heirmyst - Tumblr blog

heirmyst · 9 months

Text

ABYSS - The Brewing Storm [short urban fantasy snippet]

A character introduction for a story co-created with @heirmyst about personified immortal Stars secretly living on Earth... and the human boy who stumbles into their world holding an otherworldly parasite! Previous posts: [SUN] [ARCTURUS] [VEGA] [POLARIS]

Jade’s eyes snapped open. He sat upright with a gasp of much needed air, a little too abruptly. His chair teetered dangerously backward. The hoodie obscuring his view didn’t let him regain his balance in time, but a helpful hand from the side steadied the chair for him.

Thanks, Harley, he wanted to say. His aching, scratchy throat only allowed an incoherent mumble between coughs to push through.

“Jade Farren, how nice of you to join us,” the teacher’s unamused voice piped up all the way from the front of the classroom. “Do me a favor and try to keep up for the next fifteen minutes? This shortened class is dense as is.”

Badly hidden laughter echoed throughout the room. His fists clenched. Maybe it was time he really gave them something to laugh about.

“Good morning,” Harley whispered, cutting the thought short. Through the black spots dancing in Jade's vision, he could barely see Harley's pink, bracelet-laden shirt sleeve. Harley was putting aside his own notebook and reaching forward to lift Jade's hood. “All good?”

“Mm,” Jade managed, making a feeble effort to swat the hand away. “When did you get here?”

“In the middle of class, while you were already out cold.”

“Cold is right,” Jade muttered. “The fucking AC’s killing me. Ask to turn it off.”

“It’s not the AC. You’ve just caught something.” They patted Jade’s back and returned to their work; color coded pens, ridiculously detailed notes and all, complete with a fantasy novel on the side for later.

Jade’s desk, meanwhile, had one open textbook, which he was fairly certain was for the wrong subject.

“It’s okay,” Harley said, smiling sympathetically. “I’ll get this down for you. Rest up before the assembly.”

Jade accepted that without question, dropping back onto the desk when sitting for too long made his head spin. He fixed his gaze to the front of the room, fighting to stay awake. Chemistry class may have been torture, but it still was a step above drowning in his sleep again.

The bell screeched right on schedule. In the time Jade took to close his singular wrong textbook, almost everyone else had already scrambled to their feet, put their things away and made a beeline toward the auditorium. Jade and Harley were, of course, the last people left.

Harley held a paper in his hands. His face scrunched up in concentration as he scanned it. “Do you think Kiren will mind if I mess up the song?”

“No, but he’ll mind if I happen to breathe in a way he doesn’t like,” Jade pulled his jacket strings tight and shoved his freezing hands into his pockets. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t just go home?” Harley asked. “I mean, you look… really bad.”

If the comment came from anyone else right then, it would practically be asking for a punch. But it was Harley, so Jade settled for shooting him a look. “You coming or what?”

Harley sighed and ushered him forward, unfazed. “Just know that if we end up late, it’s on you!”

When they burst into the auditorium and rushed backstage, Kiren was already rattling off orders at everyone present, clipboard in hand like some sort of miniature director. He counted off all the heads he could see, and then froze, running his hand through his dark curls when he saw people missing. Jade almost considered hiding just to see how far the panic could go, but Kiren missed nothing. Jade and Harley had entered the scene, and Kiren would apparently be damned if he allowed them a second to breathe before forcing them into position.

“Harley, oh my god, finally!” Kiren grabbed his hand and deposited him near the center of the group.

Harley followed along, glancing back to give Jade an apologetic wave.

“There! That’s perfect!” Kiren’s smile plummeted as he turned back to face the far less cooperative newcomer. “And you…”

“Me.” Jade shrugged. “Don’t worry, Mr. President. I’ll save you the trouble and—”

“Nice try, but you’re not off the hook,” he interrupted. “Please, Jade. Do me a favor and don’t ruin this one too.” He turned back to the rest of the classmates, relaxing the slightest bit. “Or… I guess, the curtain's almost up, so you can’t really turn this into a whole thing. Huh.”

That infuriating triumphant smile did it. Jade curled his fists at his sides. “What? Like I’m some… fucking time bomb you’ve successfully tamed?”

