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lesserfandomappreciation · 4 years

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This is probably a tall order, but I was wondering if you could do some general personality headcanons for the Deadly Six from Sonic Lost World? It hurts my heart that the characters weren't more popular, but I can understand why at the same time since they're not that fleshed out. I mean, there's hints of stuff here and there, it's just not much. But the zeti have potential, damn it! Let me know if you want some specifics on things, of if you wanna do this in pieces. Thanks for your time~

WORLD BUILDING! World building and character building is my ham so I’m thrilled to do this! This actually become significantly longer than intended.

So I have never played this game, so I’m basing this exclusively off a few cutscenes I managed to find and general initial impressions. Let me know if you want something more in-depth!

Deadly Six reimagined (Sonic Lost World)

General

The Zeti race as a whole is referred to as “demons” with the Deadly 6 appearing to be the deadliest of their species. Heavily implied in the game is the fact that the Zeti are a lethal, violent race taking pride in practiced malevolence.

An entire race being evil or amoral is not only an outdated trope, but one with really icky origins so knackers to that I’m throwing in some of my own world building.

Based on how the Deadly 6 are all either disciples of or literally Master Zik, the reimagined!Zeti race is less malevolent so much as focused on attainment of glory and recognition. Every person is expected to discipline themselves into a strong, powerful being capable of great achievements. Competition is rampant with rivalry being imposed from a young age.

Despite rivalry, those who study under a common Master consider themselves as a structured force or clan representing their Master and his/her/their ideology. Master Zik in particular holds the ideology of complete domination of foes and enforcing the strength that already exists. Those who come across his clan often get the impression the Zeti exist to conquer when really, it is only in response to what is done to them to remind people not to mess with them.

Zeti are driven by the goals of communal recognition; challenges make individuals stronger, thus reinforcing the people as a whole. Spar-matches and challenges are inherent in the society. Clans and individuals alike compete to bring glory.

But. There is an unspoken rule amongst the Zeti that keeps things from ever turning to a full blood bath. Zeti do not turn against their own Clan or family (both if they are one in the same as is the case with many). The idea of any Zeti attacking a sibling in learning or a relative is unheard of - any who did that are considered dishonorable and risk expulsion as a whole from society.

Master Zik

Utter the name “Zik” in any Zeti plaza. Previous foes will wilt in cowardice. Pride from their allies puffs up further. The average Zeti, neither friend nor foe, will still be able to share a tale or two of one of the greatest warriors to have ever trained.

In a society focused on discipline and achieving greatness, Zik went above expectations. Bars he set have but rarely been neared. Until Zavok, most were largely considered impossible to meet.

Zik is a unique Zeti. Warriors do set Clans up to welcome new students and carry on their name, but Zik is not an easy master. His ideology of domination is standard but his ideas of strength are incredibly unique in a world where weakness is to be quelled and trained away. Zik believes that the inherent strength within an individual should be harnessed instead of ignored. Any skill can be made combative if one knows how to master it completely.

In all his years Zik took on only a handful of students, with only 5 ever making it into his inner circle and being official members of his Clan. He is not an easy teacher.

Obstacles are nothing to this little Zeti. He has faced a lifetime of challenges due to his small stature and his unique powers. Strategy, cunning and an overwhelming drive to be strong allowed him to rise above the ranks. Any challenge he faces he knows has a solution - it is a difficult task to actually perturb him to the point of nerves.

It’s specifically because of his lifetime of difficulties that he taught all his students to eradicate their foes so thoroughly. Too many times his mercy let to more foes than needed. Crush a foe and all they hold dear, and no one will ever come to avenge their broken ashes.

Zik views himself as a father figure turned advisor to the group. In his heart of hearts, they are his pride and joy. He could not leave them. Bedridden and frail he’s still drag his way alongside them to keep these youngsters of his on the right path.

Zomom (First Disciple)

Zomom is the eldest of Master Zik’s student, being the first welcomed into Zik’s inner circle. This is a matter of great pride for him and makes him very protective of the others as a result. Zavok holds the title of leader but it is no secret that the eldest of the students holds his fellow disciples close to his heart much how an older brother might view his siblings.

Zomom knows a lot about the other members of the team. They feel comfortable around him one-on-one, often using him as a quiet listener to talk through their thoughts.

Zomom is a strange Zeti. By height and strength he should have been a popular choice amongst his people. Yet his lack of common sense and social norms made it difficult to fit into society’s definition of a good warrior. The perceived lack of discipline in terms of food also earned him backlash from others. Emotional manipulation is an effective way of ensuring they didn’t have to fight the giant warrior physically.

It was his sincerity, his genuine sense of being and wanting to learn, that made Master Zik bring him in as a student, then disciple. Zomom is genuine, true person who could not tell a life to save his life but still tries so hard to survive in a world where lying is viewed as not just acceptable but required in some social circles. Zik saw his food abilities and build, before tailoring his training to include more food intake and improve speed.

Most affable of the Deadly 6, Zomom may be the butt of the joke at some times but they would all be furious should any harm befall him. Zomom’s willingness to shrug off insults does not sit well with any of them and they will gladly take the place of his vengeful fury to ensure it does not happen again.

Seeing one or two of the Deadly 6 relaxing with Zomom when they are burned out or want to slow down is common.

Zazz (The Second Disciple)

This is a case of a master forcibly adopting a feral child than a student asking a master to teach them. Zomom who was there the day Zazz was brought in to be taught is the only one besides Zik who knows why the Master took such a shining to Zazz, though the most he ever says on the matter is “It was like looking at a silly mirror.”

Zazz is almost the perfect Zeti. Intensely strong, with an immense battle-hunger. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more terrifying opponent. The issue lies with that same battle hunger that would make them popular in other circumstances. The whole point of the Zeti’s competitiveness is that it is, somehow, disciplined and the result of self-control/personal growth. Zazz’s entire motivation can be summed up as “because I want to.”

Zazz is very much a wild child turned wild adult with a lot of energy to burn. The ideas of the Zeti bore them a lot - why should they spend time proving himself when everyone’s so much weaker than them? They’d rather be seeking out good opponents or filling theirs time doing things that feed his ever-flickering attention.

Despite their very intense personality, Zazz is fiercely protective of the clan. They’re the only ones to really indulge Zazz’s wide range of interests and teach them a few of their own. One day they may be with Zeena learning new techniques to make their appearance fiercer, the next they’re in the shadows with Zor learning a shadow technique that will absolutely scare the shit out of Master Zik, this time for sure!

Picks up skills like a dog gets fleas. They’re not a master at any of them but the way they’re able to combine them makes them a fearsome opponent, a lethal prankster and find something to connect over with anyone.

Zeena (The Third Disciple)

Female-identifying Zeti are held to the same standard as any other Zeti so her presence in the Clan isn’t entirely unexpected. However, many Zeti tend to prefer Clans of their own gender out of comfort or outright preference.

Youngster Zeena, known for her cold intensity, had her pick of the litter in terms of Masters - her tethering abilities made her a powerful long-distance opponent, and her technology skills make her a verifiable weapon powerhouse. Her choice to go for Master Zik was a surprise, but Zik accepted her.

In truth, she went for Master Zik because she didn’t want to just be a long-distance specialist. She wanted a Master who could hone her abilities to be used in more creative ways. Zomom and Zazz’s successes got her attention.

With Zik she learned to use her tethering abilities to completely control the field. Able to move quickly, redirect her opponents and load the battle field with her varied arsenal, facing off against Zeena is incredibly difficult.

Always looking to perfect her abilities as the “Perfect Zeti Fighter” Zeena spends a lot of time perfecting her body to make it superior to other Zeti. Outside of that in her lab she’s developing new weapons with distinct abilities to use in combat. Bouncy bombs, whips with unique charges - she’s offered to create some for the rest of the team, but they’ve only accepted limited help.

Zeena views herself as the pinnacle of Zeti power, with the ability to do more. She holds the rest of the Deadly 6 to the same standard and is not above offering weapons advice or ways to improve their appearance to terrify their enemies into a stupor.

Zor (The Fourth Disciple)

Zor was not expected to succeed. There are many ways to be considered a successful Zeti - strength, speed, smarts. Lurking in the shadows is not traditionally viewed as particularly impressive. Zor’s inclination to the shadows made him unpopular in the society.

In turn, this made Zor dislike society as a whole and develop a severe nihilistic attitude that continues to plague him to this day. Why should he trust a system that failed him so badly anyway? It is ultimately pointless.

Zor didn’t so much as join the Clan as he was chased into the clan. Lurking in his shadows he didn’t know of the tall Zeti whose attention has zeroed in on the very interestingly-moving shadow until Zazz had already begun to give chase. Master Zik hadn’t a clue what to make of the huffy Zeti his Second Disciple had under his arm, but if Zazz saw talent in this one, it was worth exploring.

Zor’s abilities as a spymaster make him a vital part of the group. His abilities contribute to that but it is his powers of observation and deduction that really lend themselves to this role. Having been a spectator to his society for most of his life, he has developed powerful strategies to collect information at a mass scale - needless to say, trying to keep a secret from him is difficult.

The main introvert of the group, Zor struggles to be with them all at once. While he likes each one of them just fine (good luck getting him to say that) their overall energy can be overwhelming. He prefers to be with one-three people at a time to preserve his social energy.

Zavok (The Final Disciple)

Societies have ideal standards people strive towards. Often impossible to achieve, they’re viewed more as a lifetime goal than a realistic achievement. Those who do manage to hit it are considered to be above others as they command respect. Amongst the Zeti, that impossible person is Zavok.

Zavok himself comes from an impressive lineage - all the Zeti before him have been great warriors, commanders, people filling leadership roles. Each generation of greatness placed more expectations upon the next and as an only child, Zavok had no one to share these burdens with. He exceled at them, but it was not the glory he sought. He wanted to great his own reputation free of his past.

The announcement of Zavok’s self-imposed expulsion from his lineage shook Zeti society to its core. His subsequent request to become Zik’s pupil further shook everyone, but Master Zik did have a penchant for collecting odd students. What was one more lost warrior seeking purpose?

