jing Shao thought it was his brother who led to him marrying Han Zhang, and because he’s not very good at expressing himself and shows his concern to Jing Shao by nagging at him, Jing Shao always thought he hated him. In their second life, Jing Shao already knows that Jing Chen loves him and did a lot for him in his first life, and so trusts his brother and supports him right off the bat, because Jing Chen is indeed the most suited person for the throne.

He has a wife and a concubine, 3 sons and 2 daughters at this point. He ends up helping Jing Shao a lot, and when he realizes that Han Zhang is way more adept at politics and the whole scheming thing than Jing Shao is, he begins trusting Han Zhang a lot more as well! There’s a surprise with Jing Chen hahaha which I loveee and could see, but wasn’t sure until they confirmed it in the last few chapters AHAHAHAHA.

Other Notable Characters:

1. Song Ling Xin (Second Wife) on the left, and two other concubines on the right

They’re pretty much vying for Jing Shao’s attention, but at this point apparently he hasn’t slept with any of them before. Song Ling Xin is the daughter of the Military Department’s Head Song An, and Jing Shao married her initially out of interest. The right most concubine (I forgot her name oops) was a gift given to him by his oldest brother, the 1st Prince. The two of them played a huge role in Jing Shao’s downfall back in his first life, and so in his second life, he especially detests Song Ling Xin. Plus the three of them keep bullying Han Zhang in the beginning, but thankfully Jing Shao is like: “Anything my Jun Qing wants”. They don’t stay around for long either, watch as Jing Shao gets rid of them like he’s swatting flies.

2. Xiao Yuan & Zhou Da-Ge

This is another male couple who’s been married for 7-8 years if I recall. Xiao Yuan is one of Jing Shao’s important allies and friends in the second life, because in Jing Shao’s first life, this was one of the only young officials in court who spoke up for him when the accusations of treason came about. Zhou Da-Ge is his husband, who is a cook running a restaurant in the city. Whenever Zhou Da-Ge bullies Xiao Yuan in bed a little too much, Xiao Yuan punishes him by making him wear colourful clothes out (pink, bright yellow, purple, etc.) and thus he has a reputation for being eccentric and a weirdo, but oh well, all for love.

3. Gu Huai Qing

One of Jing Shao and Jing Chen’s most powerful allies, and he becomes blood-sworn brothers with Jing Shao without realizing who he is. Later he takes a liking to Jing Chen.

(Will update with photos when they come out, but they’re a bit further into the story so we won’t have them for a few months yet ahahaha)

Amazing Scenes:

Jing Shao & Han Zhang first looks in the manhua

Jing Shao being THAT clingy husband and helping Han Zhang to wear his clothes properly so cute!!!!!

Han Zhang and Jing Shao in their first lives (10 years later), about to die, sad and then Jing Shao jumps down the cliff with Han Zhang’s corpse, regretful cuz he a dumb bij

Jing Shao unable to resist kissing Han Zhang’s cheek, realizes what he’s doing, and gets embarrassed LMAOOOO 没出息!!!!!!! (This is different from the novel, because in the novel Jing Shao just kisses and is done with that, the embarrassment part is drawn in only in the manhua hahaha)

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Jing Shao is like, he does a 180 entirely and he is very cognisant of all his faults and what he did wrong previously, and how badly he treated Han Zhang, so he legit forces his brain to go “I will listen to Jun Qing from now on” and he really sticks to it!

Loves kissing and teasing Han Zhang, but doesn’t force him into bed after their wedding night, and instead goes to Xiao Yuan and asks for tips on how to make his partner feel less scared about sex

The both of them end up with a pet tiger?!! That’s called Xiao Huang (little yellow) LMAO

They nap together a lot which I love <3333

Jing Shao knows he’s bullied at home, so when they go back to the Marquis Bei Hou manor, he holds Han Zhang’s hand in front of everyone to let them know Han Zhang has someone to back him up

Brings Han Zhang to war because he “cannot concentrate if Jun Qing isn’t with me at all times” - and asks for special permission to do so

Han Zhang notes that since he married Jing Shao, as the ‘wife’ he is supposed to serve Jing Shao, but it’s always Jing Shao serving him - Getting water for him, bringing him to baths, putting clothes on for him, putting food in his plate if it tastes nice, massaging his back and waist etc. - and best is he doesn’t have to deal with any in-laws?!! HAHAHA

Jing Shao gets revenge on those who hurt Han Zhang when he was younger for him, and the outcome is pretty hilarious but well-deserved

EPILOGUES are cute af!!!!

#the wife is first #you own my all #qi wei shang #妻为上 #danmei #danmei novel #stebeee recs #min's why you should read

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lilysdaydreams · 5 years ago

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For Them

→ Pairing : Corpse Husband X Fem!Reader

→ Genre : fluff.

→ Warnings : Swearing, Reader panicking a bit.

→ Request : Heya! I was thinking maybe a corpse x reader where the reader is playing among us with him and the gang and they use the proximity mic and he walks past her to hear her singing and she’s kept her singing like a MAJOR secret because she’s shy about it- idk you don’t have to do it if ya don’t feel like it it’s just an idea 💛

→ A/N : Oh my god, did Lily finally finish writing something??? YES SHE DID. Pretty happy with this, so I hope you guys enjoy as well! Sorry for any spelling mistakes :) Requests are open!

~~~

You grabbed the water on the table, moving to the side and out of the camera to quickly take a few sips. You could hear the rest of the group still yelling about the previous game. You laughed quietly hearing Peter and Rae yell at each other.

Looking over at chat you hummed as you took in the questions.

"How much longer am I streaming?" you read out the question.

"Probably a few more games. Maybe like 30 more minutes. I wanna go get dinner soon." you mumbled as you kept on scanning the chat.

A random question caught your eye.

"Do I sing?" you read out with a laugh.

"Wow, that's such a random question oh my god. Um, I used to want to be a singer when I was a kid," you started leaning back in your chair. You looked at the ceiling reminiscing and chuckled when you remembered the concerts you used to throw for your parents.

"I used to get my parents to be the audience and I would sing all my different songs for them. When they weren't free, I would do it for all of my plushies on my bed. Oh my god, I probably have old videos in the basement or something."

You smiled wistfully, looking back onto the screen.

"Those were good times," you muttered.

Looking back onto chat, your eyes widened at the amount of "SING FOR US" messages.

"Woah guys, calm down, that was when I was a kid. I don't sing seriously you know that right?" you questioned, laughing at how fast the chat was going.

"Okay okay," you said smiling when they didn't stop. "Lemme ju- Oh wait" you cut yourself off seeing the words "IMPOSTER" light up your screen.

"LETS GOOOOO" you yelled, turning your mic on again for the game. Everyone's voice slowly faded as people went different ways. You stuck with Lily, both of you going straight to medbay.

"Lilyyyyy" you said dragging her name out.

"Y/N" she said doing the same to you.

You giggled, and asked her if she had med scan.

"Nope, I have the inspecting the sample one."

"Ohh okay," you said getting on the med scan and pretending to scan. You watched as Lily finished her task, saying a quiet "bye" and rushing off to the next task.

You sighed, moving off the scan and starting to walk towards weapons. "Lily's so nice, I'm so glad I got to meet her through this. Like, she's the absolute sweetest I swear, I'm hoping that I get to m-" you got cut off by a body being reported.

"Already?" you asked, others echoing. You gasped when you saw who was killed, immediately whining about how someone could kill Sykunno, while playfully glaring at Sean's name, who was the other imposter.

"Okay, so the body was at reactor," revealed Rae.

"I was in the cafeteria, going towards weapons. Me and Lily were in Medbay before but she left before me," you said leaning back.

Lily confirmed this, also stating that she was in weapons now.

Sean, Corpse and Felix all said they were in Electrical, and Poki said she'd been in storage.

You looked at the chat again, not saying anything while the rest said where they were.

The chat was still spamming "Sing please!" and you looked back to the game without giving an answer. If you were being honest, then what you had said before was a lie. You still sang. Hell, it had been your dream to release your songs ever since you started writing at 15. You had started singing by singing for your parents. Ever since their car crash though, you couldn't even think about performing for anyone else. If you couldn't even perform for them, then what was the point? For some reason, whenever you thought of singing in front of someone, you couldn't even get the words out.

You sighed and skipped voting as the timer ticked down. No one was ejected and you started humming slightly as you moved away from everyone.

"Hmm should I sing you a song everyone?" you asked your voice very low. You breathed deeply reminding yourself that technically no one was in the room with you, and it was only your fans watching, a small community of people who were the sweetest you had ever seen.

Going into reactor and moving down to the very end so that no one could see you, you breathed in deeply and started singing lightly, noticing that the lights were off, the blinking arrow in the corner of your screen.

"I think we could do it if we tried

If only to say you're mine

Sofia, know that you and I

Shouldn't feel like a crime

You know I'll do anything you ask me to

But oh my God, I think I'm in love with you

Standin' here alone now, think that we -"

"Y/N what the fuck your voice is -"

You screamed before the person could even finish what they were saying, hitting the "kill" button without even realising, and letting out a gasp when you saw the black body flop over.

"Oh god, oh my god, what did I do?" you whispered staring at Corpses body, half of your brain freaking out over the fact that he had heard you and the other freaking out what to do. You quickly vented, coming out in electrical and pretending to do the download.

"Oh my god, guys!" you whispered furiously, playfully glaring at the camera. "This is all your fault, do you see what I did, I killed someone with my singing... I just got so scared because he came out of absolutely NOWHERE, oh my god guys." Leaving electrical, you heard someone yelling and headed closer to them laughing nervously when you found Toast and Sean yelling at each other.

"Hey guys," you said voice being unnoticed because of all the yelling and you moved into comms pretending to do a task there.

Just as you did that, Pokis body was found, and you gasped as you realised that Sean had killed three people so now there were 5 left. Toast was dead, which means that he just died, which left Sean, you, Rae, Lily and Leslie.

There was a stunned silence for a second as everyone took in the 4 kills and then Rae immediately attacked.

"Ahh, the body was in cafeteria. Like bottom cafeteria."

"Um, So I just wanna add something, I was coming from the electrical right, and I was walking to comms, and Toast just passed in the middle of storage. I came into comms and Sean is here as well.

"Yup, shes right, toast just left and she came in." confirmed Sean.

"Well, I saw Leslie at the start of the round, we stuck together and then I was with Poki for a bit."

"Yeah okay, but where were you?"

"Well, I went to weapons then I went down into comms and storage and then I went electrical when lights were called and everyone was ther-" she said cutting herself off and gasping. “Guess who WASNT there? Y/N wasn’t there!��

“Well yeah, I just thought someone else would do it” you replied. “I was all the way in upper engine and I couldn’t be bothered. You all did lights and I was doing my tasks in reactor and then I went to electrical and then I was waking to comms, and then I saw toast and then I got into comma and saw Sean. Even if I was the imposter and killed Toast, I definitely couldn’t have been able to kill Poki.”

“Yeah no, I still think it’s you,” said Rae after a pause, Leslie and Lily both giggling at her.

Lily chimed in then as well, “Yeah I haven’t seen y/n this whole round at ALLLLL, so I think its her as well."

Ignoring your protests, they all voted you out, and you shrugged at the camera as your character was thrown off the ship.

"I think I'm okay with that guys, I was way too nervous to still play," you muttered, now looking at the chat.

"Guys," you whined suddenly remembering. "I was only meant to sing for you, I didn't want anyone else to hear it, Corpse literally came out of nowhere. I hope he wasn't deafened by my screeching," you grimaced.

The word "Victory" came onto your screen and you huffed out a laugh as the lobby exploded with noise.

"Lily! I told you it was Sean!" exclaimed Rae.

"Sean was on a killing spree," you added in, sipping your water. "I only killed like two people cuz I was distracted, I swear he literally carried the whole game.”

“He backstabbed me!” said Sykkuno and you could hear the smile in his voice. “I was doing upload while he was right next to me and we were talking about how great this group was and he just killed me right there!”

Suddenly all the attention was on Sykkuno as everyone started cooing.

“Awww, Sykkuno, did you just compliment us?” Rae yelled, lots of other chiming in to tease Sykunno and him ending up stuttering because he got flustered.

“Alright guys,” you said when everyone quieted down. "I think I'm gonna go now."

"NOOOOO" yelled Rae, everyone else echoing her.

You smiled and quickly said your goodbyes, logging off the game and quickly saying bye to the viewers and ending that as well.

Slumping into your chair, your breath quickened. "Oh my god," you whispered, the realization creeping up on you that you had just sung in front of nearly ten thousand people and that Corpse had heard you sing. You and Corpse had met through Among Us with Toast inviting you to the lobby. You had fun playing with him and you'd both followed each other, but most of your interaction was in games. Like sure you'd messaged each other a few times but those were only brief conversations! and sure, maybe you had a small tiny crush on the guy but like WHO WOULDNT? He was sweet, nice and you related to him a lot. The point was, you were absolutely not ready to sing in front of him. You stood up from the chair and went to the kitchen, pouring yourself a glass of water to calm down.

Your phone rang and you grabbed it from the counter, choking on the water as you saw that it was from Corpse.

He had never called you before. Like you said you simply weren't that close.

Coughing out a "What the fuck?" you answered the call, grabbing onto the counter for support.

"Hey," you said, confused when there was no sound.

"Uh yeah, Hi Y/N. Its Corpse."

"Ah yeah, I see." You facepalmed yourself, rubbing your forehead. What the fucks was wrong with you.

"Um yeah, so uh I just- You know in the game? Um I kind of - well - I kind of heard you singing, um um, that song."

You stilled, not a breath coming out of you.

"Your voice, its -" he paused, letting out a huge breath. "It's absolutely beautiful."

You opened your mouth not even sure what you were gonna say but he continued talking.

"I just, I cant get it out of my mind. Have you heard some of my music?"

"Um yeah, I-I listened to it when I first heard about you. Your songs are so good!" you exclaimed, finally being able to move your mouth

"Do you think maybe we could do a song together sometime? Your voice would be absolutely amazing on one of the tracks I'm currently working on, its a chill one that I have, kind of like Agoraphobic," he asked, rambling through the sentence.

"Um, Oh my god," you muttered, still confused on if this was actually happening. "Yeah, Yeah definitely that would be so cool."

"Oh. Oh that's great, I-I didn't think you'd agree, that's great, I can send you a sample and the lyrics but -"

"Um," you started cutting him off. "If I'm being honest," you muttered, shoulders coming up to your ears. "I'm actually really conscious about my singing. Like this was the absolute first time I ever even sang on stream, so like sorry- I'm ruining it, but this is just a bit overwhelming for me. It's a great opportunity, and if you want I can definitely try but please don't have big expectations of me okay?" you asked biting your lip slightly. "I'm not that great."

There was a second of silence and then he whispered lightly, "Even if you don't believe it, just from those 30 seconds, I could already tell how amazing your voice was."

Your breath caught but a second later he had already moved on.

"If you want to, we could do a few singing sessions together? Just mess around have some fun? That way you can get a bit more comfortable and have some fun," he suggested, voice changing to a shy one that you hadn't ever heard from him.

~~~

"Yeah sure," you agreed, smiling. "Lets try that."

3 months later, you guys finally released your song. Titled "For Them", you sang about your parents who you had loved dearly, and he sang about his parents and their distant relationship. It showed two different perspectives, two different stories, two different lives, and you both loved it so much.

The song was a success, with fans pouring into your channel and small community and well, your life. Most importantly though, along with all of it, came a mask-wearing man, who held you on the days that it was hard for you, and who you held on the nights that were hard for him.

fin.

#corpse #corpse husband #corpse x reader #corpse husband x reader #sykkuno #Corpse husband fics #corpse x y/n #please like and comment #I like validation

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thesweetestspot · 2 years ago

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Freak alert! Who are the weirdest weirdos in Evermore?

... i have to pick?

hm, well i suppose it depends on the definition of freak. because there are fun freaks, like luis, and there are.... freak freaks, like those i'm listing here as my top three.

this is all in good fun- isn't it? ;-)

i'm just going to go ahead and give you readers a two-for-one special here and say the pines twins. "oh, but everyone loves the twins!" ... do they though? do they really? from what i've observed, dipper is a self-destructive borderline basket case who spends more time jerking off "ghost-infested" artifacts than he does jerking off himself. his obsession with the unknown is the reason why no one even knows who he is- it's kind of depressing. mabel is an example of why the concept of never growing up should be something that stays within fairytales... i don't know if she thinks it's charming or quirky, but someone needs to show her that the world is not sunshine and rainbows all the damn time. her positivity gives me tooth aches. while she's not nearly as much of a freak as dipper, she's related to him, which in turn dooms our little ball of joy. so sad.

shona samhain. has anyone... actually seen her in real life? or is she a beautiful figment of this towns psychedelic imagination? i swear, i've only ever heard her name whispered amongst the residents of town... but i have never seen her in the flesh myself. she seems like a little devil, from what the rumor mill spins, but she is definitely into some really weird shit and i don't know if that terrifies me or excites me... probably both.

hades aidoneus. doesn't this dude literally work in a fucking funeral home? WILLINGLY? anyone that is consciously able to make the decision to work around dead bodies every day is automatically deemed a freak in my eyes- no ifs, ands, or buts. does he, like, smell like a corpse? has anyone ever smelt him? i wouldn't advise getting within a ten foot radius but... someone has to know.

@dbldipper @ladymabeltcn @samhainmade @hadesaidxneus

(mention: @faiirytalcs )

#& dipper #& mabel #& shona #& hades

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silverflame2724 · 4 years ago

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What if WWX succeeded in killing WR instead?

Ohhhh this is good. This is really good.

I’m mixing a bit of CQL here, but only in terms of Wen Ruohan choking Wei Wuxian.

But hmm, I don’t think much would change, but because you haven’t specified for a good or bad ending, I’ll give you a good ending!

(I also don’t know whether you’re asking me for my personal opinion or for a fic but here you go.)

Oh right, just to clarify in case you don’t read the tags but the only reason this is going to be a happy ending is because of a wonderful thing called a butterfly effect.

———————————

Wei Wuxian knew that something had to be done. As soon as Wen Ruohan stepped onto the battlefield, hundreds of their own died in an instant.

Something had to be done. And with all the dead around him, Wei Wuxian had more than enough resources to combat him. But he had to be sneaky. Wen Ruohan had cut down many of his corpses. He had to get close somehow and distract Wen Ruohan enough. He got the chance soon enough when he found himself gripped by the neck by Wen Ruohan.

As he ran out of breath, he slightly whistled, commanding a nearby corpse to rise and stick its arm through Wen Ruohan’s chest. He saw the movement of someone in the corner of his eyes but couldn’t pay attention as his vision started to turn black.

As he fainted, he idly wondered why it didn’t hurt as he fell to the ground.

…………..

Meng Yao felt like everything had slipped out of his hands. He had everything planned out.

He would go to the Wens and be a spy for the Sunshot alliance unless it came to a point where the alliance would lose. He’d stay on the Wen’s side if that happened. Otherwise, he’d wait for an opportune moment and kill Wen Ruohan himself. With the deed of doing that, Meng Yao would finally be able to gain the necessary means to get recognized by his father.