Kiren, ever the asshole, had the nerve to look surprised, as if he didn’t do this at every opportunity. How did anyone ever buy his act? “Jade, when did I ever say—”

“You never have to say it.” His heart pounded, reaching his ears in cold, heavy drumbeats. It intensified when he took in the onlookers’ presence, realizing no one even bothered keeping up the pretense of looking away anymore. He gestured toward them. “See? Everyone watching always makes up their own goddamn minds about me!”

“Okay, just… pipe down, will you?” Kiren said, his gaze frantically darting to the curtain. “People might hear!”

Right. The curtain would rise soon and this was an important assembly, whatever. Jade didn’t care anymore.

A storm broke within his heart, driving him forward as he lunged at Kiren. But Mr. President wasn’t as squeaky clean as he looked; he knew when to anticipate Jade’s punches by now, and swiftly stepped to the side when Jade had already set his target.

The next thing Jade knew, he was on the ground, his head driven straight through a used backdrop.

I’m not done, he told himself, flailing blind to pull himself free. His heartbeat only quickened. Stage lights blinked on and off overhead, but the darkness filling Jade’s vision stayed even when they clicked on for good. I’ll fucking show them…

Someone was screaming, closing in on him. Footsteps rushed to his side. Jade prepared another hit, before his ears cleared enough to let him place the voice.

“Jade!” Harley cast aside the destroyed backdrop and propped Jade up to a sitting position. “Hey. Come on, talk to me!”

“Leave him be, Harley,” Kiren said a short way off, voice laced with his usual unbearable saccharine. “Let him clean up his own messes for once.”

Something cold stung behind Jade’s failing eyes. “My head…”

“I know,” Harley said quickly, his panic crystal clear. “Don’t worry, okay? I’ll take care of it!”

Before Jade could ask how the hell they would do that, they were hauling him to his unsteady feet and rushing him out the stage door. Jade allowed himself to be led forward, not trusting whatever would happen if he resisted or let go.

The two of them made it outside. Under the natural light of windows, Harley stopped, studying Jade with keener focus. “How are you feeling?”

Jade blinked away the sunbeams that were burning white hot holes into his sight. “Fuck stars,” he said, because that was the only thing his mind would let him.

Judging by Harley’s baffled face, it was the wrong thing to say. “That’s not an answer, and it makes no sense!” He scanned the area, before settling on something. “In here!”

Harley pushed through a nearby bathroom door, setting Jade against a wall.

Only then did Jade feel the sticky wetness dripping from his head. Tentatively, he raised a hand to the spot.

“Don’t touch!” Harley warned, already fiddling with his emergency cleanup kit. “I told you, I'll take care of it!”

Oh. So that was what they meant earlier. Of course Harley had been talking about the wound and not… whatever else was happening there.

Jade’s heart finally slowed. The sensation of warmth returned as Harley wiped off the blood and pressed a bandage to the wound. As was routine by now, the two of them let the comfortable silence engulf the adrenaline.

Then, as always, Harley broke it. “Jade…” they began softly.

“I know!” Jade snapped back on instinct. Then, quieter, “I didn’t want... you shouldn’t have had to see that.”

Harley shook his head. “That’s not the point. You jumped in so fast, you hurt yourself and…” His frown carried quiet concern, instantly evaporating every ounce of residual anger in Jade. “It never even crossed your mind to stop, did it?”

Jade looked down at his hands. No. But I’m sick, his first thought protested. I haven’t gotten any sleep. Kiren was pissing me off. None of the excuses left his throat; Harley wouldn’t stand for them, and they barely scratched the surface anyway.

Harley grabbed his bag, rummaging inside for something. “I need to check in with the rest of the assembly. You should go home.”

“But…” Jade trailed off, realizing there was no reason to stay the rest of the shitty day. He’d only come because it didn’t count as skipping if he never showed up at all, and what had showing up gotten him?

“There we go.” Harley smiled, reading his mind in that unnerving best friend way they always did, knowing they'd won the argument. They pushed a folded raincoat into Jade’s hands. “Here. In case rain surprises you on the way back.”

“Uh…”

They rolled their eyes. “What, you’re too cool for pink now?”