Zavok evolved far beyond anyone could have guessed under Master Zik’s tutelage. Part of this was due to his own upbringing, but it truly was Zavok’s own determination and fast mind that let him adapt to Zik’s unusual forms of training. He wanted to become indomitable and he would do whatever it took to do so....

...But, he wasn’t quite perfect. Zavok is a brilliant minded individual, but upon reaching the inner circle, he realized that he was incredibly unused to working in a group. It took a great deal of time, self-reflection and humbling for him to become the leader he is to do, due in part to his own hang-ups he thought he had left behind with his family.

With time, he grows to respect each team member and view them as close family. Upon Zik’s retirement and Zavok’s ascension to the head of the Clan, Zavok was the undisputed respected and admired leader of the Clan, holding each of them in high regard and daring anyone to try and take what they had built.

#sonic #sonic lost worlds #zeti #worldbuilding #deadly six #i know nothing about these characters #I just watched a few cutscenes and ran with it #in the future #please limit to 5 characters #my imagination ran wild this time but it took so much longer than I though #imagine #sonic imagine

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wicked-game-black-butler · 3 years

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Fic questions, 2 for wicked game

Question from this post

What’s your favorite part of this fic?

Oh my! I don’t think you realize how difficult of a question this is, lol. I have so many favorite parts, so if you’ll allow me, there are a few that I’d like to mention.

1. I always love it when Sarah tells Sebastian off. Two of my favorites are:

I had been a fool to push him this far.

"Now you will listen and you will listen well," he began, his voice a low, menacing rumble as he brought his face close enough to mine that the warm waves of his breath washed over my face as he continued, "If I have not made it clear in the past, you owe me a great debt for where you are right now. If it were not for me, you would still be in a wheelchair, or worse, murdered by those men who I have protected you from. My master would not have offered you a position as a maid had I not suggested it. You would not be gaining such attention by the Queen if I had not agreed to train you. So, yes, I will train you as long and hard as I feel is necessary, because you owe it to me," he paused, his eyes searching mine.

While he had been speaking, tears had begun to unwillingly spill from my eyes in response to the painful hold he had on my jaw and how cutting his words were, wetting his pristinely white gloves. I had come to realize the night of the ball just how possessive Sebastian had felt towards me, but I had not seen any indication that he felt it to this degree until now. So was that it…he felt he could do these things…he could demand my upmost obedience, touch me and play with my heart as he pleased, even push me to the brink of breaking me physically because he felt he owned me? My heart clenched as the piercing dagger of the truth thrust deep inside. The man who stood before me, the one who I had come to admire, who I considered a dear friend, who had, in fact, done so much for me to the point that I had started to believe he loved me and that I had begun to love in return, was no better a man than the likes of Mr. Woodley. If anything, he was worse.

He gave my cheeks a slight squeeze, snapping my attention back to the present before he continued, "It is infuriating enough that I am saddled with an insolent cur as a master and servants who could not survive if I did not constantly fix their idiotic mistakes, do not give me reason to add you to my list of grievances. However, if you cannot accept my standards, then leave and do not make me waste any more of my time."

As the last venomous word passed his lips, the bridle on my anger snapped. Without thinking, I jerked my knee up to strike his groin, just as he had taught me, causing him to crumble to the ground.

"Accept your standards?!" I spat, my fists clenching with rage as I glowered down at his wheezing form, "How could I accept such absurd standards?" I paused briefly, crouching next to him as I took a fistful of his hair in my hand, pulling back so that he was forced to look at me, knowing I would not have much more time before he recovered from my blow, "If I have not made it clear in the past, you, nor any other man for that matter, owns me. I am Sarah Anne Wakefield and I am a woman of my own possession and I will not be guilted or bribed into being anything other than what I am, a free woman. Now if you cannot accept that, sir, then you are no better than men like my father or the Mr. Woodley who you have come to despise so much."

Chapter 17- Valentine’s Day Misfortune

And

“How long was I out?”

While I waited for his answer, I traced a hand along my skull to search for the source of the incessant pulsation. A whimper sounded from my throat when my fingers brushed against something tender, sticky, and warm.

“Not long. But long enough for me to kill the rest of the crew.” Sebastian answered, gently pulling my hand away.

His eyes widened, and I turned, ignoring the screaming objection of my head, to see what was causing his alarm- the dripping crimson that coated my fingers and stained the cuff of my shirt.

“This has gone on long enough. We are returning to the townhouse.”

“No!” I objected, jerking my arm from his grasp when he made to scoop me up in his arms.

My eyes pricked with tears, Sebastian’s fingers painfully gripping my chin.

His hot, angry breath fanned against my cheeks as he seethed, “That was not a matter of debate. The mission was successful. So we’re returning to the townhouse because your wounds need proper attention. We can interrogate Edward and Lord Willoughby tomorrow.”

“No!” I insisted, despite his answering, exasperated growl, “We have to be the first ones to talk to them. We can’t risk the Infinitas silencing them before we can find out more about Father.”

Fire smoldered in his eyes, nostrils flaring, but I refused to back down. My own determined, unflinching gaze answered his instead.

“Very well.” he spat, “If you insist.”

Without warning, he tugged me forward to press me against his torso. I shoved my hands against his chest and screamed in objection, but he did not budge.

Something warm and wet swiped over the wound on the back of my head once, then twice. My cries ceased and I blinked, mind suddenly clearer as the fog lifted, the throbbing of my wound inexplicably gone as well.

It was only then that Sebastian released his hold on me, allowing me to rest against the mast and steady myself.

“Better?” he asked, cocking his brow mockingly before extending an assisting hand toward me.

I scowled at the tattered, blood-stained glove. There was no chance I would reveal that, while my head was in a far better state, the rest of my body still felt as if I had been run over by a coach. Instead, I rose to my feet- ignoring the pain that shot up my thigh- brushing against his outstretched hand as I did so.

Sebastian’s gaze narrowed while he watched me dust off my pants and give my waistcoat a swift tug.

“In polite society, such assistance is typically answered with some form of gratitude.”

I grimaced, a jolt of pain shooting up my arm as the palm of my hand smacked into Sebastian’s cheek. It was well worth it, though.

His head snapped back, but before he shot off a reply, I grabbed his tie and tugged it to bring our gazes to the same level, my tone even, but no less threatening, “If you touch me like that again without my consent, I’ll break that perfect nose of yours. Got it?”

Chapter 26- The Sea Sprite

2. The Bread Making Scene

Silence fell between us, charged and tense, as we fell into a natural rhythm. Press and pull. Back and forth. My mind clouded over as the rich cinnamon of Sebastian’s scent wafted around me, overpowering the tang of yeast, and I slowly lost awareness of all else save our undulating movements and the hunger it awakened within me. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, the thrill of treading into the unknown silencing any warning from my more rational thoughts. What we were indulging in was illicit...dangerous.

“That’s it.” Sebastian’s voice praised, his voice no more than a gravelly whisper, the air becoming thick and heady as he gave a shuddering breath, “Feel how the mound is becoming firm beneath your fingers.”

A soft gasp escaped my lips, my eyes widening when, as we pressed forward on the the dough once more, an unmistakable hardness pressed against my lower back. Was Sebastian...? As the sound passed my lips, his grip on my hands tightened, almost painfully so, our fingers burrowing deep into the resisting dough. My thoughts whirred sluggishly as we pressed forward once more, torn between propriety and debauchery.

Yielding to such desire was forbidden. If Ciel happened to venture down and discover us, he could give us our notice immediately and he would not be in the wrong, our current behavior dishonorable among those who considered themselves part of polite society. I could demand he cease his salacious behavior. I could storm out in righteous indignation. I could finally put our depraved game to an end and save myself.

However, as his arousal pressed against me, a darker part of my thoughts reminded me that what Sebastian had awoken in me was something that, in spite of the risk, had been one of the most liberating and genuine experiences of my life. Any other pleasure paled in the wake of the carnal force of how it felt to desire him and be desired by him in return. To hold such power over someone who was otherwise so poised, every movement calculated...to see, to feel that composure crumble, giving into insatiable hunger was intoxicating.

Chapter 24- His Butler: Domestic

3. When Sarah finally admits her feelings for Sebastian

My gaze searched his as his honeyed words hung in the air. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, my breaths short and shallow, while my thoughts warred in cacophonous chaos. I should deny it. I should refuse such an offer and return to my quarters. But for what, to delay desire another day? I had reached the pinnacle of release from fantasies of the butler enough to know I could not deny that I wanted him in the most primal, gut-wrenching way possible. And I had experienced the sting of longing for his return and delight in his company enough to know that I loved him.

No, the only way I would ever be safe from Sebastian would be to leave and I should. Despite the danger, I should advertise for a different post under a new master, a new butler-one who could not ignite my body with a mere look.

However, I knew deep down that such a solution would be temporary at best. The connection Sebastian and I shared was something that transcended reason. No matter the time, no matter the space that separated us, I knew unequivocally that chance, fate, God, whatever name humanity assigned the ruling forces of the universe, would lead us together. I was drawn to him, his presence alone magnetic, drawing me to him with the intensity of a collapsar. And I was tired of fighting.

I took a deep breath, trailing my fingers up his torso, relishing as he tensed under my touch. Sebastian’s hurried breath mingled with mine, his eyes sparking with voracious hunger as I snaked my hand around the back of his neck. My eyes closed as I pulled his face to mine, my lips brushing against his as I breathed, with finality and conviction…

“Yes.”

As Sebastian’s lips captured mine, a fleeting hesitation whispered in my mind. Loving Sebastian was dangerous. My desire uncontrollable and consuming. It was like a fire, unquenchable, an ever present threat, for such a heat could devour and destroy as much as it could comfort and please. However, my thoughts whispered in answer as he shoved me against the ledge, our teeth clicking from our fervor, our hands tangling in the other’s hair, such a threat did not frighten me.

I wanted to burn.

Chapter 24- His Butler: Domestic

At the risk of this post being too long already, I’ll stop there, even though I have so many more I could list (like the interactions with the other servants, Nina, Ciel, Menowin, and Madame Red).

Just out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite moments from Wicked Game? I’m always curious to see what catches readers’ attention. (And that question is open to everyone, if you’d like to answer ^_^)

Thank you again for submitting this ask. I love gushing about this story. It’s my literary baby, so I enjoy talking about it every opportunity I can. Take care, darling!