But no. He only managed to be a spy. And even then, he did give half completed information once and Nie Mingjue was captured and tortured. Meng Yao’s odds didn’t look good even though he managed to get into the good graces of Zewu-Jun.

Regardless, he did manage to become Jin Guangshan’s son because Zewu-Jun helped him, though he wasn’t recognized as an heir considering his name was Guangyao instead of Ziyao.

His father also didn’t seem to like him a lot…… Jin Guangyao sighed.

………………

Wei Wuxian woke up a few days later and attended the victory banquet that was held.

Many people congratulated him and clapped him on the back, though he stiffened at the gesture. After all that had happened to him, physical touch was something still unwelcoming to him.

But whatever. It was still nice to get a confirmation that he did indeed kill Wen Ruohan. He did manage to barely see his corpse stick its arm through the Wen sect leader’s chest, but he wasn’t sure he hit a vital point. His vision was starting to go black then.

He grimaced, though. After this, he’ll have to go back to Lotus Pier. And help rebuild. It’s not that he was unwilling to do so. It’s just.....without his core......what he could do was limited. Physically, at least. He could try to convince Jiang Cheng to give him more paperwork type stuff, but it was unlikely.

Ah.....this is why he was hoping, just a little, to die during the last battle. But he didn’t. And now he has to find a way to dodge Jiang Cheng every time he wants Wei Wuxian to do something that would involve his core.

*sighs* Wei Wuxian really was tired of all this.

............................

In the end, it was grating on their already strained relationship, but Wei Wuxian managed to dodge Jiang Cheng when it came to things involving core-related stuff.

But Jiang Cheng was really starting to show some genuine irritation at his behavior.

Just as he wondered what to do, a familiar face brought him out of his thoughts. “Wen Qing?!”

.........................

They ended up breaking into Qiongqi Path where the Wen civilians - civilians for crying out loud - were being beaten and tortured to death.

As much as Wei Wuxian wanted to kill the Jin inspectors where they stood, Wen Qing told him to calm down otherwise, it would be a political mishap.

“The only reason you’re this calm is because you see Wen Ning.” Wei Wuxian pouted.

Wen Qing rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. If she hadn’t seen A’ Ning helping the others with their rather ridiculous tasks, there’s no way that she would have been as calm as she is now.

“It doesn’t matter. Wait till they don’t pay attention and sneak them out one by one! It’s not like the guards will actually notice until they’re all gone.”

“Hmm.”

In the end, the guards all fell asleep as they did this. But Wei Wuxian needed to think of a long term plan. They were all clothed in Wen sect garments so the first step would be to get them a change of clothes. He had sufficient funds from his duties as head disciple - though he wasn’t really performing those duties per say - as well as funds Shijie had given him.

So he got them a change of clothes. And a map. And told them to head to Dongying since it was far removed from any sects. Wen Qing gave him a hug, which surprised him and she asked for some paper, writing something down and handing him some notes.

“I always felt guilty about the transfer. So throughout the war, I came up with this. Your meridians are still intact, after all.”

“Wen Qing....” Wei Wuxian was stunned.

“It is the least I could do. After all that you have done for my family.”

Wei Wuxian did not cry.

He did not.

...................................

Time passed.

And eventually, Wei Wuxian formed a new golden core. It was not through traditional techniques though. Of course it couldn’t be. He was in his twenties and forming a golden core would be nigh impossible.

Wen Qing’s notes gave some insights though they were not complete. Wei Wuxian had to refine the method she had started.

And so, through the use of medicines and his own genius, a fledgling core formed after two years. How was he able to have that much time on his hands, you ask?

He may or may not have told Jiang Cheng and Shijie that in order to purify the resentful energy in him that he had to go into secluded cultivation.

They both reluctantly agreed but not before Wei Wuxian trained a successor, someone to take his place.

And now. Two years later, he has finally purified the last bit of resentment in him, has properly sealed the Seal away, and has finally formed a golden core.

#wei ying #wei wuxian #lan zhan #lan wangji #meng yao #jin guangyao #canon divergence #mdzs #WWX kills WRH AU #butterfly effect #angst #fluff #WWX has a new golden core

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lightrises · 4 years ago

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"Only in allowing her to pass..." — Hornet, The Radiance, and the means by which Hallownest turned its victims against each other

A quick note: I read Hollow Knight as an anti-colonialist text. As such I'll be touching on topics related to colonialism as it's depicted in the world of the game, and said analysis will reflect both a sympathetic take on The Radiance and a critique of The Pale King that won't pull its punches. If this sounds up your alley, hello and thank you for the read! Let us be sad about these bugs together.

———

So!! A while back I realized something about pre-canon that felt rather... "curious" is one way to put it, I think. To wit: for all the effort and scheming and determination The Pale King poured into trying to get rid of The Radiance, neither of his plans involved directly killing her.

Was that his long game? Well, sure, that seems clear enough. His tack changed from luring the moths away from their god and creator to a more literal form of incarceration once the infection became a factor, but at its core the end goal never really changed—The Pale King very sincerely wished to destroy Radiance via obsolescence. The Seer lends us foreshadowing to confirm as much:

[Image descriptions: Two screenshots from Hollow Knight, showing the Seer and Ghost in the Seer's alcove at the Resting Grounds. Across both screenshots, the Seer tells Ghost the following: "None of us can live forever, and so we ask those who survive to remember us. Hold something in your mind and it lives on with you, but forget it and you seal it away forever. That is the only death that matters." End description.]

(Which, by the way and given the context, talk about an extremely unsubtle allusion to cultural genocide huh!!! Whew.)

In any case, we're left with a whole bunch of machinations which build up to... well, two very roundabout attempts at committing deicide. That's kind of weird, all things considered! Why not just do the deed in one fell swoop and get it over with?

This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the king was devoid of the means to instantly kill another higher being. Maybe his personal sense of scruples stopped him short of signing off on MURDER murder (although, y'know, the aforementioned genocide + eternal imprisonment = still cool and copasectic apparently!). Maybe the long drawn-out cruelty was the point. Maybe the idea of playing fuckign 4D chess with the circumstances was too delicious for him to pass up—that man did love to tinker and stick his claws where they sure as hell didn't belong—or maybe it was a little bit of All The Things. Who knows!!

But interrogating The Pale King's methodology on this count isn't what I'm here for, at least not really. The main reason I raise this question at all is that in her own way, Hornet did too.

"I'd urge you to take that harder path... "

See, going by The Pale King's actions and what The White Lady explicitly says, they both foresaw two outcomes wrt the infection: it can be allowed to spread, or it can be contained. At Teacher's Archives, Quirrel acknowledges the fact that Ghost is expected to do... something about this, but he doesn't elaborate on what HE thinks that's supposed to be apart from the obvious "Gotta bust into Black Egg Temple first". Hornet is the one person who presents to us—to Ghost—what's framed as a third option: confront and destroy the infection at its source.

And she doesn't bring it up like it's just another tactic for Ghost to consider, prim and indifferent to what they would do. She nudges them towards it, actively, up to the point where she throws herself into the fray against Hollow at a juncture that's uniquely dangerous to her and her alone just to make that option feasible.

Even when she's couching it in disclaimers that this is still Ghost's decision to make (and let's be fair, she's extremely not wrong about that lol), no one can pretend Hornet is unbiased. It's obvious in that buttoned-down Hornet kind of way that she is way the hell done with the increasingly tenuous stalemate that's kept Hallownest's desiccated corpse from collapsing in on itself. Personally it's hard for me not to read some Toriel Undertale-esque "My father was too entrenched in his own foolishness to pursue any course of action that would have DEFINITIVELY ended this" shade into her stance here, regardless of whether that's strictly true in canon.

And that bit—Hornet's hopes for an end to Hallownest's stasis, moreover her grim calculation of what needs to be done to get there—that's the bit I find super interesting but likewise tragic and depressing as shit, on multiple levels. In no small part because a) canon itself gestures towards Hornet feeling conflicted about the very plan she's pushing, and moreover b) she has at least two (2) damn good reasons to feel that way.

So, what do I mean by that? Let's look here first:

[Image description: A screenshot from Hollow Knight, of Hornet and Ghost inside the Temple of the Black Egg, standing in front of the unsealed egg itself. Hornet has been struck by the Dream Nail and her dialogue is displayed as follows: "... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?" End description.]

As the curtain is about to drop on things one way or another, Hornet thinks,

... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

Now, looking at that last bit it's easy to go "Oh no, Hornet's worried that Ghost won't survive killing The Radiance!" And I do think that's part of it: Hornet is, categorically, not her father. By endgame it's clear she's not content to view her Void-borne siblings as tools to be used then disposed of. She's also well aware that as a healthy autonomous Vessel amongst the countless dead, Ghost is the only person left alive who has a fighting chance against The Radiance. Knowing someone is the only qualified candidate for the job doesn't make encouraging them to embrace a probable death sentence any less of a bitter pill to swallow, though. And odds are on that this sentiment extends to Hollow too, who IS going to die no matter what happens here. To put it bluntly, it's more than reasonable to conclude that Hornet hates the absolute fuck out of this.

But I don't think that's all there is to it either. Remember what I said earlier about The Pale King's bids for genocide? Well, it's not like the man deigned to limit his efforts to just the moth tribe.

"We do not choose our mothers... "

On top of everything else—an infected Hallownest being all she's ever known, the fact that she only exists because of the infection, the list goes on—Hornet has spent her life wedged into a position that's been uncomfortable and terminally unglamorous at best: she is both a daughter of her father's kingdom and of Deepnest.

Deepnest, which like the moths and many others was here long before the wyrm and his lady wife swanned onto the scene and the God Become Bug laid claim to everything the Light touched plus a considerable amount of change. THAT Deepnest, which has fought claw and thread to retain its sovereignty against same-said settler king, and for which Herrah not only surrendered her life but also agreed to bed her worst enemy, all in hopes of securing a viable future for her people (put a pin in that last part by the way, I'll come back to it soon).

Two Worlds, One Family (Ft. An Indigenous Woman Trying Her Damndest To Work With What She's Got Versus An Imperialist Who Only Signed Up For This Because He Needed The Political Favor THAT Badly, So It's The Height Of Dysfunctional Actually). Fun times!!!!

The baggage this entails for Hornet is gnarly enough without implications made by The White Lady and the pre-canon timeline of events and even Team Cherry's dev notes that the king may well have looked at baby Hornet, gone "YOINK", then ensured she spent the lion's share of her childhood reared within the pearly auspices of his Pale Court*. That would be rather advantageous for Him Specifically after all, the potential to mold a born foe into a future ally and even have her trained in combat under the same tutelage as her doomed sibling. And far be it from him to stop a grown Hornet—his own flesh and blood too!—from making Deepnest her forever home if she so pleased. He totally wouldn't be reneging on his "fair bargain made" by doing this one simple thing until Hornet came of age, not t e c h nic c a l l y.

If that is indeed the case, there's a non-zero chance Hornet's formative years were a hot mess of cultural alienation and being a good deal more privy than most to just how much of a bastard her father could be. There's an equally non-zero chance that at some point she stood or sat within earshot as The Pale King finally, finally dropped all pretense and euphemism to name the Light for precisely what (for who) it was.

See, in conjunction with the question that started this whole dang train of thought I've been asking this one too: Does Hornet know? When she speaks of confronting "the heart of [the] infection" does she know she's talking about not just a literal person but someone very specific? The Radiance, who god though she may be shares skin in the game alongside Hornet as a native woman screwed over by the same settler king, likewise deprived of her kin and saddled with a life gone horrendously pear-shaped?

I'll assume for the sake of exploring the possibility and because I think it's a likely one anyway that yes, Hornet does know. She knows, and despite everything can't help empathizing. She might even look at Radiance and see bits and pieces both reflected and slightly inversed in her own mother: Radiance was forced to the sidelines while her people—her children, the brood she was meant to lead and care for—died out under The Pale King's rule, and it's no stretch to assume she's at least as upset about that as she has been about everything else; Herrah too took drastic measures for her people's sake, trying to head off annihilation by relegating herself to the sidelines in an act that was as much calculated risk as an attempt to find wiggle room and leverage in the face of a nasty proposition.

A calculated risk that, if things continue as they are, might well amount to nothing as the rest of Deepnest gets eaten alive by the infection. It survived The Pale King's advances for so so long, only to fall here. Herrah's sacrifice would be for naught; the other tribes—themselves the king's victims—would keep succumbing to the infection too.

And this is where things fall apart.

"... or the circumstance into which we are born."

Let's be clear: I think Hornet is wise enough to know what's what here, that all the carnage and suffering falls on her father's head for starting this slow-motion trainwreck in the first place. Hallownest wasn't always Hallownest. This domain was Radiance's home first, along with many others. It was the worm-turned-king who rolled up on the scene unsolicited and decided this was a ""'problem""" that had to be """solved""".

But the fact of the matter is that he's gone and The Radiance is here, raging, seemingly inconsolable. Above and beyond being Deepnest's rightful heir, Hornet isn't in a position to countenance more splash damage even if the grief and fury fueling it makes perfect sense. She can understand without ever bringing herself to love Radiance, and she can bend her knee to practicality even if she hates the everloving shit out of it because the fact that it "has" to end this way isn't fair.

This lends itself to one last awful conclusion: that Hornet has probably considered and (rightly or wrongly) discarded the possibility that Radiance can be saved, at least not without dragging more collateral along for the ride. If even her mother and every other enemy to the king seemed to dismiss talking Radiance down as an option way back when... well. Why should Hornet hope for any better after things have escalated so far?

Again, it's practical. A practical net good is what Hornet strives for. And again, it fucking sucks.

For extra tragedy points, this makes Hornet's extended crypticness around Ghost followed by her last minute casting about for a reason to tell them "Wait, don't; not just yet" that she never voices even more of a gut punch. She can't bring herself to burden Ghost with the context that haunts her so, least of all when it might weaken their resolve to go through with what (she thinks) needs doing.

It's the "same song, different verse" which led to the mantis tribe and Deepnest being pitted against each other: Hallownest rigged the game so that two women who could have been powerful allies—who have a mutual vested interest in driving out settler rule—wound up poised as enemies instead. And how awful is that? The king for all his being extremely fucking dead still gets the last laugh, because outside of a miracle the game never manifests Hornet can salvage what her mother started and look forward to a future where Deepnest pulls itself back from the brink if and only if The Radiance dies.

Resolution comes at the price of a completed genocide. Add two more dead siblings to the unconscionable pile thereof, while we're at it. That's what it boils down to whether or not Hornet can bear to articulate it as such, and there's no grace or even a properly bittersweet ending to wring from this clusterfuck. And that is rough.

———

* This has been better explained elsewhere, but a quick rundown: The White Lady tells Ghost that Hornet and Herrah "were permitted little time together." On its surface this can be taken to mean that Hornet was still very young when Herrah was shipped off to Eternal Dreamland—except this doesn't jive with the fact that we meet Hornet as an adult. If the stasis kicked in once the Dreamers went to their rest, which in turn halted the aging process for every living bug in Hallownest, AND before all this Hornet experienced little by the way of quality time with her birth mother... I think you can see where I'm going with this.

To top it off we've got Team Cherry weighing in ominously from their dev notes on Herrah: "As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?" This isn't confirmation by itself of course, but given additional canon details (see above): Can I get a "yikes" in the chat fellas.

#hollow knight #hornet (hollow knight)#hornet hollow knight #hk hornet #the radiance #hk radiance #herrah #hk herrah #hollow knight meta #sup folks it's been a minute since i dropped a whole dang essay but Here We Go!!!!!!

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jackcinephile · 4 years ago

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LO Fans: "I love Lore Olympus because it deals with serious themes, like sexual assault, abuse, gaslighting, trauma, and mental health issues!"

Me, who spent my life discovering and obsessing over masterpieces like this:

"You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to impress me."

Yeah, I never understood that kind of praise. For one thing, people act like LO is groundbreaking for that reason, despite there being countless movies, books, tv shows, comics, and video games that also deal with the same themes. That isn't to say there can't be more stories like this, however. I, for one, am begging for another video game that comes close to the emotional resonance of Silent Hill 2, or for a faithful adaptation of Dracula and/or Phantom of the Opera, or for a horror movie as unsettling as The Howling! But to say any new story that deals with these themes is unique for doing so, is just simply not true. Lore Olympus is no more unique than any of these stories. Also, I don't understand the praise that Lore Olympus is great just by virtue of having these themes in the first place. Just because a story has serious themes, doesn't automatically make it good. Far too often does LO use its themes as a crutch for a plot that is standard issue among romances, as opposed to stories like The Howling, which has a very intriguing, outlandish plot that serves as a catalyst to explore themes of very real and relatable horror. Lore Olympus, without its intense themes, is just another story about the CEO falling in love with his intern. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE those kinds of stories, but Lore Olympus just doesn't really do it for me. And the poorly executed themes just hamper it even further for me.

If it wasn't already apparent, has anyone noticed a pattern between these titles? All but one are horror stories. In my opinion, that is one of the key differences between them and LO: Horror! The themes within, are ones that illicit terror, and the stories reflect that (even Phantom of the Opera--don't listen to anyone who says it's a romance). Starting with Dracula, one of the scenes that horrified me the most in the book was the one where Count Dracula sneaks into Mina's bedroom. The book describes him slitting open his own vein and forcing her to drink his blood. Mina then expresses feelings of violation, much akin to what rape survivors feel. It doesn't pull any punches in its shocking, horrific portrayal, but it never comes off as exploitative. That's because the best horror stories rely on the audience's empathy. In this case, nobody wants to feel violated, so we feel as horrified as the characters do when we read about this grotesque event. And because it is about illiciting fear through empathy, Dracula succeeds where Lore Olympus fails. Lore Olympus, before all else, is a romance. And rape should not be in a romantic story. Especially not when the narrative of LO uses this trauma to validate the relationship between the two leads. I'm not a fan of stories that use trauma to validate a relationship between romantic interests, and I think that partly stems from reading the Phantom of the Opera.

If you ask me, Phantom of the Opera is one if the best books to discuss abuse and gaslighting ever written! Despite misconceptions generated by the popularity of the musical, PotO is very much a horror story with hardly any romance at all. And it's one of the best examples about why using trauma to validate a romance is a very bad idea! You see, all the conflict of the story begins with The Phantom and his trauma. He was born with multiple physical deformities that cause him to look like a living corpse. Because of this, he is despised and rejected by the world in order to escape the hatred of the world, he commissions the construction of the Paris Opera House, complete with intricate catacombs where he can live out the rest of his miserable days. Then one day, a woman named Christine comes to work at the Opera as a chorus girl. She is sad and alone due to her being orphaned, without a friend in the world. She too is emotionally damaged and the Phantom thinks this means she'll understand him. The trouble begins instantly when he claims to be a character from a folktale that Christine's father used to tell her. This is when the manipulation and gaslighting begins. Part of what makes this so effective is how we see it from an outside perspective. The protagonist, Raoul, is in love with Christine and we get to see his confusion and growing concern when he starts realizing Christine is showing signs of an abusive relationship. What makes the relationship even worse is the fact that Christine actually does understand The Phantom. So she doesn't run away not only out of fear, but also compassion. She knows what it's like to feel isolated and dead to the world and The Phantom uses that against her. The more I describe this, the more parallels I begin to see to Hades' and Minthe's relationship. Yes, Minthe abused Hades in much of the same way as The Phantom abused Christine. Notice how Minthe keeps convincing Hades that they're the only people who understand each other, even going so far as to say, "We're the same." The funny thing is, that's exactly what the narrative uses to validate Hades' and Persephone's relationship! It tries to establish that Hades and Persephone relate to each other and they say, several times, "We're the same," to each other. But this is exactly how Hades got stuck in a toxic relationship with Minthe, so why is it suddenly okay now? Relationships that use shared trauma to validate themselves are almost always doomed to become toxic, in one way or another.