“If I was, I wouldn’t be here with you,” Jade said. “Is it going to rain today?”

“Who knows at this point? It’s just best if you don’t take chances. It already gave you this weird cold.”

Jade didn’t argue.

On the bicycle ride back home, he lagged behind his usual pace and looked up at the sun practically out of habit. He’d done it ever since the “black sun” incident that freaked everyone’s shit and dominated the news five days ago. Well, the sun definitely wasn’t black now. Despite the clouds surrounding it, the beams shone on, hurting Jade’s eyes even more than usual. If he squinted, the dark rings surrounding it seemed to return, sending a shiver down his spine. It took a single blink to dispel the imagined return, and yet…

Fuck this shit, Jade decided, and continued on his way.

There was no point thinking about this bullshit on a sick brain that was probably one bad day away from imploding, unless he wanted to prove people like Kiren right.

#rb writing #en scribes #stars collapse #oc #GOD THIS SHIT SO INSANE #I LOVE THIS LIL FUCKER SO MUCH

11 notes · View notes

heirmyst · 9 months

Text

harbinger of chaos >:D

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk #lmk fanart #lego monkie kid fanart #lmk mk #lmk mk fanart #heirmyst art #HARBINGER OF CHAOSSSS #I LOVE THIS FUCKING SHOWWWW

2K notes · View notes

heirmyst · 9 months

Text

POLARIS - North Star [short fantasy snippet]

A character introduction for a story co-created with @heirmyst about personified immortal Stars secretly living on Earth. Previous posts: [SUN] [ARCTURUS] [VEGA]

Polaris strummed to drown out the island’s panic.

He strummed so intensely that a string snapped with a sickening metallic reverb, for the third time that week. Normally, this would have been when he stopped, took a moment to breathe as he replaced the string, and calmly put the guitar aside until he needed it again. But as it happened, he called into the empty, cavernous meeting room far ahead of time, and now was supposed to be when others began to come in. He had to be present at the head of the table to greet them. It would be painfully awkward to leave now.

Besides, the king was missing. All normality went out the window, did it not?

Before the horrific implications of the thought had time to sink in, Polaris assaulted his own ears with a haphazard, five-string melody, still preferable to the alternative. “Don’t think,” he warned himself. “Just keep going...”

Impossibly fast footsteps pierced through his sound bubble. Polaris placed them immediately from the speed, but was allowed no time to brace for the nonsense before the door flung open.

“Oh,” Arcturus said, perpetual frown deepening as he realized they were the only ones in the room. “It’s just you.”

“Unfortunately,” Polaris agreed. He shoved the guitar below the table so no inconvenient questions would come his way. “How have you been?”

He blinked. “You saw me literally just a few hours ago for a mission report.”

“Ah.” Had he? Polaris couldn’t remember. Time and conversations blended together into white noise lately. All he was sure about was that four days ago, the sun went dark. “Well. Clearly, your ‘report’ was only part useful information and mostly undue criticism, then.”

Arcturus stiffened, letting Polaris know the accusation was on point. Though frankly, it was not a hard guess. “It’s completely warranted, actually. How long do you plan to sit around and—”

“For skies’ sake, Arc, leave him alone.” Procyon entered, hand in hand with Sirius. “I swear, the world could end and you still wouldn't stop sniping pointlessly.”

Arcturus stepped back to let both of them through, still scowling at Polaris. “He started this one.”

“Sure he did,” Sirius said, though the strained smile beneath his mask did not reach his eyes. He nodded toward Polaris. “All set?”

By now, Polaris knew the question was a formality and the answer carried just as little significance, but he met it with an affirmative smile regardless, moving his guitar even further out of view.

Stars filed into the room, each with their own extended opinion piece on the situation. Polaris listened, because that was his job. He had to make a conscious effort to avoid mentally compiling the information into easy reports for the king.

Focus. He isn’t here right now, Polaris kept telling himself. You, however, are. Make it count.

Just as he was about to begin, one glaringly empty seat gave him pause. He addressed the gathered Stars, all occupied in talking amongst themselves. “Has anyone seen Ri—”

The skylight burst open, allowing in a freezing gust of wind. The building’s walls lost their glow for a moment, flickering dangerously. Stars closest to the center of the room ducked for cover, but they didn’t need to, because Rigel flew in. He promptly summoned a temporary net above everyone’s heads to stand by as he pulled the skylight securely shut. Furious raindrops, successfully stopped, continued to splash across the panes.