#fanfiction #asks #asks open #wicked game #kuroshitsuji #black butler

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dyke-remy · 3 years

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Live And Let Die, part 5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6

Description: Agent 008 and Agent 009, professional spies for the MI6 with liscense to kill. Partners in both work and love. After an agent goes missing the partners have to once more go out into the field. (It’s a James Bond AU)

You don’t need to know anything about James Bond to be able to read this fic, trust me

Words: 3505

The train cart was filled with silence. Remy looked at the dog tag, the dog tag which had belonged to Roman. They looked up at their husband. He was staring right through them.

"I- I'll call Q. He'll get us home" Remy hastily let out.

They didn't get a reply. Remus sat perfectly still as they talked to Q. He seemed to be looking at a ghost. Maybe he was dissociating, maybe he was reliving the death. His hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Eventually Remy got up and took his hand. They held onto him until the train got to it's next stop. Held onto him the long car ride to an airport. Held onto him the entire flight back to England. Held onto him until they back to their apartement at MI6. They knew he would break apart if they let go right now.

Remy was sure M would give them a break from missions. Remus was barely eating, much less sleeping. No one could except him to work.

And yet here they were, 2 days later in M's office. Remus actually sat in a normal position in one of the chairs which was so unusual it even made M uncomfortable. Remy sat in his lap with their arms around his shoulders to comfort him.

"-I assure you 009 that I would let you two have a break if this mission wasn't urgent. Trust me I would be very happy if you two disappeared from my sight for a while" M aka Deceit said. One of his pet snakes had made itself comfortable around his neck.

"Sure girl. What's so fucking important then?"

Deceit pushed a paper over the desk towards them "This. Your luck was in your favor 009. You brought back a document from Ron Stewart's, the man you killed, room on the train correct?"

"Girl I dunno. 75% of the time I'm just like running on instinct and iced coffee but yeah sure"

"Yes well this document talks about Stewart's company partially being bought by this company by the name of Vigur. I didn't recognize it so I asked Q to do some research and-"

"It's a vampire sex ring!" Remy guessed.

Deceit blinked at them "Close. No it's a new company, actually it hasn't even started yet. It will have an opening this week in Manchester. It's an energy company and apparently it's lead by a young new business entrepreneur. It's strange.....When Q looked him up there was nothing. No history, no photos, no educational records. Only a few articles about him and his dad and that he was the leader of Vigur"

"I didn't catch the name"

"Virgil. Virgil Viverno"

Remus suddenly moved his arms around Remy's waist so tightly their ribs hurt. He buried his head against their shoulder. His spouse' placed their hands on top of his.

Deceit looked at him varily. He really did want to let the agents go on a break, he wasn't heartless, but, well, they had a mission to finish, even if it had become an intricate one.

"I suggest you two infiltrate the opening of the company. Find any information you can because somehow this has to be connected to the killings of agents caused by....Jaws...To aid I asked Moneypenny to follow Virgil around a bit and take a few pictures so you two know who to interrogate"

Deceit called for Moneypenny aka Patton. He entered the office with a stack of photos in his hands before sitting down on the edge of the table and laying out the photos. It was all of the so called Virgil. He was sitting in a car far away in all of them so it was a bit hard to see but they got the basic gists of him having short unkept black hair and sickly pale skin.

"Aww Patty I didn't know you got to work out in the field" Remy commented.

Deceit arched his brow "Don't underestimate him"

"I might not be as good in combat as y'all are but I can be sneaky and take a few photos every now and then"

Deceit sent him an unusually warm smile "You did a good job"

Moneypenny blushed slightly "Oh shush you snakecharmer. I'm married"

Remy grabbed one of the photos and looked closer "Betting on him being gay so time for some guy drag. Just 'cause I'm like tots too lazy to get into womany attire. We'll infiltrate the party, I'll take him to his hotel room and look for anything about why this new stupid company exists"

They were quiet for a few seconds before adding with venom in their tone "Or why they murdered Picani"

Patton leaned over and patted them on their shoulder to comfort them. "Yeah it's a bit weird. I followed him around for quite a few days but he rarely ever left the house he was staying at. He never even walked around. Either he was at that house or he was driven directly to the company building. He never stayed there for long so he couldn't have been working"

"Mhm" Deceit began "It could mea-"

Remus slammed his hand down into the table.

"You're all ignoring Roman"

Patton paled a little. Deceit leaned back in his seat. They were all silent.

"I- I mean the dog tag it- it has to mean this- the company- Picani it must have something to do with Roman doesn't it- I mean- I mean- Maybe- Roman could be alive"

Remus looked around at them while holding the tag close to his chest. He didn't look mad. He just looked like a cornered animal, a hurt prey.

"Kiddo" Patton held out his hand, unsure if to comfort or reason with him.

"Killing a 00 agent is quite a big thing. I can imagine that someone would gladly take the dog tag and keep it with them as a souvenir if they'd been in the same building as where it happened. From your reports of what happened there is no chance your brother is alive" Deceit stated bluntly "It is of far greater importance to try and find this 'Jaws' guy before he kills any more 00 agents"

All of the air seemed to go out of Remus. His arms loosened around Remy. They tried to comfort him and whisper sweet nothings to him.

"M don't be so cold about it!" Patton exclaimed. "It's okay kiddo. I'm sure- Maybe- We-" He pressed his lips into a tight line and tried to think about anything positive to say. He gave up and moved to try and hug Remus at least.

Remus stood up from the chair so quickly Remy nearly fell down on the floor. He banged his hands down into the table and leaned close to Deceit. His furious brown, nearly red, eyes stared into Deceit's cold black ones.

"I'll capture Jaws and I'll drag him back here. I'll drop him right here on your bloody desk if that's what it takes to make you take me seriously. And then I Will find my brother! Even if it's just his rotten corpse!"

He stormed out of the room without another word and slammed the doors shut behind him.

Remus was driving a black ashton martin towards the company's building where the opening party was being held. He had on a black suit. Remy sat in the passenger seat. They had on a looser fitting black blazer with a white button up under and pants. They'd styled it with a necklace and a few rings on their fingers.

"Babe you don't have to like do this you know that right?" Remy asked while looking over to their husband "Like it's really understandable if you want a break from work or something right now with the whole Roman thing. I can handle it on my own"

"I have to.........If there's a small chance Roman is...is.....out there I have to follow up on.....And even if he's....even if he's...gone....I want to at least stop the people who...killed....him" He held onto the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white "I want to tear them apart for hours upon hours until they're begging me to kill them"

Remy took his hand and intertwined their fingers "I'll be right here beside you" They pressed a kiss to his knuckles "I'mma be cutting people apart as well!"

Remus sent them a tired smile "Mhm. Love you my rotten lil sunflower"

They scrunched their nose "Gross"

"Nu-hu! You're my dear maggot infested heart"

"And you're the human equivalent of a mad scientist's experiment going wrong"

Remus pretended to blush "Awww you're always at your A game with compliments"

"Somebody has to be"

They leaned in for a kiss before getting out of the car. The tall building had an elegant opening door made out of glass.

Remy held onto their husband's upper arm and leaned on his shoulder as they walked in. The entrance was a grand room looking outmost modern. The reception had been turned into a bar and there were cocktail tables here and there.

The opening party was mostly to establish connectioncs between CEOs and such. It was all fake smiles and empty talking between glasses of champange.

"Let's say we're here for my mom's company" Remus whispered.

"Oh yeah the super legal one with a brilliant name" Remy chuckled back.

"Don't you dishonor the name of Octopussy!" He did a dramatic pout "But we'll say we're from the hotel business side of the company and not the y'know jewel smuggling-"

"Or circus business"

"Or circus business yes"

They mingled among the crowd while looking for Virgil. It was ironic how Remy was better at talking about the Octopussy company than Remus was. He'd always been better at the smuggling part than the business part while it was the reverse for his twin. Roman had been chosen to become the full time leader of the company once their mom retired...well that had changed obviously.

Remy was in the middle of making up an elaobarate lie about Octopussy totally being besties with the owner of this company to some business men when Remus pulled them aside. He pointed over to a dark corner of the room.

"Holy shit!" Remy gasped while their eyes widened "That's a total heart-throb!"

"What- No-" Remus looked at them with a confused look before looking back at the corner.

Remy was looking at a tall, broad shouldered, muscular guy in a slick black suit. He stood near the corner with his arms crossed. They were practically looking at him with heart eyes.

"Awww babe are you trying to find me a date? He's just my type!" They said while holding onto their tall, broad shouldered, muscular husband wearing a slick black suit.

"Sorry darling dearest but I was pointing at Virgil"

Next to the muscular guy a skinny man was sitting by a lone table. He had on a black button up shirt with a purple hoodie over. There was a glass of soda in front of him.

Remy pouted "That's not as fun"

"You can try to flirt with him while you get info from Virgil" Remus moved his hand to their jaw and leaned their head up "You horndog"

"Shut up your bundle of bacteria" They teased back before leaning in to kiss him.

"A demon would be jealous of your horniness......because....y'know....demon horns"

"Girl I could walk into a public toilet and press my finger against the wall and I would get the same amount of filth on my finger from that wall as I would get from your skin"

Remus kissed them again "Love you"

"Love you too" They smiled into the kiss.

"Be careful. If I see you leave with Virgil I'll follow you and cut in if I hear anything fucked aight?"

"Got it gal!"

Their hands lingered together for an extra moment before they both willed themself to let go. Remy walked towards Virgil. They unbuttoned the top 2 buttons on their shirt, dragged up their shirt sleeves slightly and fixed their hair.

They didn't get to Virgil. The tall muscular man stopped them beforehand by grabbing onto their shoulder. They couldn't honestly say that they were complaining.

"Mr. Viverno doesn't wish to talk to any more strangers for the rest of the night. He's already had enough people try to manipulate him with sweet talking and business deals" The man, who Remy assumed was a bodyguard, said in a stern tone.

Remy sent him a cheeky smile "Aww girl I'm not here for some money talk or whateva. I just hate parties. I was forced here just as much as the next boytoy"

The bodyguard sneered at them but from over his shoulder they could see Virgil glancing at them. In the low light it was hard to see the details of his face.