So what about the healthy relationship in Phantom of the Opera? Well, it's kinda interesting actually. You see, Christine eventually comes to realize that she needs help, so she turns to the protagonist, Raoul, to get her away from the Phantom. Raoul has an interesting character arc because he starts the novel being pretty immature and kinda selfish. He doesn't really take Christine's feelings into consideration. It's more like a boy chasing his childhood crush (actually that's exactly what happens). However, over the course of the story, as he becomes increasingly concerned with her well-being, he learns to care more about her feelings and her needs. This culminates in the climax, when he's willing to crawl through hell itself for her sake. I bring all this up because I wanted to compare Raoul with Hades as well. Hades is a very consistent character. He doesn't need an arc like Raoul because, from the very beginning, he's willing to put all of Persephone's needs before his, to a fault! That is his entire purpose within the narrative of LO. He exists to serve Persephone. Raoul didn't exist to serve Christine. He had his own journey of growing and maturing. And Christine didn't exist to serve Raoul either. It bothers me that a novel from 1910 has a more well-rounded relationship than a modern comic! Actually, now that I think about it, isn't Persephone's entire character arc supposed to be her learning that she shouldn't exist to serve others? Well, that totally contradicts Hades' role in the story, doesn't it? He exists to serve her! I guess, in the eyes of LO, it's only okay if men serve women, but not for women to serve men. Newsflash: neither is okay.

Now Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) remains, to this day, one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen! That's all thanks to its brutal depictions of domestic abuse. So Dr. Henry Jekyll believes the solution to enlightening the human race is to separate the good and evil in our souls. He solves this problem by creating a drug to do just that, which transforms him into Edward Hyde, but he becomes addicted and starts terrorizing a woman who was once a former patient of his. I think what makes this so effective, when compared to LO, is one simple factor: Fear. I am terrified of Edward Hyde, but whenever Apollo shows up, I'm just annoyed. That's because Hyde isn't being used to sell an agenda, while Apoll is. Apollo is all about making a statement about toxic masculinity, which always bothered me from the very beginning! Being an abusive cunt who rapes women has nothing to do with masculinity! It doesn't matter if you're masculine or feminine, anyone can be a cunting abusive rapist. If you are a rapist, it's because you're a monster who lacks empathy, not because of masculinity. And if you think masculinity has something to do with a lack of empathy, fuck off! Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not about toxic masculinity. It's about how drug addiction can often hurt other people around us just as much, if not moreso, than ourselves. It also doesn't use rape to validate a relationship between characters. I'm sorry, but that is just the laziest storytelling technique. When the antagonist is a rapist OF COURSE the male love interest is going to look better by comparison! But when you take Apollo out of the equation, Hades stops looking like a desirable love interest real fucking quick.

So yeah, I think Hades makes for a bad love interest. That's mostly because he's so much like Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Yeah, the one title from the list above that's not a horror, but is no less relevant. The thing is, both Hades and Shinji have a lot in common, such as hating themselves, having a bad relationship with their father, and not caring at all about their own wants and needs. Oh, also Asuka's a better written character than Minthe, but that's a whole other topic. What makes Evangelion work, in my opinion, is that Shinji's whole journey is about learning to love himself, while Hades is portrayed as being perfect the way he is. Hades in LO is like a flawless beacon of virtue, solely because he worships the ground Persephone walks on. But the guy just doesn't care about himself at all! Like I said earlier, Hades guilty of the same self-destructive behaviors as Persephone but he's praised for it, while Persephone is encouraged to look after herself more often. Compare this to Shinji, whose life only gets worse the more he neglects himself. The only time Hades does something beneficial for himself is when he breaks up with Minthe, but immediately after that, he starts devoting every ounce of energy to Persephone! All that matters is her! He doesn't give a single fuck about himself. Sorry, but that's not good qualities in a male love interest. In all fairness, this is a problem with the romance genre as a whole. Most romances give priority to the protagonist (in this case Persephone) while neglecting the love interest (Hades). It's why I have a serious problem with the entire genre.

Now what could Silent Hill 2 have that is in any way relevant to Lore Olympus? Two words: Nightmare Fuel. Personifying trauma as literal demons is one of the smartest ideas anyone's ever had, because speaking from personal experience, that's how it feels. I just don't feel like the trauma experienced by the characters in LO is a waking nightmare like it is in real life. For one, the characters' trauma only pops up when it's convenient for the plot. Like whenever Persephone starts experiencing ptsd, it happens when she's with Hades so we can get a scene with Hades cuddling her. After that, it shows up in a scene to make her look badass by confronting Apollo. No, just no. The Howling did it better too, by making the protagonist's trauma such an inconvenience in her life! I never felt that way in LO. When you uss traumatic encounters to make your character look like a badass, kindly fuck off.

#lore olympus

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megashadowdragon · 4 years ago

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coldhands identity is brave danny flint

Could Coldhands be Brave Danny Flint? It sounds crackpot, and very likely is, but the more I thought about it the more it appealed to me. I've done a quick search, one or two people seem to have floated this before but it's never had much in-depth analysis. This is my first meta, so please be gentle and C&C welcome.

The Gender Agenda To start with, I'll start with the elephant in the room - Danny Flint was a girl, Coldhands is male. Or is he? Gilly, Meera, and Bran all refer to him as male, but they have no idea who he is, so would see Night's Watch clothes and assume. He wears a scarf over his face, and while they can see his eyes and that his face is pale, it took Bran's gang a decent amount of time to work out he was a walking corpse, so I'm not sure I trust them to figure out niceties like gender. Leaf's "They killed him long ago" is more of a problem - she's a colleague, she would probably know. My best defence is that maybe Children of the Forest don't do gender in the same way as humans? This feels like a reach, but we have had another magical species with sexual fluidity leading to trouble with pronouns in the series. Otherwise, Leaf tends to hang out in the cave, Coldhands can't get in, maybe they're just not that close. Finally, the main person to ask - Coldhands his or her self. The only other post I could see on reddit about this theory had someone respond with the quote "Once the heart has ceased to beat, a man's blood runs down into his extremities, where it thickens and congeals. His hands and feet swell up and turn as black as pudding. The rest of him becomes as white as milk", but I'd point out this is in third person and a generalization - "a man", not "me, Coldhands, the man".

Okay, now I've convinced everyone my theory is terrible, let's get into the meat of it.

Hands cold as stone This was what got me into this rabbit hole in the first place - House Flint's sigil is "A grey stone hand upon a white inverted pall on paly black and grey". A stone hand would be pretty cold, right? In point of fact, when we first met Coldhands, the final line of the chapter describes "fingers hard as stone." On top of that, the white and black background seems to fit the Night's Watch blacks, pale face, black hands, white snow, etc.

Who the hell else could it be? This has always been the weird thing about Coldhands for me. Honestly, there's a very good chance this is a non mystery mystery, he's a zombie Night's watch ranger riding an elk, do we really need a secret identity? However, "who is Coldhands?" is one of the most commonly asked questions in the fandom, so let's assume it's getting an answer. We know: a) night's watch member b) killed a long time ago, as reckoned by a 200 year old, c) not Benjen. There are essentially 3 historical periods where we know any specifics about the Night's Watch: 1) the long night/age of heroes, 2) Targaryen era, 3) recent history. If we work through these backwards, we can pretty much rule out the recent era for not meeting the criteria of "killed a long time ago". The Targaryen era didn't have much Night's Watch drama, a few kings sent to the wall at Aegon's conquest, Raymun Redbeard's invasion is wall related but the whole point of that story is that the Night's Watch failed to really get involved... the only strong contender from this period is a mysterious magical Targaryen bastard who went to the wall and went missing... but he's the other mysterious good zombie wandering around up north. The long night has a lot of Night's Watch focus, but it was 10,000 years ago. Allowing for this being in-universe exaggeration, it's still ~2,000 years ago, and if Coldhands were that old, I'm not sure he'd be in elk-riding mutineer-killing form, or at least not look passably human to Bran and co. This rules out specific timeline characters, which leaves more folkloric characters like Danny Flint, who isn't associated to any one point in time. There's a song, and she's treated as a well-known tale, which implies a fairly long time, but overall could be whenever. This works for any of the folkloric Night's Watch characters, but the Rat King is already otherwise occupied with a different cannibalistic pseudo immortality, leaving Mad Axe, who does have the massacring fellow brothers down pat, but doesn't feel thematically right to me. This section really grew in the writing, but TL;DR - assuming Coldhands is someone we've heard of before, no specific historical figures seem to match up chronologically, leaving figures from folk tales and songs, which there are only so many of.

Mutineer Massacre For a character we've all obsessed over so much, it's easy to forget how little we've seen of Coldhands. His role in the story has effectively been "transport Sam and Gilly to the wall, transport Bran and co to Bloodraven, massacre the Night's Watch mutineers". Hold up, one of those things is not like the others. During his quest to get Bran to Bloodraven, to awake the messiah and save the world, Coldhands takes a break and makes a detour to kill the Night's Watch Mutineers from Crasters. This is explicitly noted to be something they slow down for, when time is critical. Admittedly, it secures the party some delicious Long Pork when supplies are low, but even in aDwD it seems like there are other ways to get meat than to hunt humans, besides which he kills not one but five mutineers. He claims it is because the mutineers are following them, but Meera points out they've been circling for days - it seems Coldhands deliberately sought the mutineers out. The brutality of the kills also suggests more than utilitarian pragmatism - there are entrails slung through branches and severed heads! All of this to say, Coldhands is deliberately shown as both a member of the Night's Watch, and willing/going out of his way to punish Night's Watch brothers who break their vows and harm their fellow brothers, something Danny Flint might take personally. Basically, it's a classic exploitation movie with an elk-riding zombie as the wronged woman hunting down wrongdoers. Someone call Tarantino to direct this.

A True Night's Watch One of the big themes GRRM loves is the idea that outsiders to an institution can be the truest embodiment of that institution - Dunk and Brienne are the truest Knights, Davos is the truest lord, the Manderlys are the most loyal northerners. Coldhands already seems to tie into this - the Night's Watch are tireless defenders from the Others and their Wights, so ironically the staunchest ranger is undead as well. It would only emphasise this theme if this ultimate Night's Watch ranger was someone who was barred from entry, had to sneak in, and was murdered by their brothers for not belonging. There also seems to be a thematic tie in that Danny Flint had to essentially infiltrate the Night's Watch and keep her cover in hostile terrain, much like Coldhands in the Others controlled north.

Bonding over being murdered by your brothers Coldhands has so far been very much one of Bran's cast, but it's worth noting characters can switch storylines, and we have someone else in the North who can soon relate to being a back-from-the-dead Night's Watchman fighting the Others - I'm hardly the first to note the Coldhands/Jon parallels, but Coldhands being another character who was murdered by the Night's Watch due to their conservatism and hatred of outsiders would add another layer.

Miscellany A couple of quotes I found while researching for this: “Did Mance ever sing of Brave Danny Flint?” “Not as I recall. Who was he?” (ADWD Jon XII) - Tormund and Jon talking, Tormund mistaking Danny Flint for a man, this feels like one of those throw-away lines GRRM likes to include to make a little double meaning once the truth is out, or just seeding the idea of mistaking Danny Flint for a man. “The ranger wore the black of the Night’s Watch, but what if he was not a man at all?" (ADWD Bran I) - again, I could see GRRM giggling as he typed that if this theory were true.

Conclusion Honestly, there is every chance this is absolute nonsense, and I've just lost it waiting for TWoW. I tend to lean towards Coldhands not having a big identity reveal, he's an undead ranger co-opted by Bloodraven and that's enough. However, if Coldhands is to have an identity reveal, I think Danny Flint deserves consideration: there aren't that many viable candidates, her story is emotionally intense enough and has been referred to often enough that a casual fan could be expected to go "oh!" instead of "...let me google that", and it would fit with existing themes of the story. The angle of Jon parallels even gives an opening for the reveal to be natural and facilitate character and thematic arcs, which is what I look for in a theory.

comment on reddit

Yeah, the Flint (of Flint's Finger) sigil literally being a Cold Hand is what sold me on this when I started looking into it. There's also some other intriguing textual stuff about it...

The weird thing about Danny Flint is that she is only mentioned three times in all of ASOIAF. Three! Bran recounts her tale in Bran IV, ASOS; Theon hears Wyman Manderly demand her song in The Prince of Winterfell, ADWD; and Jon discusses her tale with Tormund in Jon XII, ADWD.

This was kind of shocking to me. Danny Flint is a pretty recognizable name to, I’d figure, the majority of attentive readers. I thought she must have been mentioned before the third book, at least, but… nope. Her tale is first introduced to us in Bran IV, ASOS, the Nightfort chapter… Oh, what’s that? Wait, isn’t that… the very same Nightfort chapter where we first hear about Coldhands? (Well, no, actually, he appears at the end of Samwell III before that, but this is the first chapter where he is identified as Coldhands.) Chronologically, Sam meets Coldhands, Bran thinks about Danny Flint, and then Sam introduces Bran to Coldhands, in fairly quick succession.

So it seems GRRM came up with Danny Flint and Coldhands around the exact same time. Interesting. Danny Flint is then not mentioned again until ADWD, when the Coldhands mystery is developed further. Double interesting.

Also, the Bran chapter directly preceding the Nightfort chapter– our first introduction to Danny Flint– is the one where Meera tells him the story of the Knight of the Laughing Tree, another tale of a northern warrior woman dressing as a man and hiding her face in service of some greater goal. Stretch? Maybe.

And why would Coldhands' face be covered at all if there WASN'T some big reveal upcoming? What utility would that have? That scarf clearly seems like a setup for SOMETHING. He doesn't need it for warmth. He's likely hiding a face that would make him recognizable to Bran/Meera/Jojen (and the readers), but died long ago... the only way that reveal could work without a ton of laborious exposition is if he took off the scarf and it was obviously a 'female' face, making it obviously Danny. It also seems likely Coldhands will interact with at least Bran and Meera again, both of whom are somewhat connected to Danny Flint’s story– Bran via his love of stories and legends, and Meera via the breaking of gender roles. So there's thematic levels to it as well.

source www . reddit . com/r/asoiaf/comments/llwm8m/coldhands_identity_spoilers_extended/

#asoiaf #A Song of Ice and Fire #asoiaf theories #asoiaf theory #asoiaf coldhands #danny flint

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vidkid20ssimblrlair · 4 years ago

Text

Episode 32: Sundown At Ashfield (Part 2)

He grabbed his backpack and placed his mask inside. He then pointed towards the cemetery front gate and we entered. We walk through rows of graves as we went deeper and deeper into the cemetery.

Some graves were covered entirely by grass and weeds while others sat tall and crooked in the dirt. He pointed to a giant weeping willow tree and there a small tent sat under it. It looked like a campsite with a little campfire, a sitting area with logs, and various gear sitting around it.

"Welcome," he beamed. "This is my home away from home, so make yourself at home."

"In a cemetery?"

"It's not that bad. It's pretty serene. Plus the dead stay dead here. No rising from the grave so far."

"Still doesn't make it any less creepy."

"Oh, don't be such a Debbie Downer. Sit down. Let's talk."

He sat down and I sat down across from him. I placed my bag beside me and watched him do the same. He lit a fire with a lighter creating a warm glow amongst the chilly gloom.

"So what happened to the fancy stick?" I scoffed. "You actually managed to impress me out there.”

"Really? It’s just something I made using junk at the junkyard. A spear. It took me forever to make” he blushed as I rolled my eyes. “I fashioned it after my favorite video game-"

"Ugh, videogames. You sound like Audrey."

"Who?"

"Nevermind.”

“Well, I left it at the front gate if you want to look at it.”

“No. I don’t.”

“Ok. Ok. Well, I bet this will put a smile on your face." He smirked and reached for his backpack. He pulled out a packet of small spongy cakes. He held it up like a trophy, ripped it open, took out one, and bit into it. He then held the packet out to me. A mouth full of cake, he offered me the other. "Twinkie?"

"No, thanks," I frowned. He seemed disappointed but continued eating. I studied his face now getting a good look. He looked to be banged up a bit. He even seemed to be sporting a shiner and bruises to go with it. Poor guy. My eyes then scan the place as he chomped down on the second cake. I felt unease. Not because of the creepy choice of setting, but for the living who might come by. "So you sure this place is secure?"

"Yep. Along as the gate is closed, they stay out. Maybe one or two might squeeze in -”

“No. I mean the living.”

“Oh. Well, not even my sister knows about this place. Also, most strangers stay clear of places like this, so we’re good."

"Are you sure? No one followed you?"

"Follow me?! No way! They don't care about me or where I go. My sister does, but only when she remembers I'm related to her," he huffed. "Besides, they sent me out on a supply run. They've been sending me out for a lot of supply runs lately. To get me out the way I guess. They probably think I'll be gone for days since they sent me on some stupid hunt for watch batteries. Jokes on them, I found them already. Ha!"

"How about Jade though?"

"What about her?"

"Well, last I left you she was knocked out on the floor thanks to your genius thinking and you were going make up some bullshit story to save your ass. What happened with that?"

"Well, she woke up. That's for sure. She was a bit confused and dizzy at the time so she brought my story. Didn't make her any less angry though. She yelled a lot. Asked me a bunch of questions and yelled some more."

"Oh. So is that who gave you that shiner?"

"The black eye," he asked touching it hesitantly. He shook his head. "No. Ace did this but it's nothing. I've had worse."

"Worse?"

"Yeah. Let's just say I don't keep medical supplies around just for kind strangers like you," he chuckled. He then sighed. "He just gets really angry and frustrated with me is all. After Jade told him my story about getting jumped, he told me I should have done something. Said I was useless. Then he punishes me...with his fist."

I shook my head. "You should leave them."

"But my-"

"Your sister. Yeah, I know, but it's not fair to you. Does she even try to stop it? Does she do anything?"

"She tries to talk him down and she has kept him from killing me so far."

"That's fucked up."

"I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about me," he smirked. He fidgeted a bit and threw his twinkie wrapper to the side. He then grabbed another one. "You sure don't want one? Here take one."

He handed it to me, but I had no interest in cake or food at the moment. I placed it on top of my bag beside me. I looked up at him and his mouth was already full of cake. I groaned. "Enough with the twinkies!"