Relief filled the room, cut short by a thunderous peal from within. Everyone’s heads turned in Polaris’ direction.

“Hey!” Arcturus grabbed Polaris’ hand before it drifted below to reach for the guitar, fixing him with an impatient glare. “Get it together. Start the goddamn meeting.”

Polaris straightened up, face warm with embarrassment as he collected himself. The unintentional booming sound he had let loose subsided. “Thank you all for coming,” he said, eager to move past the moment of weakness. “Rigel, I believe we should begin with you.”

Rigel, still recovering and taking his seat, snapped to attention. He cursed under his breath, not quietly enough to slip by Polaris. Though, to be fair, not many things could evade his hearing unless he wanted them to. Sirius gave Rigel an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder.

“Uh. I didn’t find Bett.” Rigel pointed at the mess above the skylight. “Obviously. Cyon tracked the explosions well, but every time I got to a place… Bett was already somewhere else.”

“There’s no way for me to account for the storms either,” Procyon added.

Polaris nodded. “Stars keep falling to this… Abyss sickness. The few we were able to catch are contained in the cell block for everyone’s safety. More powerful ones evade us, like Betelgeuse.”

Methuselah cleared her throat from the far end of the table. “Forgetting to mention someone, are we, North Star?”

Polaris sighed. “It’s hardly a matter anyone can forget,” he said carefully. “Our searches for the king have come up empty. We have at least one scouting group out for him at all hours, and yet…”

“This is a problem,” Arcturus said, as if anyone needed to be told. “And clearly, sitting around isn’t an option. If we don’t take this on now—”

“We don’t know what we’re up against!” Polaris retaliated. “The only person on this island who would is…” He trailed off. There was no need to finish.

Rigel stared at him. “Are you saying we should give up? Be okay with losing our people?”

“That isn’t what I—” he began, but it was no use.

“Whether or not we want it, they are gone,” Methuselah said. “Lost causes, if the Abyss has tainted them so.”

And that was it. He’d lost them. The room devolved into panic and heated argument. Rigel’s panic, Procyon’s emergency data, Methuselah’s call to tradition, Arcturus’ need for immediate action, everyone’s terror about being the next to fall… all of it collided in a cacophony, transcending the peace and diplomacy that had been the lynchpin keeping together Polaris’ stint as North Star. Worse, he didn’t have the king to back him up.

Polaris heard every shouted point in exhaustive detail and finally had enough. He brought a fist down hard on the table, the boom shocking everyone into silence. “Stop,” Polaris said, “acting like he’s gone!”

When he looked up, every Star’s eyes were wide, trained on him. Usually, that amount of attention would be accompanied by smiles, because it would be directed toward a song Polaris played, or a celebratory announcement of the king’s entrance.

Now, all he saw in those faces was desperation laid bare.

“The darkness that overtook the sun lasted one hour,” he went on, speaking from the heart. “Because he is still out there. The sun goes on rising, clouded as it might be, because he will return to us! This is a difficult time, but if you’ll all do everyone a favor and have the slightest modicum of faith in the eternal pillar of Stardom… well. That will do us a far greater service than endless, futile dispute in the eye of a storm, don’t you agree?”

Polaris sat back down, tentatively studying the reactions. Rigel and some others, he’d successfully calmed, while the rest at least got something to chew on. Even Arcturus eyed him with some small amount of surprise.

Sirius slowly raised a hand.

“Please,” Polaris said, motioning for him to go on. It was only right for the highest ranked Star present to speak. “The sky is yours.”

“Your words are all true,” he said. “But still, as it stands now… tomorrow marks our fifth day with no sign of the king in sight.”

Polaris’ prepared reassurance died on his tongue at the strange emphasis Sirius placed on the time. He wasn’t the only one who noticed, either. Rigel’s eyes regained the light they’d lost in the past days. Arcturus sank deeper into his seat with a quiet “Shit…”, while Methuselah hardened her gaze, as if warning everyone present to choose their words wisely.