"Theo it's okay. You can let him in"

Remy had a shit eating grin on their face as they gracefully sauntered past the bodyguard apparently named Theo. They slumped down on the seat on the opposite side of the table to Virgil. He seemed okay with just sitting in silence, Remy wasn't.

"I'm Diamandis. Remington Diamandis" They reached out their hand after saying the totally real and not at all made up name.

Virgil just stared at their hand "You already know my name. You wouldn't be at the opening if you didn't"

They leaned their elbows on the table "Yeah well introductions are always nice either way. Know whats not like nice? Parties. Fucking hate them" They lied.

He quickly nodded along "Everything is so....loud....there's so many peoples. I've never been to any sort of party or anything before but I already hate them"

"Impressive. If I could choose I would have tots been...." Remy tried to figure out what Virgil would react to best "Been staying in my room all alone like just calm no sounds. Sadly my daddy is like involved with this like octopussy company so I gotta be here" They saw how Virgil immediately tried to hold back a smile at the mention of the name "It's okay, you can laugh"

He covered his mouth with his hand while giggling "Sorry- Sorry it's just- that's a bad word"

"I'm aware. I've been looking to get a new daddy anyhow. Someone less boring who doesn't drag me to all these stuck up parties"

"....Through....adoption...?...Or...?"

Remy realized they were talking to an innocent lamb and quickly changed the subject "So you wanna buy us drinks? A fancy cocktail would sound nice right about now" They leaned their chin on their hands and moved closer.

"I uh I can't. Maybe some soda I dunno"

"What? You're waiting 'till marriage to drink or something"

Virgil glanced up at him "No I- I'm not allowed. I'm 15. Theo said-"

Remy reared back into their seat. The smug look on their face was instantly gone as they buttoned up their shirt all the way up. Now when they knew he was a teenager it was blatantly obvious. Suddenly they noticed the subtle acne on his face, how his arms clearly had had a growth spurt before the rest of his body, how he still kind of had baby cheeks.

"I'm sorry. You should have said- I didn't think- I'm sorry that's like tots gross of me- The lightning is really bad I couldn't see- Sorry girl" They babbled out.

"What are you apologizing for?" Virgil asked while tilting his head.

"I the adult here flirted with you- which is so disgusting and girl I'm like-"

Virgil looked like he was one step away from slamming his hands into the table and standing up "Flirting??" His eyes widened "That was flirting??"

"Indeed it was. I was close to punching you the entire time" Theo muttered while eyeing Remy.

"This is almost as cool and as when I got to try out a phone for the first time a few days ago" Virgil pointed over to Theo "He has a bunch of games on his phone. They're really fun"

Theo let out a ridiculously tired sigh "The games are just there for my kids I swear"

Remy zoned out of the conversation. The sheer weirdness of someone who apparently is a CEO 1. being a teenager and 2. not owning a phone had taken them right out. Every step of this mission seemed to make it weirder and weirder. It made their head hurt with unanswered questions.

"-my room?" Remy got forced out of their thoughts as Virgil asked them something.

"What?"

"Do you want to go to my room? I have a room on the second floor in case I ever need to stay over for the night. The place I actually live is quite far away from here" He fiddled with his sleeves "You said you would rather be in your room like ehhh being calm so I thought we could go away from all the loud people at least"

"Sure kid" Remy almost felt bad for how easily Virgil had done exactly what they wanted him to.

He got up and mumbled something to Theo before setting off towards the elevator. Remy blew Theo a kiss before waving goodbye as they walked past him. In response he gave them the middle finger, clearly showing of the wedding ring on his finger.

One short elevator ride later they were following Virgil through a long hallway. It was all cold grey walls and light that gave them a headache. It was quiet apart from the muffled sounds from the people on the first floor.

Virgil suddenly reached out and held onto the sleeve of their blazer. He looked up at them with big eyes "Have you ever touched snow?"

"....Yes-"

He held onto them harder and a smile played at the edge of his lips "Can you describe it?"

Remy was a bit taken aback by the weird question but shrugged and began to describe it. Nothing had been worse than the freezing winters with nothing but their mothers and a cheap sleeping bag to keep them warm. From the corner of their eye they caught a glimpse of Remus following them.

Virgil's smile grew wider the more they described it. His blue eyes looked at them as if they were the most knowledgable person ever. Before they knew they'd reached his room. It was mostly bare. Just a bed, a nightstand and a few boxes. The bed wasn't even comfortable as they sat down alongside the teenager.

They glanced around for anything important. Drugging a teenager so he fell asleep so they could search through his room made them feel really disgusting but at least it was better than knocking him out. Hopefully it would just feel like a quick nap. Hopefully they could hide the sleeping pill in some soda.

"Are you looking for something?" Virgil asked.

"Nah girl. Nothing. I was just-"

Remy turned back to look at him. His smile was gone and his blue eyes suddenly seemed cold. It felt like his gaze was piercing through them.

"Oh 009. You should have paid more attention" Virgil murmured.

Their blood ran cold at the mention of their 00 title. They tried to speak but realized their mouth felt numb. Their whole body felt numb and as heavy as lead.

"Do you seriously think Theo would have let you be alone with me unless he knew you were so stupid you wouldn't even care to look at the most important part of this room" He scoffed at them.

Remy fell back on the bed. Their eyelids could barely stay open as they looked up. Their eyes widened as they saw dozens upon dozens of spiders sitting on the roof.

"Ruthie is such a good girl" Virgil picked up a big black spider that had been crawling around on the covers. He patted her while talking "All it takes is a small bite from her and a human can be passed out for up to 6 hours"

Remy wanted to muster up the strenght to snarl an insult at least. Instead all they could do was fall asleep as their eyes rolled to the back of their skull.

Virgil's smile widened "Goodnight"

He let out a few more of his dear spiders crawl up on his arms. He threw the bed lamp down on the ground and let out a few fake muffled cries. It was too trick 009's equally as stupid partner to rush in.

And he did. Of course he did.

Remus stumbled into the room with a neutral expression plastered on his face. His eyes darted around the room but quickly landed on his sleeping spouse.

"Sorry! I was uh looking for the bathroom!" He threw out "Oh wow one of you is unconcious that's not good especially not while in bedrooms! Maybe I should stay"

Virgil looked at him as he was the biggest idiot on earth. A few spiders started to crawl up Remus' legs. He looked down at them and quickly shook them off before stomping on them.

"YOU FUCKER!" Virgil yelled. He shot up from the bed and closed his hands into fists. He nearly teared up at the sight of the dead spiders.

Remus took a step back and raised his hands "Hey kid I'm sorry but-"

He didn't say anything more. A harsh hit landed on the back of his neck. He immediately fell down on the ground.

The whole room was spinning. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Virgil moving to hug a person. He seemed to be lifted from the ground and spun around in the hug.

The last thing Remus heard before he passed out was Virgil happily letting out a "Jawsie!!"

#live and let die #sanders sides #not countdown #remus sanders #janus sanders #remy sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #intrusleep #resleep #remsleep #rem^2 #thomas sanders

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thehopefuldandelion · 5 years

Text

Birds, Dreams, and other Happy Things

A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first fic EVER( I’ve read a ton but have never written one). I have been really loving the song Dream a Little Dream of Me specifically by Doris Day and I wanted to create a little fic about it. All grammar mistakes and errors are mine. :)

One shot, everlark...

And I do not own the hunger games...

FanFiction.net :

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13456901/1/

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“You ready Katniss?” my roommate and singing partner, Johanna, asks me.

“I guess,” I reply, “what if they hate the song?”

“They won’t, otherwise I’ll beat them to bits.” That’s Johanna for you. Always telling me the God honest truth. Ever since I started working at this crusty, dilapidated bar a couple years ago, my life has changed. For the better, I guess. Life as an Everdeen has never been easy. Low paying jobs and Ramen have become the highlights of my shitty existence ever since my father died, leaving my mother to check out. My sister, Primrose, has had the happy childhood I never knew because of my efforts. At 16, I became a parent to her after my mother abandoned us, taking my dad’s life insurance money with her. Hell, I don’t know where she is but I hope I never see her greedy face again. Regardless, bills still have to be payed including Prim’s pricey college tuition. My rent is already 2 days late and I can’t afford-

“Katniss,” someone calls in a gruff voice waking me out of my trance. I recognize it immediately as the bar owner, Haymitch Abernathy’s, voice. "You're on in 2.”

I reply with a simple,

“Thanks Haymitch.”

Here goes nothing.

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“Peet, pleaseeeeeeee. I really need a wingman tonight. You are the best man for the job,” I can almost hear the pout in my best friend Finnick’s voice over the phone as he says this.

“Finnick, you know I can’t. I have an important meeting tomorrow I need to be well rested for. This is my final opportunity to expand the bakery throughout the country,” I tell him in reply.

I've known Finnick since we were in diapers, running around, eating baby food. He’s always been a great friend, especially in college, but can be a real douche when it comes to any and all responsibilities.

“I’ll have you home by 1 at the latest. C’mon Peeta. You need the distraction after Delly-”

“DONT TALK ABOUT HER,” I cut him off and then take a deep breath, “Ok, I'm sorry I yelled but you know it's still a sensitive topic for me.”

He’s not wrong about me needing a distraction. I had just walked into our apartment, excited to tell Delly the news about the bakery, when I see her butt naked on another man. His name was Thom or something like that. What an asshole.

“Fine,” I grumble, "I'll come BUT only if I get to leave when I want.”

“YESSSSSSSSSS!” Finnick squeals like a schoolgirl causing me to roll my eyes. And that’s that.

——————————————————————————

I place a kiss on my father’s picture with my index and middle fingers, a ritual I do before every performance no matter where it is. James Everdeen was a man with both spunk and spirit and sang with the most beautiful voice. If you listened closely enough, you could hear the silence of the birds as if to hear his melodious singing. It wasn't the same since after he died and I am still grieving his death. My mind strays to the thought of Prim hearing me sing tonight. Her college is out of state preventing us to see each other more than 4 times a year. I cherish every second of her company when she visits.