"You don't like them?"

"They’re fine, but I didn't come here to stuff my face, kid. I came here-"

"For Gemma."

"Bingo. You know her?"

"Yeah. Redhead, right? Tall, pale, insane."

"Yeah. Exactly. Definitely nuts. She part of your crew, right?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately," he mumbled. He tensed up and look downward. "When you said Gemma, I thought the name sound familiar. I wasn't entirely sure. Then it came back to me. You're talking about Big Red."

"Who?"

"Big Red. Her codename is Red Devil, but everybody calls her Big Red. Have you come across her or something?"

"Have I come across her? She's in my house right now. Well, where me and my friends are staying at least. She just showed up one day-"

"Wait! You said she's at your house?" he gasped. "Oh, God. Are you serious?"

"Yeah. She's tied up in our kitchen now-"

"That doesn't matter. You're like in serious danger," he shrilled. He then began grumbling to himself. "They never tell me anything. Shit. Of all the things to not to tell me..."

"Hey! Hey!" I snarled. I snapped my fingers in his face. "Talk to me. What's up?"

He came back to attention. His eyes wide and the color draining from his face. "Has anyone died since she's been there?"

"Meh. No. Not really. We had an old lady named Grace die, but that was before she came and the corpses killed her."

"Well, you're lucky. That's a damn miracle. You see Red takes pleasure in killing. She kills people. She likes toying with them first and then she lets them turn. Sometimes she lets them turn and watches them devour loved ones. She thinks it's funny. She's a psychopath and Ace loves her for it. She’s like his little pet," he said. "He sends her in when he wants a bloodbath, so I don't get it. You should be dead by now."

"Well, we're not and she's tied up. Maybe we got the better of her."

"Of her. Ha! If she wants to kill you... if she wants to get free, she will. She knows how to manipulate people to get what she wants. Trust me. She won't stay tied up for long," he warned. "Hmm...the only reason you're still alive because Ace had to order her not to. That's the only thing that makes sense."

"Why would Ace order her not to? Is that his usual thing?"

"No. Not at all. He takes pleasure in sick shit like Red, but he's a lot more tamer about it I guess. Still strange. At less...," he pondered. He then gasped. "At less, he needs you alive."

I scoffed. "For what?"

"I don't know. It's the only explanation I got though."

"You're hopeless. Do they really not tell you anything?" I sighed. "What about the Ace? What's his deal?"

"Ace aka Johnathan? He's just a power-hungry asshole who takes his jollies on preying on the weak and stealing from them. Who needs to find supplies or food when you can make someone else do it for you," he scowled. "But he didn't start off like that. He was a jerk but he was fairly normal when we met him. Part of me pities him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Like you, he had a daughter, but he lost her doing this. It broke him. The way she died and everything. It truly broke him."

I started to ask how she died but part of me was afraid. People dying in this mess was enough to mess with your head, but losing a child...that was something else. I thought back to the zombified little girl and I got chills. I then thought of my daughter. Was Mya alive?

Both of us then froze as we heard something. It sounded like it was right behind me. The crinkling of paper? I quickly stood up and look back. A hand was reaching out from behind a gravestone and bushes. It had managed to pull my bag closer to them and its fingers felt around on top of my bag. It grabbed the Twinkies and I grabbed its wrist. It was no way it was a corpse. I pulled out my gun and pulled the intruder towards me. I gasped.

"Audrey?!"

"What? You're weren't eating them and I got hungry," she whined. I let her go and she grab the spongy cakes. "You don't want it right?"

Part 1

Audrey gets those Twinkies in Part 3.

P.S. I wish someone would make a normal looking wooden spear and Twinkies is a nod to Zombieland. xD

#sims 3 Dead on Arrival #ts3 dead on arrival #sims 3 doa #ts3 doa #sims 3 story #ts3 story #sims 3 #ts3 #sims 3 simblr #ts3 simblr #simblr #dead on arrival season 2 #doa season 2

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ymiwritesstuff · 5 years ago

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Could you do a Kakyoin x reader where the reader’s stand can heal and give life thank you!! 💓

Aaa thanks so much for the request and sorry if this isn’t great. It’s a bit difficult for me to get back into writing after having such a long break. But I really hope you enjoy this regardless. Also I made the reader and Kakyoin children because I thought it would fit, hope that’s alright.

Someone Like Me

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders

Child!Noriaki Kakyoin x Child!Reader

Summary: For all his life Kakyoin had thought he was alone in this world and that no one understood him, thus preventing him from making any friends. But when he eventually met you, that anxious feeling of loneliness melted away.

The tiny cherry blossom leaves that slowly fell from the sturdy trees and gently swayed and flew in the warm air that was blessed by the bright rays of the sun served as a wonderful scenery for the two joyous children who ran around the park with no care in the world, enjoying each other’s pleasant company.

“Nori, wait! You’re so much faster than me!” Your high pitched yet pleasantly cheerful voice shouted at the red-haired boy in front of you. He briefly glances behind him and meets your gaze with a gentle smile and a brief laugh that only seems to brighten the already sunny weather. Kakyoin slows his steps down just enough so that he is running beside you instead of ahead of you. Though he didn’t dare to state this out loud, as he was afraid that you’d tell all your friends and make a total fool out of him, he preferred it like this anyway.

“Sorry, (Name),” He said sheepishly and briefly glanced at the grassy ground below your feet that practically glimmered under the warm sun. Kakyoin was always delighted to spend time with you as unfortunately, he didn’t have other friends aside from his own green soul that he thought for sure no one else in the world possessed. Well, that was before he met you.

It was a mere coincidence that from all of the other people around you, he was the one you had decided to talk to. He wasn’t sure why and when you initially approached him, he was ready to shut you down, much like he had done with all the other possible friends. You wouldn’t understand, he had thought. But he soon realized how mistaken he was, and judging by the amazed expression on his face and those lavender eyes that were widened in pure awe, when he witnessed your stand for the first time, he finally realized he had a friend who he could relate to. Someone like him.

“It’s okay, Nori!” A delightful laugh escapes your lips as you look at him, the sight making him crack a wide smile as well. Your own smile quickly turns into a frown when you turn your head to the side, and your (E/C) eyes land on something laying on the side of the road. Before the boy beside you has time to set his lavender eyes on the object responsible for so suddenly catching your attention, you grab his hand and head towards your target, which you soon realize to be a dead animal.

“Oh no..” The voice you let out is quiet and filled with an immense amount of sorrow and worry as you slowly kneel down beside the small squirrel that laid lifelessly on the grassy ground, your brows frowning slightly. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, and you should have gotten used to it by now, but the sight of a dead creature always twisted your insides uncomfortably.

“Can you... Heal it?” Kakyoin carefully asks beside you, briefly laying his lavender eyes on your form, small glints of hope embedded in his quiet voice. He knows the answer to his rather silly question as this scenario had happened before, but it still felt necessary for him to get the confirmation to his question, as if something had already gone wrong regarding your ability.

His question snaps you out of your saddened thoughts and almost serves as a reminder of the fact that there was indeed something you could do in this unfortunate situation. You can’t help but to blink a couple of times and as a response to his question you flash him a small, yet highly reassuring smile, to which he responds with a one of his own as your tiny stand appears next to you.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Placing a hand over the corpse of the tiny animal, you close your eyes and allow your stand to work its magic on it, slowly filling it with the life energy it once had. The young boy beside you watches in awe as your stand works its magic on the creature, the process filling him with a strange feeling of amazement. This was by no means the first time he had witnessed your stand doing what it did best, but it still managed to astonish him greatly.

The squirrel’s feet lightly twitch, indicating that the life was slowly coming back to it. This made both of you smile and once the animal finally opened its eyes, a sense of relief washed over the two of you. The newly revived creature didn’t waste any time getting on its feet and swiftly scurried towards a nearby tree before climbing to the very top.

“He’s back home now.” You say and look at Kakyoin whose delighted expression mirrors yours as he carefully nods at your words. “It’s thanks to you, (Name). Your stand is seriously the best!” His words of praise latch onto you and in turn cause a shade of crimson to make its way on your face; and this color and warmth only increases when he suddenly throws his arms around you, embracing you tightly.

“You’re the best, (Name)! I’m so glad you’re my friend!” He suddenly says, which confuses you, but fills the red-haired boy with endless happiness. Whenever your stand materialized beside you, it reminded him of the simple fact that he wasn’t alone in this world. That there was at least one other person who had a spirit no one else could see.

That there was someone like him.

#jjba #jojo #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken #Noriaki Kakyoin #kakyoin #noriaki kakyoin x reader #kakyoin x reader #jjba x reader #jojo x reader #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders #jojo's bizarre adventure x reader #jjba kakyoin #reader insert

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mmm-veggies · 4 years ago

Text

chapter 1. Hope

Warning- slight violence, death but not described, mentions of past abuse (if there's anything else let me know)

The sounds of panting and sticks breaking mix together as I run through the woods trying to get away. Mom?! Please please don't do this. You don't have to do this. We can figure out a way, voices and screams overlapping as I try and get the memories out of my head. I have to stop thinking about stuff. I can't change what happened. The only thing to do now is move forward, I say to myself, oh who am I kidding like that's going to make me feel better. Every breath I take has a burning sting in my lungs. Looking over my shoulder to see if I'm far enough away from them. Frantically looking for something to hide behind when an old, tall and wide tree catches my eye. Wait, I've never seen these trees. The tree could've easily hid 3 large men behind it. Oh no, my face goes numb as I realize that I'm hopelessly lost. Putting my hands to my face to cry in my frustration. God how am I supposed to get away when I don't even know where I am. I sigh into my hands and whisper, "I'm gonna die."

Snap

My stomach drops as I hear a branch snap. Slowly picking my head up trying not to raise too much suspicion, what was that. Cautiously looking at my surroundings, I can't see anyone. Slowly creeping around the tree.

Snap

There it is again, someone has to be here. I stopped walking around the tree and started searching for the person cloaked in the darkness. That's when I start to feel someone's hand slowly come from behind and quickly cover my mouth. They thrash me up against the tree, their hand still over my mouth. The other is close to my waist, trapping me in.

"When I take my hand off you don't scream, got it," they say darkly, their voice low and raspy, with some feminine touches to it. I Look up to see a hooded figure, their face hidden perfectly in the shadows. They are at least a head taller than me, and more lanky looking. The cloak they are wearing is a charcoal color that completely engulfs them, with sleek black pants to match, and a white poet's blouse. Slowly they moved their hand off my mouth; They looked me dead in the eyes, making sure I didn't try anything. As I raise my hands above my head to show mercy they start to rest their hand on my throat, most likely a warning to make sure I stay compliant. i

"Now who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Listen I'm not trying to start anything, I'm just trying to get away from some people alright," I state lightly; trying to persuade them so I can get out of this predicament.

"Ahh so you are running away from them," they say with a smooth voice.

"Yes, and I need to get going now", As the words pour out of my mouth I cringe at my failed attempt at sounding confident.

Smugly, they tilt their head to the side like they were planning their next move, "hm why should I, there might be some money on your pretty little head," smirking as i suddenly tense up, "or maybe," they give a feral smile and reveal their dagger like fangs, "I'll just kill you."

"Wait wait wait wait I uh," think of an excuse quickly, "I can help you." I hope they ignore the squeak at the end of that statement.

" Now why would I need your help," their voice hinting at slight curiosity.

"Well I don't know exactly what, but I'm sure I can be of some help to you. I'm fairly strong and independent," I rush out, trying to convince this stranger to let me go with them so that I can at least get away from those horrible people.

A slimy voice comes out from the trees farther away but it's starting to inch closer to where the stranger and I are standing. The fear of going away with them or getting caught even paralyzes my body. I gotta get out of here, think think think. Thoughts rapidly go through my mind for a possible escape route.

"Hey," the smooth,deep voice snaps me out of my thoughts, "you can come with me for a little while, but not a long time, we can start our trip after I take care of these pathetic humans, alright?"

I simply nodded my head, not trusting my words as relief floods over me like a storm. But why describe humans in such a way? The only people I've ever heard describe humans like that would be my family but we are...unless. I shake my head at the thought. No they couldn't possibly be like me. Why would I even think like that, I'm the freak here, not them.

"Now close your eyes, and whatever you do, don't open them until I say otherwise.", their tone is urgent as they spit out directions to me. "Oh and hold on to my rat Enzo and don't squish him." I look down to see a snow white rat with red eyes sniffing my hand. They move their hood so I can only see their mouth. Nodding my head, I do as they say, "good." Hearing footsteps from different directions I try to comprehend what the stranger was doing. One human seems to be running away after a distinct crack was heard and then a large thump. More footsteps could now be heard running in the direction the first two were heading in. My eyebrows furrow, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Why do you look constipated?"

"What I-"

"Oh yeah, you can open our eyes now and give me my rat back"

Handing over the rat and I look up to see the stranger's face for the first time. They had short, dark brown hair, with a slight wave at the top of their head. Freckles were splattered across their cheeks and nose and spread out across the rest of their face, giving a slightly softer look. Their jaw line however, was sharp and complemented their highly defined collarbone. Do they even eat? The Eyes are what really caught my attention though. Two ruby caverns, staring at me in a lazy, almost bored look.Once our little staring contest finished they went on to fixing their cloak to brush off the dirt that was on it, I could see that they had lanky hands, the ones that were good for pick pocketing and picking locks. The rest of Their body was lean, yet still had defined muscles, the kind you get from moving from place to place and working odd jobs.As for their skin, it was pale as if they were a corpse. Seriously, do they even know what the sun is?

"Alright we better get going before any other moron delays me from getting you to where you need to be, so then I can be on my merry way," they state sarcastically while putting their black cloak on.

"Hey wait," I stutter out while reaching for their arm. They stare back at me, oh god I just grabbed onto a random stranger who I just met, "listen I don't know what you did sir- uhh ma'am- ummmm mysterious...," Stars, I can't tell what gender they are. Sure they look masculine, but they have a lighter voice when they talk. And have some feminine looking features. But still they could go both ways. Staring up at them with a stern look in my eyes, "um I don't know what you just did, but I do know that it doesn't make sense so you better start talking or I'll turn you in for killing a human.", I say in a matter of fact tone and crossing my arms over my chest. Okay that wasn't too bad, maybe I can take control of this situation. After all, what could they possibly do that could harm me of all things.

They cock an eyebrow at me, look me up and down and start to slowly walk closer to me. Well there goes taking control of the situation. I purse my lips tilting my head up to look at them, trying to stand my ground but it is harder to sense they're like 6'1.

"Listen here lady, one how do you even know I killed a man when you were closing your eyes the whole time unless you got some abilities yourself, and two it's sir for today but it changes from time to time, but don't worry I'll keep you updated."

"Ok, well then sir, if you explain to me what happened then I'll tell you anything you want to know about me, deal," I reach my hand out for them to shake with a smile, waiting for my answer.

He looks at me for a time before giving me a sigh and putting his hand out to shake mine as he nods.

"Well come on we haven't got all day and I can explain as we walk," he stated ,

"Well if we are going to be taking a long walk together we should probably introduce ourselves," He looks me up and down once more in slight judgement then sighs as he starts to explain, "my name's arrow, but just like the pronouns I'll tell you when they change."

"Alright," I say with a smile, "It's very nice to meet you Arrow, I'm Hope."

~~~~~~

"Wait so you're a vampire...woah," I say in disbelief. I never really thought one Vampires existed, and two there would be other people who weren't human.

"Yeah, pretty much been on this dumb planet for what feels like way too long, " he says in a nonchalant tone, "now what about you don't think I forgot the couple times you slipped up on yourself."

"Oh I uh," should I really tell this guy? What if something bad happens because of it? No, no he told me his secret so it's not a big deal if I tell him mine, "I'm a, uh , a werewolf." I say with a hesitant voice.

It's weird telling someone this, growing up my mom taught me from a young age that I should never tell anyone that I'm a werewolf or bad things would come to me, but if I'm being honest it's nice to tell someone and someone who I can kinda relate to I guess.Still would have been nice to tell them on my own terms though.

"Woooow, Aren't we supposed to be like mortal enemies or something," a teasing voice coming from him.

"Pfftt whatever," I manage to say while laughing at his joke. I hear a small chuckle from him as well, "so, how much longer do we have to walk for?" I question peering up at his face.

"Mmmm I'd say probably another couple hours." Darn it! My feet are killing me!

And throughout those hours were probably the most interesting moments of my life. I mean I finally got to meet someone and tell them I'm a werewolf and have a pretty good time with them. The only people I even remember socializing with was my family, and they were, how do you say it...interesting.

"Oh and by the way," I say. He looks down at me with a cocked eyebrow, "thanks for saving me from those people."

"Don't worry about it, I got hungry anyways."

~~~~~~

"Well here we are," he says as we peer down a pretty large hill to see a small trading town. The tavern lanterns glowing, workers moving around like ants at the docks.

"Wow, it looks awesome," I say in disbelief.

Bending over to my level, looking at the town then to me, "you look like you've got stars in your eyes from seeing a lame trading post. I don't think I've ever met someone with such low standards to be gleeful about something."

"Hey that's rude," I say, crossing my arms. "I've never seen a town, I've always been told to stay home."

"Oh well I wouldn't get your hopes up, but we should head to the tavern," pointing to a wooden building with a drunk person puking next to the side of the building, and right as we look over a fight had broken down next the person.

"That one right there are you sure?", I laugh nervously.

"What you seemed so happy a couple seconds ago."

"I-," opening my mouth to say something but then just closing it knowing I wasn't going to win. Making our way down a trail to get there. Stop panicking, you'll be fine, there's no reason to panic. I'm sure the people there are lovely and it's only the people outside like that, I think trying to be more hopeful about what's going to happen inside the tavern.

Oh no. My face darkened as we got closer to the rowdy, loud voices coming from inside. The dark alleys with sketchy people, and weird people right in front of the door.

"Come on don't fall behind," Arrows voice grabbed my attention, I nod back to him. Walking in, seeing people getting even more loud which I didn't even think was possible. From laughing to arguing there was so much. How could a person even concentrate? Oh boy this is going to be one fun experience.

#fantasy #romance #demon #vampire #werewolf #angels

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screamingatanemptyroom · 5 years ago

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Chaos Magic Pt 2

Here’s part two to my short story of the Devil, the witch and the magic of chaos.

Part 1 linked here.

Hope you guys like it!

______________________________

As we stood outside the door to the building housing the Gathering Portal, I paused, looking back at the once again disguised devil.

“Just to warn you… the Witches’ Council doesn’t exactly like me all that much.”

Lucifer shrugged. “So?”

“So… as my ‘servant’… don’t expect a warm welcome. You’ll probably be looked down on. “ I studied him doubtfully. “Can you hold back from frying them with hellfire?”

He thought it over. “Probably?”

-Probably? Cal’s voice was skeptical.

“I mean, if you can hold off destroying them with your world ending chaos magic, I can’t see why I can’t hold off incinerating their worthless corpses. Even if they should be prostrating themselves before me and sobbing with fear.”

“…”

- He’ll last ten minutes before cracking.