“Polaris,” Sirius continued. “As North Star, you’ve sworn to be the voice of the Stars and Sol’s trusted second. His crown is still formally in your keeping, right?”

He nodded, confused about why he was being asked. Of course he still had it; Sol had entrusted it to him during the Equinox and tasked him with renewing its light. More whispers drifted across the room, but instead of panic, they carried… hope.

Why did that scare Polaris even more?

“Then it’s settled,” Sirius said, and looked at Polaris as if to apologize in advance for what he was about to say. “If Sol’s not back by tomorrow… you take the throne until he is.”

Arcturus let out a disbelieving laugh. “Acting king Polaris,” he said, with a note of abject horror that matched Polaris’ own. “We’re doomed.��

When overwhelmed voices began to crowd the room once more, Polaris could only meet them with stunned, paralyzed silence.

#rb writing #en scribes #stars collapse #oc #I LOVE POLARIS SO MUCH #HE MEANS THE WORLD TO ME

5 notes · View notes

heirmyst · 9 months

Text

emo gay monkey

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk #lmk fanart #lego monkie kid fanart #lmk macaque #heirmyst art #i love rendering (crying in pain)

964 notes · View notes

heirmyst · 9 months

Text

VEGA - Falling Eagle [short fantasy snippet]

A character introduction for a story co-created with @heirmyst about personified immortal Stars secretly living on Earth. Previous posts: [SUN] [ARCTURUS]

V could tell exactly when the rain began to fall, because suddenly, everything hurt like hell.

Pulling their vest tighter over their own head, they cast envious glares at the other people walking around the park; surprised evening joggers speeding up as they scrambled toward shelter, relaxed couples with their well prepared umbrellas, kids jumping in puddles without a care, and…

The resentment faded as quickly as it surfaced and V sat back with a pang of guilt. Wishing their own eternal Star woes on innocent humans should have been a worn out habit by now.

They returned their gaze to the scene with fresh eyes, this time with a smile. No matter what madness plagued the skies, humans would always find some way to stubbornly return to their day.

As if to punish V for the scrap of happiness, the lamp posts flickered. Dark clouds invaded every free inch of the sky, escalating the drizzle to a proper storm.

V scrambled to stand with a cry of surprise, keeping up the vest over her head even when it became useless. She searched their vicinity for cover, summoning forth the barest hint of a forcefield that would keep her safe in the meantime and still be out of onlookers’ sights.

The rain cut through it like it was nothing.

They willed themself to not scream as the frigid pinpricks splashed mercilessly across their face. “Giving me no choice, are you?”

As they ran to take shelter beneath a closed ice cream stand, they kept thinking, Everything about this is wrong. Rain wasn’t supposed to sting this much. Why was it raining so much this close to summer anyway? Finally safe and catching their breath, they took a peak at their poor old vest, soaked beyond repair and… ever so slightly stained with an inky purple.

The same color as whatever attacked the sun a few days ago.

“Shit,” they said under their breath. “That’s… probably not normal.”

The train of thought ended there. V couldn’t think, after this long spent outside in night rain. They needed to go home. Everything would start making sense once they were back home.

If they could get there before the storm ended them.

They steeled themself, watching the scene before them past the raindrops. People left the park in increments, knowing the weather was only going to get worse. Everyone set off toward home with such remarkable calm; V, the Star with the eternal flames at his disposal shouldn’t have blinked twice.

And yet… one glance toward the screaming, circling murk in the sky froze him in place, making him feel unfamiliarly, painfully small, because away from the shiny towering pillars of Isle Andromeda, that’s what they were. Did they really want to step out of this makeshift shell and face… whatever unforgivingly cold fury it would spear them with?

Unless they didn’t have to.

V let the frankly insane idea settle and flashed a smile at the sky. “One way or another, I’m going home,” they said to themself, half convinced the storm would hear. “But first… this one’s for Sol.”

They emerged from beneath the stand and tossed a single burst of flame into the clouds. It barely made a dent in the black clouds, but V didn’t care; it satisfied them either way.

Wasting no time, they were a blue lightning bolt, off like a shot through the frantic, wide awake streets of Moldavite Bay.