As I step onto the worn stage and in front of the 1950’s style microphone, I remember how exhilarated I become whenever that spotlight focuses on me. On my left are the backup singers, Johanna and Annie, while on my right I can hear Thresh drop a beat as Gale plays the keyboard. My body and voice are one as the words seem to flow out of my mouth in tandem with the moving of my body. “This is for you dad,” I think to myself.

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

The bar Finnick drags me to is called Abernathy’s, a small but welcoming place, near his apartment. Once inside, we both grab drinks and head over to a rectangular table. I notice Finnick winking at a stereotypical busty blond with fake eyelashes and large boobs. I roll my eyes exaggeratingly while I turn my attention to the stage (more of an elevated platform only 2 or 3 feet off the ground) as someone announces the next singer. I don’t catch her name because of Finnick’s obnoxious flirting.

The girl, no, woman who walks out takes my breath away. From her toned, olive legs to her enticing grey eyes and dark hair, she is the most beautiful human being I've ever laid eyes on. The moment she opens her mouth I am captivated by her melodic voice. It is both sultry and sweet with a touch of harmony. I’m hooked like a fish on a line. It’s official, I’m a goner and I don’t even know her name.

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Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper I love you

Birds singing in the sycamore trees

Dream a little dream of me

As my eyes wander over the surprisingly filled bar, I notice a pair of crystal blue orbs that seem to stand out from the rest of the crowd. His orbs are locked onto mine in a comfortable gaze. Who is this man? Why is he here? And why, oh why, do I want to sing this song for him?

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Say night-ie night and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me

When I'm alone as blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

The attraction between the singer and I is heated and I can't seem to tear my eyes away from hers. It seems as if time has stopped and it’s just the two of us. She seems to be singing the song directly at me until she continues searching the large crowd. Who is this woman who has captured my heart in a matter of minutes?

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Stars fading but I linger on dear

Just craving your kiss

I’m longing to linger till dawn dear

Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams to leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

I tear my eyes away from his muscular body and slightly curled blond hair and focus on finding my sister in the crowd. Her small, slender frame and long blonde hair aren't hard to miss so I spot her right as the musical interlude ends. She gives me a smile filled with an emotion that reminds me of the day she convinced me to sing again. It was a deathly cold winter morning only a couple days after my father’s accident. I shut out the world and anything that made me feel happy including singing. I felt guilty, like I shouldn't sing because my dad is dead and I'm dishonoring him. Prim, darling, Prim dragged me out of bed, made me eat a hearty breakfast, and said she had signed me up for the Christmas caroling competition in town. No matter how much I bitched she would not have it. I did sing and I realized that my dad is still with me, both in my heart and voice. Humming and singing around the apartment has become a habit of mine ever since. Hey, singing pays the bills so how can I complain?

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

Stars fading but I linger on dear

Just craving your kiss

I’m longing to linger till dawn dear

Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams to leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

Dream a little dream.... of me

When the song concludes, the singer turns her back to the audience and says goodnight seductively over her shoulder causing me to drool. I must have really zoned out with thoughts of her because Finnick shakes my shoulder several times before I respond.

“You ok, dude?” he asks concerned, “What were you thinking about?”

I nod my head, anxious to go talk to the dark-haired goddess who just walked out of her dressing room. I jump out of my seat, startling people around me and walk (ok, run) towards my future.

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

As soon as I sing the last note, a wave of contentment envelops me like a blanket. This is where I belong, on a stage, honoring my father through song.

Annie drags me off stage and leaves to get drinks for all of us. Thresh, the gentle giant he is, just pats my back and smiles. He has never been much of a talker but I appreciate his calming demeanor when I have a shitty day. I feel an arm wrap around my shoulder and see a familiar face, Gale. My best friend since we could hunt. Gale has been Prim and my life support for since my father died and would lug me out of bed on days my depression got the best of me. I can’t imagine life without his ugly face.

“Great job out there Catnip. You always do great,” he tells me.

I scrunch my nose in response to the nickname he gave me when I was 11.

“Not too bad yourself. Is Madge here or...?”

“No, she’s complaining that everyone would laugh at her swollen feet.” He then looks at me with a humorous glint in his eye and says, “Pregnant women. Am I right?”

Madge and Gale have been dating since high school and are now married with a baby on the way. I often find myself daydreaming about having what they have but I snap out of it. The chances of me having someone who cares for me and would want a family with me are slim. Some would say I’m picky but its more that I’m cautious. I saw what happened to my mother after my dad died. Love destroyed her in the end and I don't know if I could live like that.

“I wouldn’t know,” I huff, “I will be in my dressing room”.

——————————————————————————

I bump into Johanna on my way back to the dressing room. She notices the scowl on my face.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” she asks mockingly.

“It’s none of your concern, Johanna.” How am I supposed to explain to someone that what I want most of all, I can and will never have.

A couple minutes later, after I’ve changed into more comfortable clothing, I hear a knock on the door.

Johanna, in a screeching voice, says, “Brainless, you better get out here. Haymitch wants you to mingle with people.”

I gag. I don’t “mingle”. I avoid people at all cost. My sister is out there waiting for me, though, so I grudgingly walk into the main bar area.

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

There she is. The closer I get, the faster my heart starts beating. She’s even more beautiful up close than I could see from afar. The singer is wearing skinny jeans (which make her ass look divine), a flowy green blouse with a hint of cleavage, and not a trace of makeup can be found. Her hair is in an intricate but effortlessly messy braid. My fingers itched to unbraid it and run my hands through her luscious long locks.

The woman is hugging a shorter blond headed girl who I assume is a friend or, possibly, sister. This intense urge to grab her by the waist and kiss her senseless bubbles up within me. I push it back down knowing I need to be of sound mind when I confront her.

As I get closer, the blond girl says something about a cat to which the singer responds with a scowl. I’m about to tap her on the shoulder when a drunken man, about a head taller than me, with bleached hair steps in front of me and asks if the singer wants a drink. She tries to refuse but he doesn’t take no for an answer. On an impulse, I go up to her which shocks the man.

“Hey honey,” I say while putting an arm around her waist and kissing the side of her head, “I’m sorry, I had to go to the bathroom.”

My mind gets lost in her forest scented shampoo. She smells like evergreen trees during Christmas and her sweet perfume mixes nicely with the smell.

The beautiful singer looks at me with wide eyes and a shocking expression on her face.Just when I thought this was a stupid idea, she continues the act by saying, “It’s ok, dear.” She then takes it a step further by laying her head on my chest as well as most of her body weight.

The douchebag looks pissed, mumbles “whatever”, and walks away.

“Thanks for that...” She says and inquires for my name.

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

“Peeta,” he responds with a crooked smile, “Peeta Mellark.”

My first reaction to Peeta saving the day was to yell at him but as I smelled his scent, cinnamon and spices, I decided to play along.

He sticks out his hand for me to shake.

“Katniss, Katniss Everdeen,” I tell him. When I shake his hand, I feel goosebumps rise on my skin and an electrical shock go through my arm. I pull my hand away and look at his face. It’s obvious Peeta felt it too.

“Hey, could I maybe buy you a drink?” Peeta questions me nervously.

“That would be nice,” I say in reply excited to see where this night may go.

Peeta and I end up talking the whole night through. He tells me that he grew up in his parent's bakery and wants to open a new one in New York. His 2 older brothers, Rye and Bran, were troublemakers until they settled down. As the night continues, we seem to drift from surface level topics and dive into the darkest parts of our pasts. When I learn about his abusive childhood from his mother, I start bawling caused by the 1 too many beers I’ve had. I recount stories from Prim and I’s childhoods and my job here at Abernathy’s. When my parents were brought up, I was reluctant to tell this handsome man about my dad but as soon a s I do, I'm comforted in a way I have never felt before. Haymitch eventually yells at us to get out of the bar and I leave with a content smile on my face.

While I’m walking to the taxi, too intoxicated to drive, Peeta calls my name.

“Katniss, can I have your number? So, we can... you know... talk... and... stuff?”

As I turn around, his floppy blond curls are bouncing while he runs towards me. I giggle at his hesitant tone. We exchange numbers and I give him a kiss on the cheek which puts a pink blush on his face.

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Katniss and I went on our first date about 2 months later. A simple romantic picnic in the park while watching the sunset.

“Beautiful,” I said but not at the sunset.

Without warning, she straddles my lap and gives me the shortest kiss making my body ache for more. From then on, we were inseparable. I love her and I want the whole world to know but I am not sure how to tell her.

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I have fallen hopelessly and incandescently in love with Peeta Mellark. He’s been there through every painful period, strenuous performance, and temper tantrum. Without him, I’m lost; But how do you tell someone you love them when you have never been in love before?

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I hear the apartment door open and shut. Small, olive arms wrap around my waist. Katniss deeply sighs against my back.

“Long day?” I ask.

“Yeah. I missed you,” she tells me in return.

I turn in her arms so I can face her and kiss the top of her head. Those beautiful silver orbs lock onto mine. A stray hair falls out of her braid, which I push behind her ear in a loving gesture. She rises on her tiptoes and brushes her lips against mine. Katniss sighs into my mouth as we tangle our tongues together.

I can feel her tug on the hem of my gray Henley shirt which causes me to say sarcastically, "I didn’t cook us dinner just so it could burn.”

Katniss gives off a hearty laugh and I fall in love with her even more. It seems just yesterday I was listening to her sing and admiring her beauty and now I get to call her my girlfriend. We both serve our plates and talk as we enjoy a relaxing evening at home.

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The next morning, I wake up and see a handsome, naked Peeta beside me. The sunlight flooding in from the open window hits his golden curls in a way that makes it look like he is wearing a halo. His muscular arms are wrapped around my slender waist and I lean my head back against his chest. This is what I have always dreamed of but never had.

I give Peeta a languid kiss and his eyelids slowly open revealing those crystal blue eyes I’ve come to love.

“If that’s my wakeup call every morning, I’m never leaving this bed,” he says in a low voice.

“Peeta, I love you.”

I said it. That confession is finally out in the open. I close my eyes, scared of his response.

He puts a finger under my chin, causing my eyes to open.

“Katniss, my love, I love you as well,” he says with a crooked smile.