“Don’t you have any confidence in me?!”

I shook my head. “That’s a little overboard, Cal. He is the devil, after all.”

“At least the witch knows my true worth…”

“I’ll bet he cracks in five.”

“WHAT?”

-Ten bucks.

“Deal!”

Lucifer threw up his hands. “Why is no one listening to me?!”

“We’re listening. Did you want in on the bet?”

-Yeah, join in! More money for me! Morgan never gives me enough spending cash.

“What do you mean I don’t give you enough money?! You’re a sword! What are you going to spend it on? Polish?”

-Cheapskate.

“Earn your own money then!”

“…” The devil stared at me with a tired expression as I argued with the invisible magic weapon. “Let’s just go in.”

We entered the building, only to be immediately confronted by a member of the Witches’ Guard. They were an elite force that protected the council, and the yearly Gathering, from all opposing forces. Soldiers who had trained in both weapons and magic, they were the best of the best…

Unfortunately, they were all too well aware of that fact.

“State your name and business.” A dark haired knight watched us suspiciously, his silver armor gleaming in the scattered torches around the room. His weapon, a spear glowing with a faint green light, was pointed in our direction.

“Morgan, here with my servant for the Gathering.” I held up my palm, a small intricately detailed tattoo on my palm lighting up briefly before fading back into invisibility.

The knight’s eyes widened. “A descendant of Morgan la Fay?”

“Apparently.”

The man’s gaze turned disdainful almost immediately. He turned, spitting at the ground. “Mothersbane! The cursed child dares to return?”

Lucifer shuffled uncomfortably beside me, but I didn’t flinch at his disgusted question. “Whether I dare or not is none of your business. I am a recognized witch here for the Gathering. My pass is in order. The question is, do you dare to stop me?”

The threat hung in the air between us. Finally, the knight opened his mouth, likely to spew more insults, when a more sinister, feminine voice spoke up.

“Cousin, I can’t believe you showed up!” A young woman my own age slipped by me, standing next to the knight with vicious grin. “I thought you had decided to hide away from these sort of meetings to spare yourself the embarrassment.”

I looked at her quietly for a moment. She was a beautiful girl, but something always was slightly off about her appearance. Her features were delicate and soft, her sharp, angry blue eyes seeming out of place framed by such a pleasant appearance. At my gaze she flipped her dark curls over her shoulder, laughing softly.

“What’s wrong, cousin? Lost for words after all this time?”

“Your cousin?” Lucifer whispered incredulously.

“Her name is Araina. A much more distant relation then that.” I reluctantly answered.

-Morgana’s line has always been very straightforward. There is only ever one descendant, and they always only have one daughter. There will only ever be one true heir to Morgan la Fay, and it’s my master! All these so called “relatives” are distant relations through marriage.

“Doesn’t that mean that you have to have a child to continue the line?” Lucifer glanced at me with a sympathetic expression.

“Only if I care to continue it.”

- I volunteer! You can have kids with me!

“… We don’t have time for a birds and bees talk, Cal. You’re a sword. It would never work.”

- Don’t worry, I’ll handle all those insignificant details.

Lucifer snorted. “Pretty sure you being an object is a pretty significant detail.”

- Stay out of childbearing negotiations!

“Nope, No more childbearing negotiations.” I shook my head. “Childbearing negotiations are indefinitely put on hold.”

As Lucifer and I shared a whispered argument with the suddenly enthusiastic invisible magical weapon, Araina’s expression grew more and more annoyed.

“Cousin, don’t you think you’re being very rude?” She finally spoke up again, forcing the words through gritted teeth.

I smiled gently. “Oh Miss Araina, please refrain from calling me cousin.” I shrugged helplessly. “After all, the family cut ties with me years ago.” Patting her shoulder helplessly, I continued. “I can understand though, it can be difficult to remember major family events with limited mental capacity.”

The Knight beside Araina widened his eyes with shock at my words. “YOU DARE…?!”

She held up her hand. “It’s okay, Martin. She can’t help but strike out at others in her own weakness.” Staring at me with a smile, she slowly continued. “Speaking of weakness… I suppose you haven’t heard of the new rule passed by the Council last session?”

What is she up to? “Rule?”

Her smile widened. “All Grade D and below witches must wear their grade marking at all times to prevent confusion during clan negotiations.”

“So just me then.” The Gathering was limited to witches of the noble clans, it was extremely rare to have a witch from these families test lower than Grade C, and the few that did refused to go to the meetings. I would be the only one to have to bear the humiliation of having my Grade marking displayed. It was my family’s petty way to discourage me from coming.

Araina’s expression was innocent. “Of course it’s not a rule just targeting you! It’s purely for the good of the clans. Here, let me help you…” She reached out towards my forehead.

-She dares to humiliate my master? Let’s chop her arm off! Cal roared silently in our heads.

“Agreed.” Lucifer snarled quietly, hellflame gathering around his fingers. I reached out, grabbing his arm, keeping my expression bland.

A burning pain appeared on my forehead, and I knew that a shimmering grey insignia had appeared on the skin there, the words in a language that only witch’s could understand. It declared my status as a Grade E, the lowest of the low. The shame of my family.

I grinned, ignoring the pain. “Anything else?”

That caught her by surprise. She studied my expression for a few moments, as if looking for the pain and humiliation that should be there but wasn’t. “No. I’ll go on ahead, cousin. Just remember to leave the grade marking in place.” She muttered under her breath. “Not that you have enough power to remove it even if you wanted to.”

She turned away from me, pausing briefly at the sight of Lucifer. “You… you are my cousin’s servant?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m Miss Morgan’s servant.”

“You should consider changing sides while you still can. If you think you can gain any benefits because she’s in the direct line of Morgan la Fay, then think again. She’s lost her inheritance due to her own incompetence.” She looked him up and down. “You’re not really up to my usual standard appearance-wise, but I’d be willing to make an exception and take you in as one of my servants instead.”

She smiled at him, leaning over to show off her low neckline to its fullest advantage. I wanted to groan with embarrassment for her.

Is she literally trying to tempt the original tempter? This is so sad.

-Hey little devil, why don’t you take up that annoying woman’s offer? You can still get into the Gathering, and my master and me can actually take care of business without your dead weight.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “No thanks.”

Araina frowned at his words. “Choose carefully, servant. You won’t get this good of an offer again.”

“There’s no need for any further consideration.” He smiled grimly. “I’m not switching.”

“Fine!” The young woman snapped, turning towards the portal. “Enjoy the gathering, cousin.”

I sighed with relief once she was gone.

“Why did you let her get away with that?” Lucifer asked, staring at me with a confused expression.

“The insults? Or the insignia?”

“Both! Don’t you have the power to obliterate her?”

-Exactly! I like the way you think, Devil. Even if you are dead weight.

I grinned. “This is nothing. These sorts of childish games… it’s never been worth my time.”

“… You don’t think I’m dead weight like the sword says, right?”

At Lucifer’s question I stared up at the ceiling, keeping my voice monotone. “…Of course not.”

“You’re obviously lying.”

“…No.”

“That time was even worse!” Lucifer sounded near tears. When in the eons of my existence has anyone ever considered me dead weight?”

-That’s what you get for hanging out with your superiors!

“Don’t say that, Cal. “ At my words, Lucifer, who had been hanging his head down, looked up hopefully.

“It’s not his fault he’s weak. You shouldn’t tease him.”

“Both of you shut up!” Ignoring our laughter, he stomped ahead of us, walking towards the portal.

As I followed behind him, the knight guard looked at the glowing insignia on my forehead with a satisfied expression.

“Useless trash.” He muttered under his breath.

I ignored him, stepping into the portal. But just as I was transporting, I heard a scream of pain, and looked over just in time to catch sight of the knight, who was now leaping around trying to put out the green flames which had mysteriously sprung up from the seat of his pants.

-How long was that?

I checked my watch. “Four minutes and twenty eight seconds.”

-So disappointing. Can I use an IOU?

“You still owe me twenty bucks for the last bet you lost.”

-It’s just a run of bad luck. I’m happy to pay you with an eternity of love and affection.

“Cash only.”

-Harsh. Hey devil boy, You just had to let the hellfire loose! Your weak self control got me into this mess, pay the lady!

“Pay your own bad bets.” Lucifer grinned. “Plus, he deserved it. “

______________________________

We headed into the main Gathering space. With a few days still left before the true meeting started, there were not too many witches who had arrived yet. However even the small groups stood together, staring at the glowing insignia on my forehead, whispering to each other.

“Mothersbane.”

“The cursed one.”

“She dared to show up here?”

“I thought she was dead.”

I put their voices behind me, looking at the various glowing signs that pointed out the different directions.

“The forbidden library is on the lowest level. If you want to research up on chaos magic, and who might have access to it, that’s your best bet.”

Lucifer glanced at me curiously. “What about you?”

“I’m sure my lovely family members won’t sit still for long now that they know I’m here. Once I’ve survived whatever fallout that brings, I’ll look for clues on where to go next tonight.”

- Can we at least kill them all this time?

“And have to handle all the administrative and diplomatic work on my own? No, better to let them enjoy their temporary titles and authority. Of course… If they get too much in my way…” I trailed off with a grin.

I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye, and sighed quietly to myself. “They moved even faster than I expected. If you’re going to not be involved in this, I suggest you move now.”

“…” Lucifer studied at me with a thoughtful expression. “I’ll stay. With your chaos magic, you’re my best chance for getting to the bottom of this whole mess anyways.”

“Suit yourself.” I shrugged. “Should be interesting either way.”

Four guards strode up to us, hands on their weapons. “Morgan ne Mothersbane. The matron has summoned you.”

-That old bat has gone too far!

Mothersbane. They had taken my clan name and given me a cursed one instead.

“It’s okay, Cal. It’s just a name.” Muttering quietly to keep the magical weapon calm, I followed behind the guards, keeping my hands clenched at my sides,

One of them tried to stop Lucifer. “Just the witch has been summoned.”

“That’s my servant, he’s completely harmless.” I sent a silent prayer to no one as they scanned him with their power.

“Fine. One more weakling won’t make a difference.”

Lucifer caught up to me, his face stiff with rage. “Weakling? I’ll torture their souls in hell for eternity.”

I patted him on the shoulder. “Of course you will.”

-Don’t worry little devil, we’ll help you get revenge on whoever bullies you.

“I don’t need your help! I’m strong, damnit!”

______________________________

We were brought into the council room, an all too familiar sight. On elevated seats in a semicircle sat the Council members, all watching me with disdainful expression barely visible from the shadow of their black hoods. Only my Aunt Margaret, the acting Matron, stood with her head uncovered, her eyes narrowed as we drew closer.

“You’ve returned.” Her voice was flat, dislike lacing her every syllable.

“And you haven’t lost your touch with wasting time with the obvious. Anything else you want to talk about?”

Her jaw tightened at my retort, but as her eyes glanced over the Grade marking on my forehead her face relaxed into a triumphant smile. “I have family business to discuss with you.”

I forced a smile. “I’m not part of the family. You kicked me out, remember?”

“Like it or not, you are Morgana’s sole direct heir. You have failed your primary duty of taking leadership in the council due to your disappointing weakness. But now we must consider your secondary duty.” Her eyes bore into me, almost seeming to dig into my flesh “I’m glad you decided to come on your own. Otherwise I would have sent someone to fetch you this year.”

“Get to the point, Margaret.” I felt my nails digging into the palm of my hands, and tried unsuccessfully to unclench my fists.

“You must carry on Morgan la Fay’s line. To accomplish this, we will arrange a man of suitable power for you to be given to with the hopes that your offspring will be better suited for the position of descendant than you are.” Her smile widened. “You should be grateful. With your… quality, you would never have a chance to even lay eyes on powerful men like this.”

“And if I refuse?” My voice was cold.

Hers was colder. “You will not be given a choice. Enslavement magic is distasteful, but has its purposes in light of the greater good.”

“And when is this to occur?” I felt a power gathering at my fingertips, a sense of destruction filling my soul.

“After the Gathering. I have an important guest arriving, and my full attention must be given to him.”

At the words, “important guest” I noted the discomfort on many of the women’s faces, and a gut feeling had me pushing down the destructive force I had come so close to letting loose. It was difficult; the power resisted being placed back after coming so close to being able to consume everything in the room.

“Anything else?” I pushed the words through gritted teeth. It was difficult to focus on anything but the need to destroy everyone and everything. My muscles were shaking with the effort, a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead.

“No. Enjoy the Gathering.” Her satisfied smirk made my struggle all the more difficult. “Do not try to leave, or I’ll have my men drag you back.”

“Sure.” Not that it mattered. Any men they sent after me would be destroyed.

As I turned to leave, I heard Margaret call my name one last time. I glanced back, only to see her hold up a small silver ring.

“This was your mother’s. Why don’t you take it back, appreciate the weight of your new name. “

She tossed it in my direction, and without thinking I reached out and grabbed it. As the cold metal touched my skin, I felt the memories my mother had left behind flood into me.

______________________________

“Face it, he didn’t give you a gift, he poisoned you! This child is stealing your life force, destroying you from the inside! Who knows what sort of monster you’re carrying.”

“No, I refuse to believe it! He loved me! I know he truly cares! And he’ll love our daughter too!”

“OPEN YOUR EYES! He killed you!”

“You’re lying!”

______________________________

I shuddered, almost falling to the floor as I felt the walls close in. A pair of warm hands caught me, and the devil’s voice whispered in my ear.

“Should I kill them?”

I took a deep breath, trying to find a balance. With my emotions thrown out of order, my power which had been barely constrained was even closer to breaking free. “They still have one last use. Just get me to the resting rooms.”

He supported me with one arm, and we struggled out of the room under my aunt’s triumphant gaze. As we navigated the different twists and turns of the Gathering area, I slowly focused on my breathing, forcing my power down, feeling my willpower drain. Cal was uncharacteristically quiet, likely realizing I couldn’t afford the distraction.

As he pulled me into a resting room, Lucifer set me down on a bed, his eyes concerned. “Are you okay?”

I wanted to answer, but felt it was getting more and more difficult to talk. Even if I could, what could I say?

Mothersbane… they forced the name on me, but it didn’t make it untrue.

Monster… What else could they call someone who struggled not to destroy everything and everyone?

I was so tired. Why had I agreed to come back again?

Oh yeah, for a chance to kill that bastard.

As I opened my mouth to try to explain, I heard a very familiar voice speak out loud rather than in my head, a cold palm covering my eyes.

“Just rest, Morgan.”

Feeling relieved, I felt myself slip quickly into unconsciousness.

I wasn’t under long before hearing two voices discussing me quietly.

“Does this happen often?”

“Only when she’s trying to hold back the chaos magic and not destroy everything, which seems to happen more often now that you’re here.” It was Cal’s voice, but speaking out loud instead of silently in my head. Confused, I wanted to open my eyes, but I felt like my eyelids each weighed a ton, well beyond my ability to lift.

“I don’t think you can blame me for this one.” The devil whistled quietly. “That family of hers is something, huh? They make even demons seem friendly.”

“This? This is nothing for them.” I felt a cool hand on my forehead, the grade marking fading at the touch. “The suffering they put her through… it’s a miracle that this world exists at all.”

He wasn’t wrong. How many times during my childhood did he pull me back from the edge? From releasing all the chaos within me to destroy myself and the world with me?

“Why are they like this?”

I didn’t want Cal to have to answer. I forced my eyes open. “You heard what they called me?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a golden-haired figure disappear. I rubbed my eyes, thinking it might have been an illusion.

- Are you okay?

His voice was silent in my head once more. I sighed, putting the memories the ring had forced into my head aside.

“Don’t worry, my power is suppressed, Cal.”

-That’s not what I…

“You were the one who asked, Lucifer. Did you hear the name they gave me after taking my family name?

He nodded. “Mothersbane?”

“My conception was warped with chaos magic.” I smiled grimly. “My bastard of a father wanted to end Morgana’s line, and gain a massive reward at the same time. You see, chaos magic can be grown within a soul, but it always comes at a cost.”

Lucifer studied me carefully. “What cost?”

“The souls of others, preferably the powerful. My mother was a young naïve witch who refused to hate my father even as her child infected with chaos slowly sucked the life from her within her womb. Of course, I was always meant to die, destroyed by chaos, a sacrifice to increase my father’s power while ending Morgana’s line with my death. “

- But I took advantage of the weakness created in her father as he had used almost all of his chaos magic for the sacrifice and left him, forming a pact with Morgan instead.

I smiled. “Cal is an ultimate weapon of light, of order. The antithesis to the chaos magic which wants to consume me and the world around me. The power given to me by that pact balances me out, allows me to survive.” My grin became cruel. “With the added bonus that my father was greatly weakened by not being able to reclaim his chaos magic as well as losing Cal.”

-We would have killed him too, if he hadn’t hidden deeply to recover like the rat he is!

Lucifer stared at us both. “Who is your father, Morgan?”

“The enemy who wanted to personally end Morgana’s line? The master of Excalibur? The man who lusted for such great power that he would sacrifice his own child?” I chuckled. “Are you sure you don’t know?”

“I thought Arthur was the master of Excalibur…”

Cal interrupted the devil.

-He was a good man, if a little naïve. He trusted the wrong man, and ended up being the first soul to be sacrificed to the chaos magic.

“Wait, you couldn’t mean…?” Lucifer turned slightly pale, his red eyes widening with realization.

I laughed softly, before standing up. “We’ve wasted enough time,. Let’s go to the library.”

He stood up with me, his eyes still worried. “But your condition?”

“It was just the tactile memories from my mother’s ring.” I stared down at the metal object still in my hand, before opening it slowly and letting it fall silently to the carpet beneath my feet.

Lucifer looked down at it. “If it’s your mother’s, don’t you want it?”

“No.” I turned away, and walked towards the door. “I’d rather honor her memory by sending her murderer over to apologize to her in pieces.”

We headed towards the library.

______________________________

We snuck by the guards standing watch outside the forbidden library as well as bypassed all the magical wards with surprising ease.

“I’m glad we had you here. Lucifer. My standard magic is too weak to deal with this sort of stuff, and the chaos magic tends to be an all or nothing type deal. I’m glad we didn’t have to obliterate the guards and entranceway just to get in.”

-How surprising, devil. You can be useful for something!

Lucifer sighed. “You guys really have to stop acting surprised every single time I’m useful, like I’m some sort of child. I’m the king of hell!”

“Of course! Next time we need to open a door we’ll definitely call you!”

- You are definitely the King of opening doors!

“… I hate you both so much.”

The forbidden library was enormous, the size of multiple sky scrapers melded together, kept hidden through ancient magics that bended space. Every spare surface was covered in shelves packed with books, scrolls and tablets. Some glowed strange colors, some flickering in and out of sight. Small magical platforms moved independently around the library, transporting items in and out as they were requested. I looked around, feeling mildly impressed as always, before taking one of the transports over and heading to the area dedicated to chaos magic.

“Will they even have something helpful?”

I shrugged at the devil’s question. “I would hope so.” I quickly found the documents pertaining to major events in the last few months. Within it was a map that detailed the disappearance of witches over the past year. The seemingly patternless dots scattered across the city map glowed in a dull green light.