I need to go home, they repeated to themself until it blocked out the deluge and the numbing pain. They knew it would be worse if they stopped. I need warmth. I need light. I—

A crash. Metallic weight pushed into her and screeched to a halt with a piercing horn, catching her at just the right moment to knock them off course. Too soon, V was on the ground, nestled within the glare of car headlights… back to appearing inoffensively human. They didn’t have to fake the gasps of pain; the freezing rain made that perfectly believable.

He lifted his head from the concrete and stared skyward, wishing for an early dawn to end the misery. “Why now?”

“I’m so sorry!” A young woman had rushed to their side, jolting their thoughts back to Earth. “I just got off duty and… I don’t know, I didn’t see you at all! Are you okay?”

V tried for a smile as she pulled them to their feet. They noted the woman’s white coat. A lit up sign reading Bukhari Bay Hospital flickered under the storm. As if that wasn’t enough, people nearby had stopped to stare. Just their luck. Couldn’t the universe give them a second to breathe lately?

They took too long to answer.

“It’s alright! Don’t panic!” the doctor instructed, clearly not encouraged by the lack of response. She promptly led them inside the hospital building.

“Wait!” they said quickly, regaining their senses as the dry roof above let them think again. Realizing how bad this looked, they didn’t dare to make any sudden moves to make it worse. They squinted at her name tag. “...Dr. Bukhari. It’s good! I’m all in one piece.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Should I be worried about how firmly you insist on that?”

“Please,” V said with a laugh. It wasn’t as if a measly moving car could deal them even a scratch. “I think I’d be able to tell if I broke anything.”

She scanned them with a keen eye, leaving no stone unturned as she checked them for damage. V stood up straight and held their breath, hoping they hadn’t left any gaping holes in their body. V loved humans and their relentless instinct to take an interest in every passerby, but not when the scrutiny was directed toward them.

“I can’t see anything too severe,” she conceded, disengaging and moving toward the reception. “Still. I feel awful. What’s your name again?”

“Victorin Oltak,” they answered, the nonsense cover name they picked for formal documents just because it shortened to V. Olt; a pun in plain sight that still carried a nice ring to it. Perfection.

Dr. Bukhari nodded toward the receptionist, who pulled out their file. V knew it was only more forged bullshit courtesy of the people on Isle Andromeda, meant to make their existence look less suspicious. She scanned their file quickly. “You have a brother?”

“Oh, him. Yeah, he’s great,” they said. The ‘brother’ in question, listed in their emergency contacts, was just Arc, a convenient person to pop into the city and cover their tracks in case anything happened. Despite his complaining, there was no one else V could think of to fill that role.

If the doctor called now, V didn’t know if Arc would be free to answer, but thankfully, she left it at that and put it aside. “Noted for next time. You’re sure you don’t need anything else?”

“I need to go home,” they said, and winked at the doctor. “I’ll try not to be hit by any cars on the way back.”

She nodded. “It’s honestly miraculous that you’re perfectly fine, but I won’t complain. Take care!”

The rest of the way, V had the dreaded task of walking home, because the lightning trick had proven too much of a gamble. Luckily, the raging downpour had subsided enough that the numbness was only a minor inconvenience, kept away by the subtle barrier of flame they were able to summon. It did an okay job of warding off the inexplicable pain until finally, finally, they reached home.

Smack in the middle of the city, the unremarkable little ground floor apartment greeted them. No Star of sound mind would call it a home, but fortunately enough, V had long since given up the pretense that he was a Star of sound mind.

They switched the lights on, taking in the much needed sustenance as they sank into their living room couch.

Her gaze shifted to the open window. Instantly, the sight of the settling storm filled them with such visceral revulsion; they wanted it far, far away from this cozy space they had carved out for themself. But they couldn’t find it in them to pull the blinds closed.

They needed to watch the sunrise first.

Only a few days ago, the sun had been overtaken with dark tendrils, and V did not have any high hopes for what that meant for Sol. Even when it subsided, even when the sun rose the next day and the day after… the clouds remained, refusing to let it shine through the way it should have this time of year. It was easy to ignore most of the time, but now… there was no way to deny that V missed their best friend far too much.

Hours ticked by. The stormy, relentless night pushed on.