In that moment, I realize that Peeta is home. And as long as I'm with him, I will never feel lost.

We spend the rest of the day in bed, repeating our confessions of love, and kissing to our heart’s content.

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A/N: Ahhhhhh that’s it! I hope you liked it. Anyway uhhhhhhh ill check in with you all later. Bye ;)

#Hunger Games #fanfic #birds dreams and other happy things #singing #love #everlark

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wearepaladin · 5 years

Note

In the game Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness there is a theme book "HERO: The Journal of General Job Adjusting: Issue IV" that has a Mr. Mannerly column for Paladin advice. The second letter has a reply that talks about the difference between The Laws of the Land and The Rights of the Individual and which a Paladin should hold higher. It is listed under Letters and can be found at the Quest for Glory wiki. Reminds me of the 'Lawful over Good' or 'Good over Lawful' discussions I've seen.

Its also funny as it is accuract

Ask Mr. Mannerly -- The Paladin's Answerperson by Magnifico Mannerly, P. D.

Dear Mr. Mannerly,

I am one tough dude. My favorite sports are Dragon Erasing and Barbarian Bashing. I'm a card-carrying member of the E.O.F (Eternal Order of Fighters) and a three-time winner of the annual Village Pillage belt. I'm listed in "Who's Who in Mercenaries, Freebooters, and Fortune Hunters". I'm always ready and willing to rescue a maiden or save a city, providing the price is right.

So if I decided to pursue a career as a Paladin, what's in it for me?

-- Hands Sollo

My Dear Mr. Sollo,

There are many advantages to becoming a Paladin. The ability to sense danger and emotional currents gives a Paladin a real edge in avoiding embarrassing accidents. The magical aura of the "Flaming Paladin Sword" can affect even the most ethereal of enemies, once you have received such a sword from another qualified Paladin. "Healing Hands" will frequently be useful in the event of serious injury, although it does draw upon your stamina to use them. "Protection from Magic" will aid you against those nasty offensive spells when you have built up enough Paladin Points to use it. And there's no doubt that "Honor Shield" will help you deflect the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune when you have gained enough honor to use it. Once again, the Paladin earns the ability to use these spells through the exhibition and accrual of honor and can just as easily lose them through dishonorable acts.

However, I'm not certain that pursuing a career in Paladinhood is the ideal profession for you. Considering the fact that a Paladin must be trust- worthy, helpful, truthful, cheerful, thoughtful, lawful, honest, pure, and brave, you might find it difficult giving up your scoundrel status. Plus, since a Paladin does good deeds from the goodness of his or her heart rather than for the monetary reward, your income level would drop significantly. You are probably better suited for pursuing a profession as a Politician rather than as a Paladin.

Dear Mr. Mannerly,

I am a damsel in distress. I have fallen in love with Persifal, a young Paladin. He's cute and very sweet, but he's forever breaking dates to go off and banish demons or restore the true heirs to various thrones, or so he says. What's more, the last time we went to the Harvest Ball together, he caused a terrible scandal and much gossip by dancing with the widow of the exiled ex-ruler of this land. As I'm sure you realize, it is forbidden to even speak with her, let alone dance, and besides, she looked positively ghastly in her old dress. I thought Paladins were never supposed to break laws and have to always be good! Instead, he disobeyed the new king's edict and embarrassed me in front of everyone, just because he thought the law was unfair and the widow looked unhappy. (She looked repulsive, actually.) Does this mean Percy isn't a real Paladin, and has been lying to me all this time about his "good" deeds?

-- Bothered and Bewildered

Dear Miss Bewildered,

Allow me to reassure you, Percy sounds like the perfect Paladin. Many people are confused by the "Paladin Code of Ethics".

A Paladin is bound by Honor to do what is Good rather than what is lawful. If the Laws of the Land interfere with the Rights of the Individual, it is the Paladin's duty to support the Individual's inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And who better to judge this than the True Paladin?

However, life with a Paladin is not an easy thing. If an Ogre family moves into the neighborhood, your boyfriend will be there first with the welcome wagon. After all, you can't judge an individual by racial stereotypes. You'll be continually surprised at just what gets invited to dinner at a Paladin's house. Paladins are forever being called away in the middle of the night on house calls to cure the ills of neighboring kingdoms. And Paladins are forever giving away their allowances to charity. All in all, if you want someone who is a good provider, dependable, there when you need him, and socially acceptable, you are better off marrying the garbage collector than a Paladin.

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deaddreamweaver · 5 years

Text

Blood Of Others

Word count: 2287

Warnings: War themes, injuries, minor character death, mental abuse (?), let me know if other things need to be tagged

Characters: Sephiroth, Angeal Hewley, Genesis Rhapsodos, Hojo

Authors note: This took forever to write but @blccdlet kept me motivated to do this.

Sephiroth's hands fidget around, adjusting the low ponytail his hair was held back in. He pulled it lower, then pushed it back up. He messed with the ends of his hair, already falling to his hips. If it wasn't his hair it was his gloves, tracing the seams carefully, trying to memorize the details of the leather. Leather wasn't cheap. Far from it actually. Why did they chose leather, he wondered to himself. Why was he here? A mission. They were at war of course. A trying time of blood shead on both ends. Sephiroth recalled his debrief before they send him off to war. They were going to a military town in Wutai. They were supposed to take out the main military force. It was supposed to be easy, especially for the mako enhanced SOLDIER.

"I'm doing it for them." The infantry man spoke, holding a photo of his wife and two children.

"How old are they?"

"Five and ten."

The conversation between the men caught the General's attention. It had the seventeen year old tilting his head as he looked at the photo himself. It was odd, to say the least. To have something outside of ShinRa was puzzling in itself. "What are their names?" Sephiroth spoke for the first time since they loaded up for the mission, finally sitting still. It honestly startled the two men who had been conversing of home to have such a high rank speak so commonly.

"Ah...My wife is Marina. This one is Rinku and the youngest is Silfi." The man explained, pointing to each person in the photo. "What about you? If you don't mind my asking, sir."

"My mother's name is Jenova. That's about all I know." Sephiroth stated simply, no remorse for never knowing her. A pang of sympathy fell over the two men as they heard him, though it didn't last long. "They look happy though. It's always good to have something to fight for." The rest of the conversation was lost on him. Nonsensical information is what Hojo would call it.

"If it's not important it is not worth remembering. There is much more you must learn if you are to succeed." Hojo once instructed him. He put so much into making Sephiroth perfect, as if he were trying to rival something, or someone.

_________________

Scouting the town from afar, the young male heard the whispers and hushed voices behind him. Those who doubted him of course. He could see why. Most of these men had been in war zones before. Sephiroth, had not. However he had more training than any man on this field.

"I just don't get why they let a fucking kid into a battle field. I doubt he even knows what he's doing."

"Hey keep it down. He's a First Class he's gotta know something."

"I don't care if he's in SOLDIER he's still a kid. I've got more experience than that brat-"

Clenching his fist, he sucked in a breath before relaxing once again. "It would be easier to focus without your bickering." The General spoke with authority in his tone. He could assume they froze in a panic, unaware he heard every word they had been saying quite literally behind his back. "If you wish, we could spar right now. If you win you can lead the charge. If you loose you go home with a dishonorable discharge. Is that what you want?" The silver haired male turned around, lightly glaring. "I may not be as old as you, but I know exactly what I am doing out here. This is not a game, this is war."

________________

He knew something was off when the village was bare of all life. It didn't make any sense to him, his left hand gripping his blade handle with anxiety coursing through his veins. He wasn't briefed on this. This area was supposed to be full of Wutai fighters yet there's wasn't even a civilian on the street. This wasn't right. That's when he heard it. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

"It's a trap." His blood ran cold. "Retreat imedi-" It was too late, the bombs went off and the entire village went up in flames. He was thrown back and hit his head hard against one of the stone buildings. As much blunt trauma he could take, this hard of a hit had his head spinning and he felt himself blacking out.

He awoke to a burning city. He didn't know how long he'd been out for but he knew he needed to find any men who were trapped in the city. He used the wall behind him to stand himself up. He'd only seen this much destruction in the simulator but actually experiencing it all was almost overwhelming. If he hadn't the determination to save his troops he would have broken down.

Running through the flame kissed city, he noticed the back of his head felt wet, but he payed little attention to it. He managed to get several of his troops out of the city and on the way to safety, his body aching from exertion but he couldn't give up now. He hadn't covered every building, every street. There could still be people in the city. That was what kept his legs steady as he ran back and forth, making sure he could save as many as he could. He was young. He was naive.

Most of his men needed help getting out, some left in pairs telling Sephiroth where others were in the town. Some he needed to personally escort out himself. Any of his men could tell how Sephiroth desperately tried to save as many lives as he could.

That's when he saw a familiar faced trooper. He'd been trapped under burning rubble. This only seemed to motivate him further, pushing his legs to the limit to get there before it was too late.

"Hold on I'm going to l-"

"It's no use, sir. It's the end of the road for me." The broken tone the man held was will shattering, but Sephiroth hadn't given up just yet. That was, until a photo was pushed into his hand. "Tell my girls I love 'em all. Get outta here while you can. You've got big things to do, I can tell."

Sephiroth's shaking hands looked down at the photo. It was the same one from early on in the mission. "I can't- you aren't- I..." He choked on his own words and for the first time his eyes showed weakness. He watched the man die in front of him. His heart pounding in his chest and all these foreign emotions filling his mind.

What was he supposed to do about this? He just watched someone who had been so full of life return to the lifestream. What would become of his family after this? This easily could have been him. Would his body be left behind just as his infentry man? What would happen if he died? Life on Gaia would just continue on without him. Sure people would grieve. However things would just continue on as if he never was a thing to begin with. He couldn't focus, too many thoughts overwhelming him. He couldn't think straight. His mind bouncing from thought to thought.

He stood on shaking legs, pocketing the photo. It felt wrong to leave the man under the rubble but he had little choice in the matter. That's when a familiar voice called his name. At first he didn't hear it, the voice sounded so distant with the screaming in his head. Then is called again, louder this time, breaking the trance he was in.