Lucifer sucked in a breath. “So many? How has this gone unnoticed for so long?”

- It was perfectly calculated to how many each race was willing to overlook.

“Spread across the demons, angels and witches… who knows how many normal humans and supernatural creatures have been lost as well.” Turning to the devil who stood beside me with an irritated expression, I prompted him carefully. “Can you add the locations of the disappearances you know about as well?”

“Fine.” With a wave of his hand, red and blue dots also appeared along the map. “The red are mine. The blue are those I know about that Heaven has lost.”

With the additional data, it became increasingly clear that there was a pattern to the locations of those who disappeared. A center of the chaos.

“We should find him there.” I pointed at the location, frowning. “But that only narrows it down to a whole section of the city. He could be hiding anywhere within.”

“I could have the demons search all the houses?”

- He would just destroy any that entered his territory. We’ll just have to do it personally.

“But that could take forever!”

“Maybe not.” I grinned. “After all, I can’t help but wonder about my Aunt’s ‘special guest’…”

-You think…?”

“The sword should be this way.” A familiar voice spoke up, from around the corner.

“Speak of the devil.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“Not you, just an expression.”

“Why does this ‘important guest’ of yours want this sword anyways? If he’s so powerful, he could just take it himself!” A petulant, spoiled, voice asked, the sound of two sets of footsteps growing closer.

- Araina. What’s she doing here?

“Nevermind that, We need to hide!” I whispered back.

“Sure.” Lucifer shrugged, snapping his fingers and activating an invisibility spell.

- The devil was useful again!

“Shut up!”

Aunt Margaret and Araina entered the room before Lucifer could argue further. “ I told you, foolish girl! It would be bad if the council were to realize we were working with him, given our… bad history. And besides, I’d rather he not see that cursed girl until he’s finished the ceremony at the full moon tonight.”

Finish the ceremony? My fists tightened at my side, shaking with rage.

“Why can’t we just kill her?” Araina rolled her eyes. “It’s not like she would be difficult to get rid of!”

“We need a backup plan, in case this new cooperation falls through.” My Aunt Margaret’s answer caused me to stiffen into place, clutching the new map in my arms. “She may be weak and useless, but she’s the only one who can continue Morgana’s line.”

“Worthless trash.”

“Don’t be so upset, Darling. She’s not worth your time or energy. Let’s get the sword.”

As they passed out of the room, Lucifer and I flickered back into sight.

-Killing time?

Ignoring Cal, I turned towards the devil. “We need to steal the sword, and replace it with a fake. How good is your illusion magic?”

The devil grinned, his plain disguised features melting back into his original insultingly handsome look. “I could convince half of heaven to follow me. You think I can’t fool a couple of witches?”

- I’m impressed! If this keeps up, little devil, I might even consider accepting you as my apprentice!

“Who would want to be your apprentice, you stupid overgrown knife?!”

- Morgan, the devil is calling me names! Destroy him with your chaos magic please!

I chuckled. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping me restrain my chaos magic?”

- Desperate times.

“...Let’s go steal that sword.”

It was surprisingly easy. The two women got into several useless arguments along the way to the weapons section, allowing Lucifer and I to sneak past while invisible and reach it first. As we entered the room with countless weapons on display, Lucifer glanced around, seeming impressed.

“Which one do you think they were after?”

“The only one my father would need if he wanted to have a weapon against chaos magic.” I pointed to a sword tucked away in the back corner. “A sword of order, like Cal.”

-Oh please, that hack is nothing like my great and wonderful self! Just a generic magic sword. Not even a soul to guide it.

I raised a hand, chaos magic destroying the magical chain keeping it in place. Picking up the sword, I gave a light practice swing, nodding at the light weight. “It’s still a good sword. It’s considered legendary overseas, known as the ‘sword of light.’ It’s defeated multiple world-ending foes.”

-I’m still better.

“Here.” I tossed the sword to Lucifer before Cal could get too nervous. “To replace the ones the chaos monsters destroyed before. This one can actually fight them.”

He gripped the handle, looking the weapon over briefly before strapping it to his side. “I like how it doesn’t talk constantly.”

-Hey!

I grabbed a random sword and placed it where the sword of light had been stored. “Alright, you can cast illusion now.”

With the trap in place, all that was left was to follow my aunt and cousin as they led us right towards the center of town.

______________________________

-We were right, they’re heading right towards the location we had marked on the map. They must know where he is!

I nodded. “I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still cannot believe that those of Morgana’s name would associate with him at all. “

Lucifer glanced at me. “But didn’t your mother…?”

“He was disguised.” I interrupted, frowning. “She didn’t realize who she was being tricked by even until the end.”

“… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. The line of Morgana has been twisted for too long.” I sighed. “They rely on the name of a witch that’s been dead for centuries, while forgetting that the enemy she fought never rested, never disappeared.”

-Morgan…

“The line should have ended with my mother, but instead it will end with me.”

Lucifer looked as if he were going to argue, but shook his head, falling silent instead. Fortunately at that time we reached a large abandoned warehouse, the sun setting behind us as the two witches knocked on the door, giving a password to the stone faced guard who opened it to be let inside. I glanced at the fading sunlight as we slipped in behind them, remembering their words.

He’ll finish the ceremony at the full moon tonight.

There wasn’t much time left. My heart pounding in my ears, I followed them deeper into the warehouse, pushing back the chaos magic that threatened to surface with my uncontrolled emotions.

- Are you going to be okay? Cal’s voice whispered in my ear, for only me to hear.

I nodded silently.

-I’ll be there with you. I promise. We’ll kill him for everything he’s done.

I kept moving.

It was time to see my father again.

______________________________

We entered the main area of the warehouse, the space much larger than what it seemed from the outside. The walls extended into darkness, making it impossible to see what was hidden in the shadows beyond. Ahead of us glowed two candles to either side of a golden throne.

“Welcome, Margaret.” A strong, low voice spoke up from the figure slouched on that throne, as he lazily turned a hand around, making the flames from the candles dance with the movement. The moving lights occasionally lit up his features, giving me the first good look at my greatest enemy, the murderer of my mother, the one who inflicted the magic that could destroy the world on me.

My father.

His face still was young, without wrinkles or lines, the features smooth and regular. His hair was and ordinary brown, looking slightly unkempt, falling over his face and forcing him to brush it back. He would be considered handsome by many, if not a little forgettable… except for his eyes.

The centuries he had lived showed in his eyes. Bright green, glowing with power, his eyes seemed to stare right through every person, judging them of their worth, making you feel unprotected, weak.

Margaret and her daughter curtsied deeply in front of him, cold sweat breaking out on both their faces. It seemed they felt his power even more strongly, facing the full force of his gaze.

“Milord, we brought the sword you requested.” Margaret held up the sword that Lucifer had enchanted to look like the sword of light in front of her, her hands trembling.

“…” He didn’t reach out to take it.

My nails bit into my palms, as I forced myself not to throw myself forward, putting my thpoughts into order.

I would need my magic, but it had to be controlled. Otherwise it would destroy everything.

“Are you really sincere about allying yourself with me, witch?” His voice was a whisper, but seemed like a shout despite the large space.

“Milord?” Margaret seemed confused.

“Did you change your mind, given your family’s history with me?” He smiled, the expression threatening. “Did you decide to betray me to earn points with the rest of Morgana the bitch’s pitiful line?”

She panicked at his words. “I would never betray you! I swear! I brought the sword just like you asked!”

He snapped his fingers, and a purple smoke enveloped the sword in her hands, destroying it.

Chaos magic.

-It’s powerful, but still not pure like your magic. Cal’s voice reassured me.

Margaret screamed in pain, clutching her hands to her chest. Through her fingers blood seeped, staining her dress and dripping to the floor. His magic had corroded her hands as well.

“This is a fake, a regular weapon under an illusion, not the true sword of light.” The man stood up, glancing around the room. My hackles rose as his gaze fixed on us standing behind them, despite the invisibility spell. “And it seems you brought friends?”

“…”

When no one spoke up he sighed. “Now, now, uninvited guests, isn’t it better if you just show yourself?”

Lucifer sighed, waving his hand as he became visible, leaving me still out of sight. “Your insight is as keen as ever, you old bastard.”

The man’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Lucifer the king of Hell? What brings you to my humble home?”

“You really are going to act innocent after sacrificing my minions to feed your chaos magic?” Lucifer chuckled. “You always did love the dramatic, Merlin.”

My father smiled as the devil spoke his name.

Merlin.

The great magician. The ancient power that ushered in an age of light and justice. A Grade A Magician. A man of legends.

A murdering madman.

“Can’t you be reasonable?” Merlin smiled widely. “It’s just a few demons here and there! I’ll gladly compensate you however you like?”

“And if I ask for you life?” Lucifer’s eyes seemed to freeze the room with their coldness.

Merlin didn’t flinch. “Then you’ll be destroyed. It’s a much better deal to bargain with me, I assure you.”

“…” There was a silence as the devil looked him up and down, seemingly seriously considering his offer.

-If he betrays you… Cal sounded slightly worried.

I shook my head, smiling.

“No thanks.” Lucifer grinned. “I already got a better offer.”

“A better offer? From who?”

I canceled the invisibility magic that was still on me, and stepped forward, the sound of my footsteps echoing loudly in the empty space. Margaret and Araina stared at me in shock as I walked past them, Araina managing to lift a hand to point, stuttering. “Y-you!”

Merlin studied me carefully, frowning. “Who are you?”

I laughed out loud, placing a hand on my heart. “What, you don’t recognize me?” I pretended to wipe a tear away. “I’m hurt.”

“…” He stared silently at me, refusing to answer.

“Well then, I guess it’s up to me to make the introductions.” I bowed slightly, keeping my hand on my heart. “My name is Morgan, last daughter of Morganna’s line.”

Merlin’s eyes widened as I straightened up, still smiling.

“Nice to meet you, Father.”

“…”

I shrugged. “Although technically I have come to kill you to avenge my mother and satisfy my own personal hatred… So ‘nice’ probably isn’t the right word.”

“…The child?” He whispered. “I heard you were weak, useless? Any chaos magic that you absorbed should have drained your magic and life source by now… “ Looking me up and down, he shook his head. “You don’t seem weak.”

“That’s the problem with rumors, father dearest.” I tapped my face with a finger. “You end up with inaccurate information.”

Merlin’s gaze snapped to the two women kneeling off to the side. “You betrayed me.”

“No Milord, she is useless! She’s just a Grade E!” Margaret was panicking, waving her hands wildly as she spoke. “We’ve tested her multiple times!”

“Perhaps a bluff then?” With his quiet murmur, he waved a hand, and multiple large men wearing armor, their eyes glowing a bright purple. Stepped out of the shadows, swords drawn and pointed towards me.

“Enchanted soldiers?” I sighed. “Looks like we’re being tested Cal.”

-His mistake.

“Want help?” Lucifer called out, his hand on his sword.

“No need for just this much.” I raised a hand, and slowly released my magic.

The floor tried to warp away from me, as reality and fate were bent and broken in the space around me. Merlin’s eyes narrowed, shocked and he lifted his hand to call his magical soldiers back.

“Too late.” With a grim smile, I pushed my magic forward, and silently each knight faded out of existence, leaving not even the slightest trace behind. It also latched on to the golden throne, forcing him to his feet as the seat disappeared out from under him.

“Chaos magic?” Merlin covered his eyes with his hand. “I should have guessed when it never returned to me. The backlash at that time was too great, though, I had no choice but to go into hiding for my own safety.”

“Great, glad you have that figured out. Any last words before you die?”

“Don’t be arrogant, girl.” He snapped. “ You may have stolen some of my chaos magic, but I’ve regained plenty since!” He spread his arms, and a purple smoke surrounded him, tearing apart the space in between us. “I’ve been sacrificing plenty of souls to grow my powers, and what little you should have retained is no match!”

The smoke enveloped Aunt Margaret and Araina as they tried to scream in terror.

“Milord what are you doing?”

His gaze was merciless. “You were always meant to feed my power. As if I would let anyone who claimed kinship with that bitch Morgana survive.”

The two faded into the smoke, which seemed to grow stronger and thicker as it absorbed their fate.

My father grinned at me. “And now, with you here, I can take back some power, complete the ceremony and perfect my magic once more!”

“Strong words for a dead man.”

“You may have chaos magic, child, but so do I! You can’t kill me with it, and you don’t have any magical powers other than that, if you are a Grade E witch.”

He waved his hand once more, and countless monsters of chaos appeared, their glowing purple eyes fixed on me.

“I’m one of the greatest wizards in the world, with the highest caliber of magic and you are the last pathetic girl in a worthless line. All alone with no way out.”

I smiled, and he stepped back, startled at my reaction. “Who said I was alone?”

“Now can I help?”

- Finally!

My hand slapped to my chest, my palm connected with the golden tattoo beneath my shirt, the mark of Excalibur. From within my soul I pulled out the golden sword, and rushed into the nearest group of monsters.

Lucifer pulled out the real sword of light, and with a happy laugh launched himself into the air to land beside me, fighting back to back.

The creatures screamed with terror and the two swords of light and order swept through them, forcing them out of existence.

“Finally I get a chance to show off!” Lucifer muttered beside me, swinging his sword in broad sweeping strokes, taking out multiple creatures with each attack.

-You realize that my master is killing twice as many as you, right?

Cal let out a beams of light as I fought, taking down lines of the chaos monsters with each passing second.

Merlin watched the fight with an increasingly pale face, backing away slowly. “No, it can’t be. Excalibur… you chose her?”

The number of monsters was dwindling, and soon, Lucifer was enough to face off the remnant as I approached my father, Cal’s blade resting lightly on my shoulder.

“Why so shocked?” I grinned. “Just because you aren’t worthy doesn’t mean others can’t be.”

“Y-you…” His eyes darted between myself and the glowing golden blade. “You didn’t just keep a remnant of my old power, did you? You have ALL of it?” He backed away further. “That’s… that’s…”

“Enough to destroy the universe and everything in it?” I shrugged, swinging the sword behind me, cutting through a monster that had tried to sneak up on me while my attention was focused on my father. “Yes. Your point?”

Merlin was backed against a wall, trapped, and I pressed the tip of the golden blade in my hand against his chest, right over his heart.

“To think a child I made as a simple means to destroy Morgana’s line would be this powerful…” He muttered looking at me with different eyes than before, a calculating gaze. “No… maybe it was meant to be. Both of our blood, chaos magic… and Excalibur… you’re beyond what I could have ever dreamed.”

“…” I put more pressure on the sword, and the tip slowly sank into his chest. He didn’t react, still staring at me with an avid look.

“We’ll work together… we can rule everything. Heaven, Hell, Magic, Order… all would have to bow before us.” His smile was fanatical, a hand reaching out to touch my face gently, as if I were truly precious to him. “My daughter…”

His magic reached out, pulling at my emotions, making me want to drop my weapon, follow him to the ends of the earth.

You’ll be safe with him. The magic whispered in my ear. You’ll finally have a family, a home.

-Morgan… Cal whispered my name urgently, but the magic drowned his voice out.

A part of me screamed to give in. The girl who had grown up hated, looked down on. A worthless child who had killed her mother at birth. A powerless witch in a family of powerful magic. With only myself and a magic sword to depend on.

I wanted to say yes.

I smiled, my hand wrapped tightly around the golden handle of the sword. “Sounds like a great offer.”

Merlin’s face lit up.

“Just one problem…”

Thud. Cal’s blade pierced through the wizard’s chest, striking the wall behind him.

“I don’t want to rule Heaven, Hell or anything else.”

Blood dripped around the blade, pooling on the floor at our feet before disappearing into purple smoke. I poured my chaos magic into the wound, trying to destroy everything that Cal’s magic wouldn’t touch.

“I’m not seeking to be a legend, or to save the world.”

The wound in his chest was turning purple, as the chaos magic within him rejected the presence of ultimate weapon of fate and order. I let go of my normal restrictions I placed on my magic, pouring everything I had into him, focused on destruction.

“I’m just a Grade E witch, a mortal, trying to live a normal life and pay rent.”

He shook his head slightly, as if confused, his green eyes fixed on my own.

“Oh, and of course avenge my mother’s death.”

I twisted the blade and he let out a grunt, purple smoke pouring from his lips.

“You’ll… regret… this.”

“Promise?”

My father closed his eyes, and his body faded into nothingness, the purple smoke dissipating into thin air. I looked around, frowning, my chaos magic pulsing in my blood, roaring in my ears.

“Cal, is he gone?”

-I- I think so? I don’t sense him...

“Good.” I sighed with relief, taking a deep breath. The chaos magic pushed outwards against my control, wanting to consume everything. I had let out too much, relaxed my control too far in my desire to destroy him. I closed my eyes, fighting it with all my strength, knowing that if I lost control I could unleash everything, destroy everything.

-Morgan?! What’s wrong?

I shook my head slightly, unable to answer, slipping down to the ground as all of my strength focused inward.

“Cal, what’s going on?” Lucifer’s tired voice spoke up, concerned.

-She’s losing her chaos magic!

“That’s bad, isn’t it? Like, world ending bad?”

-Yeah, it’s world ending bad! Quick, stab me into her chest! I need to help her control it!

“S-stab her? Are you sure? Won’t that kill her?”

-DO IT!

Despite the internal battle going on, I felt the tip of Cal’s blade push into my chest over his mark, Cal’s power merging with my own.

Cal? I felt tired, overwhelmed, the chaos within me eroding at my thoughts, my fate disappearing into nothingness.

The voice that had been with me since my earliest memory spoke up inside my head.

-It’s okay, Morgan. We’ll seal it, together.

He joined me in the fight, his strength bolstering my own. Slowly, painfully, together, we pushed back the power of chaos and locked it within my soul once more.

-See? That wasn’t so bad!

Easy for you to say. I smiled silently, letting go of my consciousness in my relief.

______________________________

Lucifer stared down at the smiling unconscious girl, feeling unnerved.

I’ve been at the top for too long. He admitted quietly to himself with a grin. I forgot what it was like to face something stronger.

And Morgan was stronger than him. Having seen her wield Excalibur along with her magic, equal parts order and chaos, a force that could destroy the whole universe, he couldn’t help but feel weak in front of her. He watched her sleep, considering his options. Part of him wanted to take her out, destroy the threat while she was helpless. But the rest…

It’s not bad to have something this fun around. He grinned. Besides, I never was one for playing it safe.

“Hey, little devil, why are you smiling? Don’t even think about touching my master while she’s asleep!” Cal appeared in his human form beside Morgan, his golden eyes glaring fiercely.

Lucifer shrugged. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of harming her. At least not anytime soon.“ Thinking for a moment, he looked at the sword, confused. “Why do you only take on a human appearance when she’s unconscious?”

To his surprise the sword blushed. “None of your business!” Looking down at the girl, he muttered. “What if she doesn’t like how I look?”

Lucifer laughed. “Well, she called me hideous, so you may be right to worry about her aesthetic taste.” With a groan he stretched, frowning as his multiple small injuries ached. “Those chaos monsters were pretty powerful. No wonder my minions never stood a chance.”