V took a page out of the humans’ book and ignored the disaster to go about their day, in silent wait for an unobstructed sun to tell them everything would be okay.

#rb writing #en scribes #stars collapse #oc #god this shit so cool #read before my bestie murders me #you dont understand how insane i am over their writing #hehehehehehe

7 notes · View notes

heirmyst · 9 months

Text

ARCTURUS - Guardian [short fantasy snippet]

A character introduction for a story co-created with @heirmyst about personified immortal Stars secretly living on Earth. Previous post: [SUN]

In a crisis, the bare minimum Arc wanted was company that was well-equipped to handle it without pointless panic.

His communicator buzzed, instantly letting him know even that was too much to ask from certain people. “Have you found the king yet?” Polaris yelled from the other side, his voice stopping just short of a complete meltdown.

Arc let his gaze drift to the sun, surrounded by swirling tendrils of dark purple mist, a blot of unnatural murk marring the afternoon sky. He turned to the mission group accompanying him. Cyon kept herself firmly occupied, surveying the city streets with canine precision for any possible leads. The panicked, clueless humans filing into the area obstructed every path, but that didn’t seem to stop her. Bett and Rigel still hadn’t torn their eyes away from the sky.

“You want to break the news to our brilliant North Star, or should I?” Arc asked pointedly.

Bett retrieved her senses much quicker than her brother. “Don’t be a prick,” she chided Arc, snatching his communicator. “Polaris… have you looked outside?”

“No, Betelgeuse, I have not!” came the reply, clipped with static. “As I’m sure you can imagine, overseeing your search for our missing king has been taking up a considerable amount of my focus!”

Arc sighed. “With all due respect, which is none,” he said, loud enough to reach the device. “This is kind of out of our hands now. You’d know this if—”

“Heads up, all of you,” Cyon commanded.

Arc’s hand instinctively reached for the arsenal of projectiles attached to his belt. Bett and Rigel tensed up too, latent flames glowing at their ready fists.

Bett switched the communicator off and tossed it back to Arc. “What are we looking at?”

“A lead on Sol?” Rigel asked hopefully.

“I wish,” Cyon said, scanning every corner of the crowded block. “Temperature’s dropping fast. You know what that means.”

Oh no. Even if they didn’t, there was no question she pointed up, toward a silhouette stalking up the empty roofs. Now that they knew what to look for, even the unoccupied street corners were plagued with the moving shadow figures. Thinking fast, Arc appraised the human crowd, wondering if a cloaking team would be needed for this one. But the commotion within their ranks made him confident that a building could explode, and they’d still be predicting doomsday amongst each other and taking pictures of the sun. In the corner the Stars had carved out to spy, they were in the clear… assuming the lurkers didn’t take them out.

“We need to nip this in the bud,” Arc said. “Now.”

“It’s just Hauntings,” Bett said, far too flippantly. “Barely anything. We can take those abyssal pests easily!”

Before Arc could warn her against getting too optimistic, the sky above—only above the Stars—darkened. He froze. The unsettling ink purple color, the way the fog circled with clear purpose… those weren’t clouds. They were remnants of the Abyss; a long forgotten threat returning to haunt the Stars. A lean Haunting leaped from a building and dove headfirst into the mist.

“Hm.” Bett spread her wings, aiming a flaming fist toward the sky. She grinned, winking at Rigel. “Dare me to hit it from down here?”

“What? No! Your aim will be way off!” Rigel said. “My aim, meanwhile…”

This is ridiculous. Arc shoved them both aside and launched a single projectile coin, giving it a head start with enough heat to stream like a bullet into the mass of offending tendrils. They waited. Mere moments later, the Haunting dropped to the ground with a crack, a few feet away. A coin-sized hole branded through their chest.

Arc tossed a coin triumphantly in the air and caught it between his fingers, looking back at the others with a smile. “That is how you do it.”

Rigel and Cyon rolled their eyes. Bett was muttering something that contained “Show off,” under her breath, as if she was one to talk.

The Haunting struggled upright, cutting the muted celebration short. Their overgrown shrimp-like body bent toward the Stars in anticipation, a taut arrow ready to fly. Arc didn’t worry, because Bett positioned herself in front, gearing up with an explosion to throw the Haunting back. She tossed. The Haunting dodged, effortlessly swerving to one side, but she was ready with another.