"Sephiroth!" It was Genesis, one of his dear friends. One of his only friends. He turned to the sound, seeing Angeal not to far behind. They were running to him in a panic.

"We heard the explosion and came as soon as we could. Are you oka-" Angeal's voice trailed off. Genesis had a hand covering his mouth, eyes wide in horror. That's when Sephiroth actually looked at the damaged he had taken.

His uniform was covered in blood, the only reason he could tell in his stark black uniform was the fact that it was clung to his skin and burned. The pain hit him all at once when he looked and his sight blurred, legs buckling but not failing just yet. All this time he never realized he was hurt. He realized why he'd been winded so easily. It was very likely his torso had been bruised, maybe a rib or two cracked. His right side had been torn to shreads from the shrapnel from the bomb and it likely wasn't just that area. How had no one noticed sooner? How had he not noticed sooner? He hadn't been paying attention to how much blood had been his and how much belonged to his injured squad. His entire body ached and he had a no clue how he was still standing. He was easily the most injured aside from the fallen men. He was the closest to the bomb.

His hand moved to his side, touching the blood before he looked at his palm. The blood was a deep red, almost black. Not a good sign. That's when he recalled his head. He'd been bleeding out this entire time. "Huh. That's....not good..." His voice trembled as the realization hit him. He didn't even know how bad it truly had been.

He looked back up to his friends, sharing the same horrified look as Genesis before his legs gave out. The last thing he saw was Angeal rushing over to catch him.

Sephiroth was out before he even hit the ground.

_________________

He woke suddenly, shooting up eyes wide and darting around the room he was in. A sudden flare of pain ripped through him with the motion. The room was white, medical equipment sounded behind him.

"Woah woah hey lay back down." Angeal had been sitting next to him he realized. His body relaxed a moment when he saw his friend at his side. Angeal's hands hover over his chest and shoulder, guiding him back down onto the hospital bed without touching him. He knew his friends' discomfort with contact.

Sephiroth slowly laid back with Angeal's aid. "Genesis has been out pacing in the hallway. He's worried about you. Want me to get him?" Angeal spoke with a low voice, as if not to pain him further having just woken. He gave a small nod in response. A small smile was thrown his way and Angeal stood up and went out to get the other. Genesis was the one to open the door, relief washing over him as he saw Sephiroth. A ghost of a smile showed on Sephiroth's face when he heard the soft 'oh thank Gaia' slip past Genesis's lips. As much of a rivalry they had they did still care for another.

Genesis was quick to sit by his side, Angeal entering and closing the door. Sephiroth noted Genesis's fidgeting hands, holding up his own for him. The redhead hesitated before clasping Sephiroth's hand with both of his own. "I'm so glad you're okay..." Genesis spoke barely above a whisper.

It wasn't long until someone knocked on the door, hesitantly opening it. "General Sephiroth? Professor Hojo wishes to speak with you." Three sets of eyes landed on the woman in a lab coat. One set was hard, glaring even, questioning why this was the time to tell the injured man to get up. Another was neutral, frustrated, but not at her. The last asked a silent question.

"Tell him I'll be there in a moment." Sephiroth spoke up, breaking the silence. The woman nods and quickly fled the room.

"You can't be serious. You need to rest!" Genesis spoke up before Angeal could.

"Genesis is right. You shouldn't be walking around, especially to Hojo."

"I've little choice." Sephiroth was already in the process of getting up, wincing as he did. Genesis went to help but froze mid way through the action. "At least let us help you get there." Angeal said as he saw how shakily Sephiroth was standing.

"Fine..."

_________________

It took some time, needing more help than he'd like to admit, before the three were in front of Hojo's office. His two friends agreed to wait for him so they could help him back. Taking a deep breath, Sephiroth knocked on the door then entered the room. "Professor Hojo, you wanted to see me?"

"I heard about your last mission." Hojo spoke, his voice harsh and Sephiroth immediately knew why he'd been called down here. "That was reckless. Unnecessary even. Their lives are worthless compaired to yours. Do you know how much funds to train would would have been wasted if you died? Worse, what would happen if the Wutai forces found your body?"

Sephiroth's gase fell down, unable to make eye contact any longer. "My apologies. It was the heat of the moment, I hadn't realized that-"

"That you were injured? That they weren't as important as you?" Hojo cut him off. "Please. You were trained better than this. You should know that a petty few infantry men are worthless compaired to you, a First Class SOLDIER. If it wasn't for those other First Class you would be dead even with all your enhancements."

"It won't happen again." Sephiroth muttered, his fists clenched not raising his gase still.

"Look at me while I'm taking to you." Hojo snapped, grabbing Sephiroth's chin and making the silver haired man look up. "Do not let this happen again. I will not be so kind next time. Now go. I have work to do."

#final fantasy 7 #final fantasy vii #ff7 #sephiroth #genesis rhapsodos #angeal hewley #tw gore #tw war #tw character death #tw abuse

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poorvioletdraws · 5 years

Text

Tom vs. The Underworld

7. All My Best Friends Are MetalHeads

Ever since we met, I started having these strange dreams about him…

My golden eyes steadily blinked open to the quaint sanctum that was my room. It was an unusual start to my day since I woke up before my alarm, although I wasn’t ready to get up quite yet. I decided to find a more comfortable position in my bed by rolling from my right side and onto my back. I pushed my red bangs that were covering my eyes aside and continued to contemplate the possible meaning behind my dreams.

At first it just seemed like your typical, no-sense-making sleeptime entertainment session that occured every once in a while. But it was starting to form a pattern of happening the night before and the night after I saw him.

The first night after meeting Tom at his Lake House, my mind depicted him sledding down what must have been an endless garbage mountain in a huge metal boot while a gigantic mangy crow chased after him. I’ve had weird dreams before, mainly involving my friends and family, but why would I even imagine something like that to a person I had just met?

The night before we ran into each other a second time while my family and I were vacationing in Yomi Town, I dreamt of Tom again. This time he stood in a wooden structure full of hay and had an argument with a broom that had long blonde hair and hearts on its cheeks. Yet another vision I didn’t give too much thought to.

The night after he left Yomi Town still continued the pattern, even though it was a short dream. Tom rode in a giant panda-cat-bus, like the one from My Neighbor Torture-o, and was collecting tacos and tennis balls across the land with three large possums dressed up like people. It was a cute dream, I’d love to ride in a bus full of tacos...

But then, the night before I saw Tom again at Madame Morguerite’s, it wasn’t just a dream that I had about him. It was a nightmare. It was a foreboding premonition that felt too real. It was so terrifying that I fought to wake myself up from it loud enough that my fellow students in the dorm were startled awake and wondering what was wrong. I didn’t even realize tears were streaming down my face as I told them it was nothing. They already thought I was different anyway so I’m sure that incident just gave them more reason to ostracise me further.

Luckily for me, I don’t really remember what happened in that nightmare anymore. It was forgotten the moment I woke up. All I remember is that feeling of perpetual sorrow in an infinite darkness...

Suddenly, my Golem--which was now morphed into my alarm clock and sitting on my bedside table--began to clap its hands together in order to alert me of the time. I sluggishly pawed for its head and used my geokinesis to turn it off.

I slowly rose from my bed and wiped the sleep from my eyes. It was morning but you couldn’t tell because there weren’t any windows in my room. It was always intimately dim as the only light source came from the flickering candles dotting almost every inch of my walls. Bouquets of red spider lilies stood in black vases at my desk and bedside tables while streams of them sewn together by their stems into flower chains decorated the outline of my ceiling before joining together towards the middle and then cascading down my wrought iron chandelier. I’d like to imagine that the combination of candles and blossoms made my room appear to be whimsically romantic, but my siblings often joked about how ritualistic it looked instead.

“I should get ready, he’ll be here soon…” I said with a yawn while taking a seat at my vanity. The mirror was headed by a springbok skull and beside it on the wall hang my painting of the dimension with 1,000 sunsets. I began to smile to myself while looking at it.

My older sister, Rochelle, was able to go back and get my stuff I left at that etiquette school. There was no way I could go back after the fiasco Tom and I caused. I’ll be sure to work extra hard at her shop next week to thank her.

I need to find a way to thank Tom too… He has done so much for me every time we see each other. And he even wore the necklace we made when he came to see me. Come to think of it, the dream I had of him last night was different… It wasn’t anything weird or silly. Just him. Standing in front of me surrounded by light. He looked very handsome, not that he isn’t handsome already. He smiled at me and held out his hand and I...

I noticed I was blushing in the mirror and quickly shook my head of the thought.

Quit it, Raya. He is a prince. Don’t think like that. Especially having dreams depicting him in such a way, I need to stop that too. He just wants to be friends. I should be grateful he even wants to hang around with someone like me… And my friends… Hopefully they all like him too…

Getting back on task—I get distracted a lot—it was time to get ready for the day and I know it’s going to be great! I needed just the right music to get me started.

“Let’s see, what to listen to today.” I murmured, flipping through my CD album collection in front of me. “Oh! One of my favorites, perfect!”

I removed my Less Than Jack disc from the sleeve of the album and inserted it into the stereo. I then open the drawer of my vanity and began applying my makeup as the song started to play.

~You think it’s strange, that there’s a way…~

“Ugh, why am I starting to get nervous again.” I groaned aloud. I was flying through the air through the demon city, Chernabog, and it was my first actual time seeing it in depth. I had seen the volcanic region of the Mountain of Boom far off in the distance before coming into the city, but now my view was filled with buildings stacked too close together to the point of being right on top of each other. It was a huddled mess of clutter and heavily populated too. It kind of was making me claustrophobic from just the sight of the place. The demons that lived here however seemed to not be bothered at all.

I held up my compact phone to see where my directions wanted me to go next.

“Okay… I passed that part… And there… Now should be around…” I mumbled to myself while searching for the street name.

The area I was moving toward was heading somewhat out of the suburbs, which was alleviating some of my phobia. The terrain in this area was even more rocky and extended down into a huge quarry.

“Oh wow, that has to be her place.” I said in awe as I landed.

The home was built into the walls of the pit of rock with limestone bricks as the face. For a girl who says how ordinary her life is all the time, she sure lives in a house that was anything but. It was a rustic kind of chic and fitting for a family of Stone Demons.