“Or you’re just weak.”

Rolling his eyes, Lucifer turned away, looking around the empty warehouse and shrugging. “I guess we’re done here.”

Cal stood up, holding Morgan carefully in his arms. “I’ll tell her your goodbyes once she wakes up. Have fun back in hell.”

“Goodbyes?” The devil laughed. “No need to bother. See you later.”

And with that he was gone, leaving an increasingly nervous magical sword staring after him while clutching his master to his chest. “Later? What does he mean later? What a terrible thought.”

______________________________

I was having déjà vu.

Clutching a jar of pickles, I stared at what should have been my empty bed with a forlorn expression. “What are you doing here?”

The devil grinned as he flipped through my book, once again losing my place in the story to my dismay. “I had a favor to ask you.”

-See, I told you! Cal spoke up with an irritated voice. This is what happens when you make friends with weak creatures like him! They always want favors!

“Shut up, you stupid knife.” Lucifer grinned, setting down the book and spreading his hands. “You see, one of my old buddies in the Heavenly army contacted me…”

“So you came to brag that you still have friends?”

-Good for you. With your terrible personality it must be hard!

Cal and I clapped proudly. Groaning with frustration, Lucifer pushed back his hair and continued, ignoring us. “He saw something weird, an unexplainable magic. Something that seemed to destroy things without rhyme or reason.”

I stared at him with confusion. “So?”

“So, it might be chaos magic! Let’s go check it out!”

“…”

-…

“Why?”

“Why?” The devil frowned. “What do you mean why?”

“It sounds difficult.”

- I’d rather nap.

“I have to work, or I can’t pay my rent.”

“But… it will be fun!” Lucifer sat up, pouting. “It’s been so boring since the last adventure! Let’s go!”

“…” I looked at the devil who was trying to tempt me out of the house, and then down to the jar in my hands.

“Sorry pickles, we’re just never fated to be.”

CRASH! The jar struck Lucifer in the face and smashed into pieces.

I sighed as I ran in the opposite direction as fast as I could.

“MORGAN!”

#chaos magic #part 2 #fantasy #witches #devils #magic #revenge #fighting

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mar04isdead · 4 years ago

Text

Freaks But Family

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Chapter 6: Those baby making catholics

Was this title necessary, yes, yes it was. Today I'll be talking about some people, some people you may already know and some you might not know. That's to be determined here, now let's begin the shit show!

Liberator looks at the wall, not really impressed at what's in front of him. A normal alley towards the edge of Snellville, with a normal brick wall. He really doesn't believe that they're supposed to be here, but it's where the light has led them so there has to be something here.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Liberator looks at Thorn with utter confusion.

Thorn holds up a finger signaling him to be quiet, she points to under the wall. Liberator just glares at her, Thorn holds her hands up in defense.

"I'm not doing this, trust me." Thorn steps back from the vines as they approach both of them.

Liberator chuckles, "Sure you're not."

"I'm serious, it's kudzu. Kudzu is a parasite and I can't grow parasitic plants." Thorn reaches out with her hands, trying to stop the vines. "I can't even control it."

The vines wrap around their feet, both of them start to worry. The more they struggle, the tighter and faster the vines grow. Before they know it, they are encased in the vines and thrown around. After a while the vines start to let them go, and they fall out of the vines onto grass. They both look up, groaning in pain, to see someone who looks very similar to Maria standing in front of a gate.

The girl has black hair in a pixie cut, a red fade at the tips, the same glasses as Maria too. In the light they can also see she has an eyebrow and lip piercings. Olive skin with dark freckles dotting her skin, and two weird black and red tattoos, one on her bicep and the other on her forearm, both on her right arm.

"So, you're the ones who sent the light?" The girl walks around them, sizing them up. "I'll admit, you don't look like much." She crouches down in front of them and looks them in the eye. "You're not even Aztec, so who are you?"

Favion sits up and looks the girl up and down, "How did you even do that? Do you have abilities?"

Thorn hits him on the side of the head, "No, she's a sorceress. Unlike me, who was born with abilities, she had to learn so she has magic."

The girl stands up and grins, "Correct, very impressive Thorn. As for you Liberator," She gives a sour face. "You have much to learn." She waves her hand, and the vines help them both up. "Follow me, you need to work for what you need."

Thorn and Liberator share a look before following the girl through the gate and into a maze. The flowers and bushes start to reach out, the girl just hovers her hand over them to calm them down. Some flowers on the ground start to bloom, letting out some fireflies that were in them.

Thorn looks at a rose bush, "Is this your garden?" She asks while stroking a rose.

The girl looks back and nods, "Yes, it was a gift from my dad though. My mom and older brother have kept it hidden from me. It was supposed to be a wedding gift but I'm glad they gave it to me early."

"Looks straight out of a fairy tale." Liberator giggles as a tulip brushes up against his leg.

The girl laughs, "This isn't a fairy tale." They stop at a wall of bushes, the girl raises her arms and the bushes move aside. "This is real life."

They follow her through the bushes, mesmerized. They enter a circular clearing, in the center is a bird fountain with flowers and dandelions surrounding it at the base. The girl walks up to the fountain, looking at Thorn.

"So, what flower do you need?" She asks, leaning down and picking up a large ceramic vase of water.

Thorn walks up to her, "The blood rose flower."

The girl's eyes widen, "You sure, is her condition that bad?"

Thorn nods, the girl smiles in understanding. She pours the water in the vase into the fountain and sets the vase down. Then she makes flowers appear out of thin air, hydrangeas, forget-me-nots, violets, and oddly enough a very small corpse flower. She raises them above her head and then makes her hands into fist, making the flowers start to wither, dry, and crush themselves. Once they are all a fine dust, she sprinkles them into the fountain.

She looks at Thorn with a smile, "Be a dear and help me for this part." She puts her hands in the water.

Thorn puts her hands in the water too, "What do I need to do?"

"This chant is in Aztec, I'll help you through it." The girl nods to reassure Thorn.

"Rose that smell sweet, and crimson red blood. They join together, and they waste away." The girl chants. "Now follow my lead."

Thorn sucks in a deep breath before following the girl with the chant, "Rose that smell sweet, and crimson red blood. They join together and they waste away."

They repeat it over and over as the fountain starts to glow a dark red, Liberator steps back as the flowers around the fountain start to hide. Both girls' eyes start to glow yellow, they both lift their hands up to the sky and out of the water floats an odd red flower. It's petals curled outwards, the middle of the petals with black markings that look like weeping faces. The black and red stem has thorns and the green leaves are all jagged and spikey.

"There it is." The girl's eyes go back to normal and Thorn plucks the flower from midair.

Liberator looks at the flower with amazement, "Why are you helping us?"

The girl shakes her head with a snicker, "Because I'm related to the person that this flower is for, can't just let my family die now can I?"

"She did mention she has a lot of cousins, but I thought I already met all of them." Thorn carefully wraps the flower in a cloth before putting it in the bag she carries.

"Oh no, there are hundreds more of us." The girl calmly brushes off, when seeing the look on their faces she laughs. "The generation before us were Catholic."

Liberator nods, "Those baby making Catholics."

"I know, right?" The girl pulls a match from her jeans pocket. "You best be going to get everything else you need. Give me the staff."

She reaches a hand out to Thorn, and Thorn hands her Madness' staff. She lights the match against the fountain before throwing it and the staff in the air.

"There's your next location, just follow the light." She waves her hand and the kudzu starts to encase Thorn and Liberator again. "Please tell her, Melissa misses her." She closes them in before the kudzu starts to toss and throw them around again.

The land outside of the brick wall where they started, they look at each other, and then up at the sky to see a red light. They nod before following the light to their next ingredient.

"How much you wanna bet they're stereotypical white people?" Thorn asks Liberator while they both hide behind a bush.

Liberator grins at her, "I'm not gonna make that bet because it's probably true. And you do know I'm half white, right?"

"I'm white too, but this screams people that will kill us if we try anything." Thorn looks over the bush.

"What are we saying about white people?" Someone behind them asks.

They both turn around and scream, only for someone to scream back. The next thing they know, they're engulfed in flames.

"Shit how are we not dead?" Thorn yells.

"I don't fucking know!" Liberator yells back.

"Why are we yelling?" The third person whispers.

Once Liberator and Thorn calm down, they look at the person in front of them and their first thought is, "You're a kid!"

The person looks at them with offense, their blue eyes gleaming, "Excuse you, but I'm older than both of you."

They both take a moment to look at the person closer, blond hair, pale blue eyes, olive skin and dark freckles. Same glasses as Maria and Melissa, and the same tattoo on the right bicep. The right side of their head is shaved, the other goes down to their chin.

"The name is Max, related to the last person you went to and the person you are trying to save." They step back from the two and gesture to what is around them

"Are... are we in a mechanic's garage?" Thorn asks looking around.

Max nods, "Yep, my granddad built me this little place when I was just a kid. I studied my magic here."

It's really not much, large open space, tall shelves to the sides filled with tools and boxes. In the center are two cars, one with the hood popped open and the other dangling from the ceiling, looking like it's being rebuilt.

"So," Liberator looks at the sharp objects hanging off the wall worriedly. "What is your magic?"

"Fire!" Max raises their arms and they burst into flames.

Both Thorn and Liberator back away in fright. Max notices and extinguishes the flames.

"Sorry, anyways what is it you need from me?" Max pulls a lever from behind the shelves, and up rises a cauldron.

Thorn looks at the paper she brought, "Lava from the hellfire."

Max starts laughing, after a while they look up to see Thorn's face. "Wait, you're serious? Lava from the hellfire!" They shout.

Thorn nods, Max groans. They go to the shelves, scan them from up to down, and grab a box, they bring it into the cauldron and open it. Inside are precious gems, diamonds, rubies, pearls, emeralds, quartz, and other gems. They pour all of the gems into the cauldron, and throw the box to the side. They put their hands into the cauldron, their hands start to glow, and the gems start to melt.

Max looks up at Liberator, "Pretty boy, get your ass over here."

Liberator walks up to the cauldron and puts his hands in and they start to glow too. They follow as Max brings their hands out of the molten metal, and they move their hands in circles.

"Just repeat this Aztec chant after me and this will be fine." Max smiles to reassure him.

"Liquid fire from a place of pain, become whole again. Pain and fire unite to cause chaos." Max nods to Liberator. "Now just repeat after me three times."

"Liquid fire from a place of pain, become whole again. Pain and fire unite to cause chaos." They repeat the chant three times, their eyes glow red, and the cauldron starts to bubble. They pick their hands out of the cauldron and move them side to side.

"Hold it." Max instructs.

They run off to a shelf and come back with a ceramic jar. They open the jar and set it on the floor, they position their fingers like finger guns. They have Liberator step back before motioning the lava to flow out of the cauldron and into the jar. Max pics it up, makes a small blue flame with their index finger, and welds the top shut before handing it to Thorn.

"Thanks, now that I think about it you're a Mexican mechanic with fire magic." Thorn smiles.

Max smiles, "What about it?"

"Literally reminded me of Leo Valdez." She puts the jar in her bag.

Max gasps and smiles, "Finally a person with taste!"

Liberator looks at Max questioningly, "You're Mexican, but you're blond."

Max puts their arms around Thorn and Liberator's shoulders. "I'm half white, white on my dad's side and Mexican on my papa's side."

"But how, how's that possible?" Liberator becomes more confused.

"Now I need to get you two out of here." They are all surrounded in flames again. "And one more thing."

Max takes the staff from Thorn and walks to the side of the house. They quickly come back with a lightbulb, they set it on fire and throw it along with the staff in the air.

"Follow the blue light, I recommend you don't leave any metal exposed." Max winks before disappearing in fire.

The middle of the woods, they really thought they were going to get kidnapped. They had no idea what on Earth could possibly make this safe, they took the hint from Max that this person has electricity magic. Just looking at the cottage made both Liberator and Thorn a bit paranoid, not knowing if it's abandoned or not.

"You knock on the door." Liberator lightly pushes Thorn towards the cottage.

Thorn glares at him, "Such a gentleman, I can see why that Maria girl doesn't like you."

Liberator glares back, "How'd you know about her?"

"Madness, she's an excellent mind reader." Thorn smirks.

Liberator is about to say something witty as a response when a tree blows up next to him, he screams and rushes to Thorn. Both he and Thorn get in defensive positions, only to see a little girl walk out from behind where the tree was. Dark skin like chocolate, dark mocha eyes, two little braids that fall down her shoulders, the most adorable blue dress and pink flats.

"Dida, I missed." The little girl turns around and complains into the shadows.

Someone comes out from the shadows and scoops the girl into their arms, "Don't worry hun, you'll get it next time."

The person is just like the rest, black short hair, olive skin, covered in freckles, brown eyes, glasses, and a tattoo on the right bicep. Only difference is that they are actually pretty tall, and they have more tattoos.

"Speaking of, what are you two doing here? When Harley told me there was someone in the woods I just thought she was tired and seeing things. Then she blasted and we heard you scream, so explain yourselves." The person holding Harley glares at the two teenagers.

Thorn digs through her bag, pulling out the paper and handing it to the person. The person looks at the paper suspiciously, sighs before reaching for the paper, unfolding it, and reading it.

"Really, the life of the sky is what you need?" The person hands the paper back, and adjusts Harley on their hip.

Thorn nods, "We hope it's not much of a bother, but we need it. We've been gathering the other ingredients all night, and after here is one last stop."

"They need help, dida." Harley messes with the person's hair.

The person nods, "I know darling, let's just be glad deda isn't here so you can use your magic." The person puts Harley down before turning to the teens. "I'm Micha, follow me."

They follow Micha and Harley to the cottage, they go around to the back to where there is a giant greenhouse. They enter the greenhouse, filled with plants and herbs, there is no roof so the sky is open and clear to see.

Micha turns to their daughter, "Harley, get the book and I'll get the jar." Micha points to a corner.

Harley smiles and goes to get the book in one of the corners and brings it over to Micha, while Micha grabs a jar hidden in the plants. They both meet in the middle of the greenhouse and they sit down. Harley takes the jar and Micha opens the book, they set both objects between them.

"If you two have any metal, piercing's, braces, anything like that, step out while you still can." Micha and Harley raise their hands to the sky.

"The spirit of the ancient heavens, a sign of the gods. It brings destruction and life to those it may touch." They both chant over and over, and above them storm clouds start to gather. Lighting can be seen starting to form in the clouds, it stretches across the sky like a spiderweb. Harley seems to struggle with keeping her hands up but Micha smiles at her to let her know things will be okay. Both of them have their eyes start to glow blue and they bring their hands down across their chest.

"You guy's may want to step out for this." Micha motions for Thorn and Liberator to step out of the greenhouse.

Liberator and Thorn decide to take Micha's advice and head out of the greenhouse. They turn away, knowing what lightning can do to them. They hear a loud bang, and wait a few seconds before turning back around. They see Micha and Harley closing the jar, Micha standing up, leaving the jar on the ground, and scooping Harley into their arms. Micha motions for them to come back into the greenhouse.

"Mind holding her?" Micha extends a sleeping Harley to Liberator.

Liberator takes Harley, Micha picks up the jar and hands it to Thorn. Micha takes the staff from Thorn, twirls it in their hand for a minute before throwing it up in the air. A white light spreads through the sky, leading them not far. Micha smiles up at the sky before taking Harley back from Liberator.

Micha smiles down at their daughter, "She's not used to doing big magic, she was only doing simple stuff until today. Took a lot of convincing for her other parent to let me teach her magic." Micha kisses Harley's forehead.

Thorn smirks, "You're married?"

Micha nods, "Yeah, they're a teacher like me. Their concert band is out of state for competition." They nod towards Harley in their arms. "This one still has preschool and I still have to teach." Micha looks back at the sky, "Speaking of school, it's the weekend so if you want to get sleep for whatever punishment your teachers have, get the last ingredient and make that potion."

Liberator and Thorn both thank Micha before leaving for the last ingredient.

"Why does this night keep getting creepier and creepier?" Liberator hits his head on the closest empty cage.

"Keep doing that, you'll be doing the world a favor." Thorn points to the cage.

They both are now standing in front of a circus big top, trailers, cages, and RVs parked around it and only one large light coming out from the flaps. It smells like popcorn and cotton candy. Some posters for acts are on the outside of the tent, promoting all sorts of odd things.

"Is anyone even inside?" Thorn steps closer to the tent.

Liberator shakes his head, "It's three in the morning, I don't think anyone's in here."

Slowly and weirdly, the tent flaps open, and they hear music coming from inside the tent. There is a small voice, inviting them inside. They look at each other, silently arguing who's going first. Then there is a gust of wind, pushing them forward to the tent. It's much bigger on the inside, circles of chairs surrounding the center ring, large thick metal poles that are keeping the tent up, wires, ropes, and silks hanging from the ceiling, a large net just a few feet above the ground, two large platforms near the top of the poles, and large lights that all shine on someone in the center of the ring.

"Evening, or should I say early morning? Welcome to the LaRue-Gonzalez Circus of Wonders!" The girl in the center announces with a booming voice, as if it's something she has done her whole life. "I am the Mariposa LaRue-Gonzalez, daughter of the ring leaders, knife thrower, contortionist, aerialist, and dancer! But tonight I am your sorceress, how may I help you?" Mariposa extends a hand out gracefully.

Circus performer definitely explains her look, dull red leotard with long sleeves, tiny golden rhinestones at the ruffled cuffs, a short red tutu, bright red eyeshadow and lipstick, golden snake bites and septum ring and odd golden lace up boots with no heel or toe. Her hair in a long braid with golden flowers decorating it, and from the translucent sleeves, one can see a tattoo on her right bicep.

Liberator is the first to break the silence, "You definitely look like you belong in a circus." Earning him a glare and punch on the shoulder from Thorn.

"I apologize for my associate." Mariposa raises an eyebrow at Thorn. "He doesn't have much experience talking to women." Thorn hits Liberator in the head for good measure.

Mariposa laughs, "I can tell, now I assume you are looking for an ingredient from me?" She twirls her index finger in the air, causing the paper in Thorn's bag to fly to her.

Liberator tilts his head to the side, "Is telekinesis your magic?" He wonders.

Mariposa shakes her head, "Air, damn this feels like some Avatar shit. Each one of us has a magic, and Madness controls all of them and more! This is some Avatar shit!" Mariposa jumps up and down with happiness.

Thorn smiles, "Okay that aside, we need the breath of the spirits."

At that Mariposa stands still, "At that I wish I had fallen too." Mariposa stands straight, arms at her side, and as she closes her eyes she slowly starts to rise and rise until she reaches one of the platforms. "Come up here, just be real careful if you're scared of heights."

Thorn merely shrugs and stomps her foot on the ground, the ground shakes before a giant sunflower sprouts beneath them and helps them rise up to the platform. Liberator holds on to some of the petals, Thorn simply stands with her arms crossed.

Mariposa just laughs at their antics, "Now contrary to what you may think, I don't need to summon the dead for this." She has some long silk in her hands that reaches the ground from the ceiling. "There's a jar right where you two are, be careful with it I'm gonna need it."