All the while, the circling mist of Abyss in the sky crept ever closer below.

Only when it was low enough for them to feel the cold did the realization dawn on the Stars; they were aiming for the wrong target.

The crew stopped holding back their flames. Rigel thrust both hands up. Instantly, a net imbued with white hot flame appeared, holding back the descent for the time being. Cyon hurtled beams toward the Haunting, while Bett cast desperate explosions to aid her brother in keeping the Abyss at bay.

Arc, with no fire to speak of, could only stand behind them, makeshift bullets hanging uselessly at his waist.

The other three turned to him with a familiar, knowing look that made his stomach drop. Shit, no, he thought in vain. Don’t say it…

“Run,” Bett told him anyway. “This one’s beyond you.”

By now, Arc knew the song and dance too well to argue like he so badly wanted to. Everything he said would fall on deaf ears. Possessing no fire meant a roadblock to facing threats that other Stars could only survive with the help of defensive fire, and there was no changing that.

So, he did it. He turned on his heel and ran for his life.

Navigating the pathways of the city was second nature. He pushed past the panicked human crowds and ducked into an empty street. Gathering heat and speeding up to an unmatchable pace with every step away from the commotion, he let the anger fuel him forward. At himself for needing the coward’s way out, at his crew for making him take it. At…

A trashcan toppled over behind him. Without stopping, Arc glanced back to check who the far less graceful runner was, though he didn’t need to. The Haunting had left the crew behind with the Abyss… just because they wanted to chase him.

Arc allowed himself some pride. Still got it. The only surefire way to keep dignity intact even while taking the coward’s way out? Piss enemies off so hard that they’ll let themselves be drawn away by the apparent coward.

Now, the others had one less thing to fight, and the terrain was his. He screeched to a halt, facing the Haunting with wide open arms. “Come and get it!”

Clicking their pincers once, the Haunting lunged forward like an arrow set free. Right then, Arc spread his wings and shot into the air, raining his entire arsenal of coins in a furious barrage on their disoriented form. The smokescreen of the Abyss was no help to them here.

There was no time to waste. While the Haunting lay prone, Arc seized the opportunity to take to a rooftop where the crew could find him easily after they were through.

His plans of scanning the city below for any sign of them went out the window when he stole one unobstructed glimpse at the tainted sun.

Skies above, Sol… The worry kept his eyes fixed on the horrific sight. Where did you go?

With impeccable timing, the communicator in his pocket buzzed. Arc answered it and immediately yelled, “If you haven’t looked outside by now, I really don’t think we’re going to get anywhere!”

“Arcturus…” Polaris began, with such an unmistakable note of dread in his voice that it was safe to assume he had seen the state of the sun. “What will happen now?”

He slumped against a wall, sapped of any energy to bite back. “For once,” he said quietly, “your guess is as good as mine.”

“It’s not just the sun,” Polaris blurted out. “I… visited the observatory. The astronomers say other stars in the sky are blacking out as well.”

“What in the world does that—” Footsteps joined him on the roof. The crew was here. “Hang on.”

“Wait! The others, they—”

“I said hang on!”

Cyon had an arm around Rigel, who was breathing hard and leaning on her for support. Both of them stared straight ahead. Their hair stood on end, flawless mission outfits torn in far too many places.

“What happened?” Arc asked. “Where’s Bett?”

Rigel refused to meet his eyes.

Cyon straightened up. “She… the Abyss, it… changed her and—'”

“Tell me!” Polaris called out. “Is Betelgeuse with you?”

“No,” Arc said, all the terrible pieces sliding into place as everyone began speaking at once. Silently, he turned back in the direction of the sun. The Abyss had taken Bett, tainted her beyond recognition. Polaris had already known because her star had shown it… just as Sol’s had.

The Stars were all in grave danger, and Arc saw no speedy exit out of this one.

#rb writing #en scribes #stars collapse #oc #MORE OF MY BESTIE'S WRITING #WOOOOOOO #READ READ READ #god i love arcturus cool charac wow

4 notes · View notes