Mariposa wraps the silk around her legs several times, before taking a few steps back on the platform, running forward, and jumping off the platform. She holds onto the silk with her hands too as she starts to swing in large circles, picking up the pace with each time she passes Liberator and Thorn. Soon she's just a blur of red and gold, Thorn and Liberator and feel something pulling them towards the edge of the platform.

A sort of tornado forms from where Mariposa keeps spinning, until she slows down and unwraps herself fully from the silk. She falls straight down onto the net, the jar coming down with her. She lifts the jar up and Thorn and Liberator watch as it fills with the air she spun, she closes the jar before making herself rise back up to her platform. She sits down with an arm out and the jar resting on her palm, closing her eyes as the jar floats away from her and rests in the space in between her and the other platform.

"What is used to live, what is used to breath. What flows around us, what causes change." Just like everyone else, Mariposa repeats her chant until her eyes glow white. The jar glows too and starts to shake a bit, one can see the winds in it start to swirl and move. Once her eyes stop glowing, she has the jar float over to Thorn and Liberator.

"I know it's not exactly what you were thinking, but my magic hasn't been what it used to be." Mariposa shrugs awkwardly.

Thorn looks confused, "What happened?"

Mariposa looks straight down to the net, "I almost fell from up here, lost someone, been kind of scared of heights since." She looks back up, "Today was actually my first time back up here doing my act in four months." She smiles.

"You're getting over it, and that's good. Keep doing what you're doing and soon your fear will be a thing of the past." Liberator flashes Mariposa a smile.

"Yeah, that's what my dads have been saying." Mariposa stands up and starts to twirl her hand around causing both Thorn and Liberator to slowly rise into the air. "Have fun making that potion, tell my cousin I say hi." She twitches her hand upwards, and Thorn and liberator fly through the sky back to where they started.

"I've been waiting, and is this the idiot who is supposed to help us save Madness." Esme asks, she's wearing all black and a mask that covers the lower half of her face.

Thorn rubs the back of her neck, "Yeah, sorry it took us so long, Emory." Thorn knows better than to use Esme's real name in front of Liberator.

Emory shakes her head, "I have the book and the other materials. Give him the ingredients and we can get this over with. And we need to hurry because we have a situation with Madness' abilities."

Thorn drags Liberator over to the cauldron full of water, she gives Liberator the bag of ingredients, "Just listen to everything Emory tells you and this will be fine."

Emory opens the book and sticks her hand out like a claw, all the things in the bag float out and take positions around Liberator. "Open the jar of spirit's breath upside down so it goes into the water." She instructs.

Liberator plucks the jar out of the air and turns it upside down, he takes the lid off and jumps a bit when it almost falls out of his hands. He keeps it steady as the wind in it rushes out into the water, turning the water a pale white. When the jar is empty, he can hear voices whispering something.

"Don't worry, it happens." Emory looks back at the book. "The blood rose flower must be burned and it's ashes dusted in." She points to the flower.

Liberator takes the flower and crumbles it in his hands, he closes his eyes as he wills his hands to burst into flames. He struggles a bit to keep the fire to just his hands, but he manages and once he has the ashes, he puts them into the mix.

Emory looks at the white water with specks of black, "Okay, now you have to freeze it solid, but there's a specific way to do it." She puts one finger on the rim of the cauldron and drags her finger around it in a circle. "Just this, simple."

He nods and steadies his shaking hands, and places his finger on the rim of the cauldron. He circles the rim again and again until the mix is fully frozen. Once it's frozen the mix is now black, it looks weird but Emory assures him that it's supposed to be this way.

"Now, the lava from the hell fire, but it has to be an 'X' in the middle." Emory makes an 'X' in the air with her finger, "I know it's weird but it's what's in the book."

Liberator just shrugs and opens the hot jar of lava. He slowly tilts the jar on it's side and the liquid fire pours out he makes the lines cross to form the 'X' in the middle. He puts the empty jar aside and watches as the lava burns through the ice.

Emory reads more from the book, "Now, just add the life of the sky and this will be done."

Liberator takes the jar of electricity with shaking hands, watching as the electricity spreads like webs as it touches the glass. He opens the jar, only for the electricity to fly out and up into the sky. Just as he loses hope that he might not be able to get the electricity back, it comes running back down and strikes the cauldron.

"Wow, that was something." Emory and Thorn join Liberator in looking at the potion, now a bright blue with swirls of red.

"Looks like ice cream." Thorn tries to poke at the potion but Emory slaps her hand.

Emory glares at Thorn, "No, unless you want your insides to burn."

At that Thorn backs away, "Okay, then let's get it to Madness then."

Emory nods, closing the book and sticking her hand out, lifting Liberator into the air. "Sorry kid, but the rest of this is a secret. You tell Dr. Gomez what happened here tonight, you're dead." She snaps her fingers, and Liberator wakes up as Favion, in his room by morning.

yEsme watches Maria as she plays around with her cousins, acting as if nothing has happened. Sure she now has bandages around her abdomen, shifting really did a number on her, but she acts as if it's all okay. She's refused to use her abilities too, no one can talk to her about it and it’s been a month.

"You think she'll ever come back from this, I mean she was practically dying." Rose remembers how shadows were practically consuming everything around them. "I mean I keep trying to trick her to use her abilities, but she sees right through it."

Esme shrugs, "I don't know what we're going to do but we have to find a solution. She is the only one that can help Mike and his ability so she has to use hers eventually."

"Okay speaking of Maria, where is she?" Rose points to where Maria used to be, playing in the grass with Imelda but now she's gone.

Esme looks around, "Can you check inside, I'll ask the kids if they saw where she went."

Rose heads inside and searches the whole house, and eventually she finds Maria in the attic, playing with the spider plush she got on Christmas. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Maria just looks at her, "Not really, when I was asleep just saw some memories. Memories I really want to get rid of." She buries her face in the toy.

Rose sits down next to Maria, "Talk to me about it, I've seen that memory, but you never want to explain it." Rose tries to put an arm around Maria only for Maria to move away.

"Not really in the mood to talk about it." Maria turns away from Rose.

Rose groans, "Okay, baby I'm getting tired of this. I know you hate it, I hate talking about my memories too, but I do talk about them." She wraps her arms around herself. "Sometimes I wonder if you're just hiding crap."

At that Maria reacts, "I'm not hiding anything, I just don't want to talk about it." She scoots away further, "Just drop it, and I never exactly asked you to share your memories."

"But I let you see them, I even talked about them when you asked. I felt a lot better afterwards, so why don't you tell me," Rose pulls at her hair a bit. "For once tell me what is bothering you?"

"Nothing!" Maria shouts, objects around her flying around violently.

She starts sobbing and screaming into her plush. She keeps shaking harshly and keeps moving, Rose just sighs and starts to rake her hand through Maria's hair. Maria flinches at the touch, but slowly eases up. She lets herself lean into Rose's touch and keeps crying, she lets go of the plush to let herself be held by Rose.

"They... they just prayed that it would change." Maria shakes and gasps for breath. "I begged, I begged all they had to say about it was talking to some idiot man who doesn't even exist!" She stands up in a rush and paces the floor. "They believed in a book that is filled with lie after lie over their own kid!" She looks at Rose with her eyes red and tears running down her cheeks. "They choose to believe someone where there was no more proof existed, over the only proof left of our ancestors!" She hugs herself tightly, "They choose to forget me, to forget us."

Maria finishes her rant by dropping on her knees to the floor, the objects around her doing the same. Rose quickly walks over to Maria, and Maria throws herself into her girlfriend's arms. Rose just holds Maria tightly, and watches as around them some flowers start to bloom, purple hyacinth.

"At least you can't remember what happened to you." Maria mumbles, into Rose's neck where she's hiding her face.

Rose kisses Maria's hair, "I know you want to forget, but all I can do is help you through it."

"It wasn't just my heritage they prayed to change!" The flowers grow faster. "There was this girl, and I liked her a lot. They yelled at me when they thought she was the reason I was turning against them. Then they sent me away." She wipes her tears away before continuing. "I guess they thought that center was for conversion therapy, they were talking about it before sending me away. Would explain why they didn't send me straight here."

The flowers stop blooming and Maria's breath starts to even out. Rose just keeps running her hand through her hair to keep her calm. She places her other hand on Maria's waist where the bandages are, and rubs small circles with her thumb.

"Does this hurt?" Rose asks while softly rubbing at the bandages.

Maria nods, "A bit, no one will tell me what the hell happened." She wipes her eyes again.

"You used two opposite abilities and I guess since they don't go together they refused to work in your body." Rose places more kisses on Maria's head. "You passed out and we had to make a potion to wake you up."

Maria pulls away from Rose in confusion, "Wait a potion?" Rose nods. "I'm the only one who can make the potions. I mean yeah, the sorceresses can too, but certain ones no. What potion was it?" She questions, thoughts racing through her head.

Rose taps her head trying to remember, "Ancient revival, we had to get Favion for it."

Maria stands up and runs out of the attic, Rose quickly follows her. Yet again Rose finds Maria in the basement, but arguing with Esme, Clarisse, Liam, and Sam. Pointing at the old book in Sam's hands, and at the monitor, which has the formulas about mixing Maria's blood with someone else's.

"Maria, the abilities would be artificial." Esme turns her back to Maria. "And since they are artificial they are temporary." She starts to walk away.

Maria groans in frustration, “Two months, what do you have to say about two months?" She growls, her fangs starting to grow through her gums.

Esme stops in her tracks, "Now, that, is where I should worry." She turns back to Maria. "It should only be a week, less even."

"Yeah, now you want to start thinking about that?" Maria watches as Esme and the others start to work.

Sam looks from where she is scanning scrolls, "That's not possible, yes a chief or chieftess can give someone abilities with their blood. But in what we have recorded it has never lasted more than a week." She keeps pulling scrolls off of the book shelves and reads them all.

Rose decides to intervene, "Keep in mind you guys have never had a chieftess, or a leader with snake and spider shifting." She puts an arm around her girlfriend's waist. "This stuff has never been seen before, so of course how can you guys be prepared for that?"

"Great-grandmother's book is all we have though." Liam says from his spot in front of the monitor. "She was the only one with any recent recordings of our history, we would be able to get something from that."

Maria scratches at one of her discolored patches of skin, "Yeah but most are in code, so the only things we have are the things in Aztec. She was one smart lady." She removes Rose's hand from her waist, and walks away.

Rose notices how all the shadows leave the room and follow her, so she follows too. Following Maria and the shadows, Rose sees them end up in front of the shed in the backyard. Maria is already inside, spray painting something on the floor, lighting candles, and reading out of a book.

Rose avoids the flying candles as she steps into the shed, "What exactly are you planning here?"

"If I can't get the information from the books, then I'll get them from the source." Maria closes the book before sitting in the middle of the skull she drew.

Rose's eyes go wide, "No, babe don't do it. You know what happened last time."

Maria just laughs, the candles setting down and the flames start to go crazy. Maria's patches of vitiligo start to glow, she winks before disappearing in flames and light.

Rose looks at where her girlfriend used to be, "How do I explain this to the others?"

So, yet again with the chaos. Where is Mara going, who knows! All we can do is hope she doesn't die where she's going, It's a possibility. Oh well, come back next time to see what happens. Don't be late!

#Freaks But Family #Original work #fantasy work

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ieatmypizzawithaforkandknife · 4 years ago

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MAG 020 - Desecrated Host (part 2)

Summary: Jonathan reads the second half of the statement of Father Edwin Burroughs, regarding “his claimed demonic possession.”

I’d like to propose an alternate title for this one: “Bartleby”. I couldn’t help but see the parallel between Bartleby the Scrivener’s “I would prefer not to” and Father Burroughs saying, “seeing those bound corpses before me, I made the decision to take no action ever again.” Ah, Burroughs! Ah, humanity!

I mentioned in my last post that this episode was very heavy in the “altered reality” theme. I’d like to amend that: this entire episode was one long, terrifying fever dream. I’ve never been high but I think this might be what a bad trip feels like.

Jonny Sims et al. really outdid themselves on this one though, in both the writing and the performance. So many episodes really suck you in (not literally, fortunately - we’re luckier than some of the characters that way) and grip you ’til the very end. But this was one of the best so far for that. We get more than standard descriptions of things - we get things like that small, whispered “it was bright...so bright” in Father Burroughs’ description of the “church” and the resounding, gonging bell sound accompanying the bell-speech Father Burroughs hears. You can almost feel his throbbing head and blurring vision, and at times it just feels so real.

But it wasn’t. At least, not in the way that we like to think of reality. Whatever an outside observer might have seen that night, this statement was Father Burroughs’ reality. We do know that at least some of this episode was real in the normal sense of the word though. There are snippets, like Father Singh’s reaction to seeing Father Burroughs in the small chapel, and Father Burroughs later seeing Father Singh in the hallway, that seem like they were part of objective reality. Was this slip between reality and the illusion just so that we, the audience, knew that it wasn’t real? Or was it because whatever was affecting him couldn’t keep an airtight grip on his senses? I’d like for it to be the latter, but I’m worried that’s not the case. I do not like how powerful this thing seems to be.

During the “confession”, “Father Singh” recounted all of Father Burroughs’ past sins...so this thing either actually knew about all of those events, or it made Father Burroughs imagine that “Father Singh” was naming all of his sins (a la the psychic paper in Doctor Who). Also disturbing was the detail about its accent during the “confession” - it had “a crisp and clipped RP accent”, as opposed to Father Singh’s Indian one. The change in accent made it obvious for us that it was not Father Singh speaking, but otherwise it just makes no sense to me. Was it unable to imitate Father Singh’s accent for some reason? That might fit if it’s the same thing that spoke in a “low, grating voice” to Laura Popham in episode 15. But those are the only two times (that I recall) that the person making the statement has noted a change in the person’s voice when that static appears.

There are two possibilities I’m seeing for how this thing operates. Either it’s little more than an illusionist, or it can actually alter reality itself. The first would certainly be easier to deal with, but I’m leaning towards the latter. My main reason for thinking that is not strictly things seen in this episode, but more how things in this episode seem to relate to things in the rest of the season so far. We hear that recurring creepy static/interference twice in this episode, once when Father Burroughs reads Genesis 4:14 (after opening his Bible to Luke, no less) and once when “Father Singh” says, “Spiritual pride that has led to quite a fall.” And of course we have another appearance of creepy eyes: “the church’s large round window shifted as I watched, as though it were a tremendous eye that were turning to focus upon me.” The eye and the staticky voice tie these events to many others from the first half of this season, including a few times when reality itself seems to have been affected, rather than just people’s perception of it.

There were two Bible passages referenced in this episode. The second was Mark 9:14-19, which appears to be a pretty straightforward reference to Father Burroughs’ situation, as that passage tells the story of a boy “who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech” (NIV). But the first, as mentioned in the paragraph above, was Genesis 4:14: “Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the Earth, and from they face shall I be hid. And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the Earth, and it shall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me.” And the writing around it seemed to swirl and was “obscured by dark stains”. This is obviously significant, given the static and the unexplained stains and the fact that this verse is actually quoted in the text (unlike the passage from Mark also in this episode, which was referenced but not quoted). But I can’t figure out the significance of this verse. Cain says the text of this verse to God after God banishes him for killing Abel. Cain is more or less saying that his punishment is too much to bear and that he fears for his life, presumably from others who will surely be angry about him killing Abel. The only possible parallel I can see between Cain and Father Burroughs is that they’re both cut off from God. If there’s anything more to this verse, I’m not getting it.

I’ve also been wondering about the various figures Father Burroughs sees throughout this hallucination. He sees shadowy figures along the street that “were always gone when I approached” - and then there were the parishioners in the pews at the “service”. Were the shadow figures the parishioners? Or were the shadow figures actual, real people, and his inability to reach them just a reflection of how trapped in this hallucination he was? And why did the parishioners come and go like that? Why were they leaving before the “service” was over? If they were real people then I think they had to have been members of the People’s Church of the Divine Host (episode 9). I just feel like there was something else going on at the “service” that Father Burroughs wasn’t privy to.

At the end of the episode, Jonathan calls attention to the man who met Father Burroughs at the Oratory door: “the altar server he described seems out of place with most of his other delusions, in that he appeared to have active agency.” We aren’t given much of a description of the “altar server” - he is tall, pale, and has thin, bony arms. None of that rings any particular bells (haha) to me, but I guess I’ll be on the lookout for a tall, pale guy with thin, bony arms. *shrugs*

“Cause of death was listed as blood loss from multiple lacerations all over their legs and torso, as well as removal of both their faces with a sharp blade, possibly a scalpel.” However, no tools or weapons were found at the scene, and “at no point did he perform any actions that might be analogous with the binding and actual murder of the students,” leading Jonathan to believe a second person was there. HMMM. I WONDER WHO THAT COULD HAVE BEEN.

The cause of death is very unusual, though, when you consider it from a real-world standpoint. It’s pretty easy to die of blood loss if, say, your carotid or jugular is cut. But lacerations on the legs and torso? Those lacerations would have to be extensive to cause fatal blood loss. It just doesn’t sit right with me - and it reminds me of another death we heard about previously. In episode 8, Ivo Lensik says his father was found dead in his study “with deep gouges along his wrists and arms”, and the coroner couldn’t identify the tool used on his arms. Robert Montauk (episode 9) also bled out, but that was after being stabbed 47 times, so it’s similar but not quite the same. The common threads I’m seeing in all three deaths are (a) cause of death being blood loss and (b) the idea that someone committed the murder who was not known to be there at the time.

Coincidentally, Father Burroughs was imprisoned at Wakefield Prison, the same place where Robert Montauk died a few years prior. I thought something might be up with that prison, so I did a quick search and apparently it’s a high-security prison for those who’ve committed crimes such as murder, rape, armed robbery, and kidnapping (Wikipedia). So there may not be any kind of supernatural connection there, but now I’m wondering if we’re going to get statements from or about anyone else in that prison.

One last observation. The sickly yellow color seen so many times in episode 18 made two appearances in this episode. Father Burroughs describes the parishioners at the “service” as having “fevered, jaundiced yellow” skin, and the stole that Mystery Altar Server gave Father Burroughs was “a pale, sickly yellow.” Oh, and that stole from Father Burroughs’ fever dream? An identical real one was delivered to the Oratory a few days prior to these events by Breekon and Hope Deliveries. And it must have been one of their last deliveries, since they liquidated some time in 2009, the year these events occurred.

Curiouser and curiouser...

This post is part of a series where I write my thoughts about each episode and obsessively connect dots in an effort to figure out The Big Mysteries of the series. All posts in this series are tagged “is this liveblogging?” Comments and messages are welcome but I have only listened to season 1, so I ask that you not spoil me for anything beyond episode 40. In the words of Jonny Sims…thanks for listening!

#personal #liveblogging #is this liveblogging?#The Magnus Archives #Bartleby the Scrivener #I'm tagging that in the hopes that some poor soul looking for help or commiseration on their high school English reading assignment #sees this post and is like 'what. pray tell. the fuck'

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