There were tall torches that outlined a path leading to grand granite stairs of the Belmonte home. I walked up them entranced by the beauty of the architecture, completely forgetting about my nervousness.

The front entry was a large double door made of black stone—obsidian, perhaps? It was a nice signature quality by Raya’s father that I was starting to notice more of. After meeting him and seeing his work, I realized my parents bedroom door at our castle home was constructed the same way.

I took a deep breath and began giving myself a pep talk, “Okay, here I go. First step toward getting to know each other better. Meeting her friends… And playing some games at an arcade. I’m amazing at games so this is totally my element. How can this day not be awesome with an objective like that? Today is going to be—“

I went to knock when all of a sudden the door swung open.

“Who’s out here muttering in my doorway!” Raya’s father, Albion, roared while sticking his head out the door.

“Gyaaagh!” I screamed while taking cover on the floor.

Albion glanced down to see me and softened his tone, “Oh, Your Highness? What gives us the honor of your presence?”

I stood up and dusted myself off. “Heh. H-hey, nice to see you again.” He is going to give me a heart attack one day, I just know it.

“I am sorry, Your Highness. I have sensitive ears and pick up sounds easily.” The paternal demon apologized.

“It’s totally okay. Um, I came to pick up Raya. Well, n-not pick her up like pick her up. More like collect her... to go out… Wait! Not like that. Not like a date, sir! We just planned it but it’s with her friends. But totally not a date, sir! Um, so there’ll be others around, not just her and I… Uhh. Yea. Heh.” I gave a nervous smile as my explanation came out jumbled.

Albion was left staring at me dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Raya came hopping passed her father and told him all at once, “Hey Dad, we’re going to hang out with the gang at Tartarus, I’ll see you later!”

She quickly grabbed my hand and led me down her front stairs in a hurry.

“Honey, was that the Prince I heard at the door?” Raya’s mother, Griselda, asked sweetly as she peeked her head from around the archway.

“Yes, dear.” Albion said still puzzled.

“Oh really?” Her tone suddenly changed to a more chastising one, “And you didn’t invite him in for pie or anything?!”

Albion realized the error in his failed hospitable nature and shouted his shame so loud it shook the quarry, “Agh!! I’m dishonorable!”

Once we were on the main path heading back into the suburbs, Raya stopped pulling us along. Though I didn’t mind holding hands, even if it were for the purpose of fleeing that awkward situation I talked myself into with her father.

“Sorry, Tom. My Dad starts asking questions and would’ve had you come in and we would never leave on time.” Raya apologized.

“Oh, no. It’s okay, I understand.” I said with a half smile. “You know, next time if you give me your cell number I can call or text you when I’m close and you can meet me outside.”

“Hmm, I would but I don’t have a cellphone.” Raya mentioned as we started to walk down the sidewalk again.

“What?! A teenager without a cellphone?” I gasped a little shocked.

“Not just me, none of my friends do.”

“And this is normal for you guys?” I questioned. “What about selfies and tagging each other in funny posts on FaceScript and staying up late texting each other and just general nonstop communication any moment of the day?”

“Sounds like a lot of work.” She replied unfazed.

I gripped at my chest and had a pained expression cover my face as I muttered to myself, “Such a simplistic girl has stolen my heart.”

“Hm? What was that?” Raya asked while tilting her head in my direction, not hearing what I had said.

“N-nothing, heh.” I replied as I darted my eyes away. Why’d I say that out loud. I need to be more careful. I need to wait for the right moment to tell her how I feel anyway. I need to focus on meeting her friends and getting along with them first.

“Are you alright? You’re pretty quiet now.” Raya mentioned. I didn’t realize I was consumed by my thoughts for quite some time as we walked through the city.

“Oh, sorry. Just in my head, that’s all.” I told her with a reassuring smile.

“Are you nervous about meeting my friends?”

We stopped at an intersection and waited for a group of demon vendors pulling food carts along before we could cross.

“Ah well, I guess kind of.” I itched the back of my head and glanced at my feet. “They are your friends after all, and since you hang out with them a lot, I want to get along with them too because I hope we all get to hang out a lot together… I guess I’m nervous over that… Like, what if they don’t like me, y’know?”

Raya gave me a comforting smile but didn’t reply.

“What? Did I say something silly? I said something silly didn’t I?” I asked concerned.

“Hehe, not at all.” She giggled but then looked me in the eyes and told me, “I never would’ve expected the Prince of the Underworld to be such a caring guy.”

“Yea… I think a lot of the demons and monsters think that way… Which is why it was always hard for me to make friends… ”

“Well my friends will like the same things I see in you. So don’t worry about it.” She smiled sweetly at me, causing me to smile back at her.

“They’ll like the same things…?” I repeated curiously.

Raya was watching the road as she spoke, “Aside from being the Prince of the Underworld, you’re very interesting. You seem to be into the same kind of music and style as us. You wear your emotions easily; when you’re upset you’re upset and when you’re happy it really shows too. I can tell you’ve been through a lot of changes in your life... But most of all…” She then gazed at me and revealed, “You have a big heart, I like that about you.”

Did she really just tell me that? Was it an innocent compliment or was she starting to notice how I feel? Maybe I should just ask her now…

So I tried to tell her, “Raya… I—“

“Oh! Time to cross, let’s go!” She announced, holding on to my hand again and running us across the cleared street.

What am I doing? Why am I being so impatient? I kept telling myself to wait but when she does and says things like that I get too overzealous and want to pressure her into something I’m not sure she even wants… Maybe it was just my brain wanting her to understand how I felt. But I couldn’t be too far off. She must be starting to realize how she feels about me. Why else would she be blushing as she told me that?

“We’re here!”

Raya and Tom crossed the street and pushed through the crowd of demons in order to make their way to the arcade just ahead.

The building was crafted like a Greek temple made of a dark red stone material with the name ‘Tartarus’ in flaming block letters across the front of the tympanum. Five demon teenagers stood outside the entrance.

“Hey, everyone!” Raya greeted her group of friends with a wave from afar.

“Late, as always.” A pale yellow female demon remarked. She was wearing a plaid dress, fishnet stockings, and striped hand and leg warmers.

“With good reason, you knew she was bringing someone important.” A lime green demon said as ze waved at the approaching pair. Ze had dark green dreadlocks with some dyed dark-blue strands and was dressed in typical cyber goth fashion—shiny PVC platform boots, tight black pants with matching vest containing a numerous amount of buckles, and the style came complete with a LED gas mask around zir neck.

“So this is him…” A light-blue male demon said more to himself. He had a blonde Mohawk and some facial piercings. He looked strong from his physique to his jawline. He wore a black leather motorcycle-style jacket with a red plaid long-sleeve shirt wrapped around his ripped-jeaned waist.

“Sorry if we’re late.” Raya bowed for forgiveness but came up again to present the newcomer. “I’d like you all to meet, Prince Tom.”

“Please, just Tom is fine.” Tom corrected still a bit nervous.

Raya then introduced her friends to Tom one by one.

“This is Blair.”

“Hi, Blair.” Tom gave a toothy grin.

The lime green demon greeted Tom excitedly and pulled up the black aviator goggles from zir eyes. ‘He looks like he will be fun!’ Blair delighted zirself over the possible antics their posse could get into with a prince now apart of it.

“This is Kraven.” Raya waved over to an orange demon of considerable height and girth. He wore a maroon long-sleeve flannel shirt, black jeans, and black converse.

“Hey.” Tom brought out his hand for him to shake it.

“...” Kraven continued to stare at Tom sternly, though it was hard to tell if he was actually staring since his eyes were covered by his maroon knit cap.

“He doesn’t like to be touched, and he doesn’t talk much.” Raya pointed out.

“Ah, okay. I can respect that. Sorry, man.” Tom waited for another response as Kraven continued to stare. “Heh… Cool, moving on.”

“This is Tiras—”

Tom went to greet the sky blue demon boy but he already interjected.

“Tiras Zephyrson. The pleasure is all mine, Your Highness.” He spoke with a haughty confidence and shook Tom’s hand quite firmly.

“Egh.” Tom winced quietly.

Wind began to blow around Tiras as he focused on the demon prince curiously. ‘This is the prince? I expected someone much more frightening and taller, and at least more handsome than me.’ He thought to himself arrogantly.

Tom rubbed his hand a little and continued with Raya to the last two demon teenagers.

“This is George.” Raya announced.

“Gargozoth.” The periwinkle demon boy corrected. He wore a dark-blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and suspenders hanging down his legs.

“Yeeaaa.” Raya drew out her agreement but then whispered to Tom, “He goes by that because he doesn’t think his real name is fitting for a demon.”

“Gotcha.” Tom whispered back but then stepped over to Gearge and said, “Hey, Geor--Erm, Gargozoth.” He brought out his hand with a slight smile.

George spoke with the gloomiest of spirits as he shook the other boy’s hand limply. “Your Highness’s appearance is like The Raven. Once perched and gandering down upon all of us from his chamber, but now our presence he’s commandeering. And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor…”

“Uhh…” Tom paused confused.

“TLDR version means ‘Nice to meet you’, as am I, Your Highness. My name is Indigo.” The pale yellow demon girl butted in with a curtsy. ‘He’s rather cute up close, I wonder if Raya is interested in him.’ She thought with a gleam in her eye.

“Nice to meet you both.” Tom responded. A pensive look began to grow on his face when he saw them. “I’m sorry, but you two look familiar. Have we met before?”

Indigo and George exchanged glances and were about to reply when Tiras took it upon himself to interrupt.

“The Blood Moon Ball. They were two of your attendees you selected at the outskirts of Prickly Plains, or do you not remember that?” Tiras spoke abrasively.

“Tiras…?” Raya murmured as she watched her friend concerned.

Tom quickly thought back to that time. ‘That’s right. I wanted to impress Star by making sure everything was normal for her, so I had Petey post fliers for approachable and attractive monsters and demons to audition for a chance to attend for free. Those two were there.’

~Back Then

“We’re next, we’re next!” Indigo cheered enthusiastically while gripping George’s arm and bouncing up and down.

“Please excuse my portrayal of excitement, it does not stir from the pit of my soul and overflow to an intense head as easily as yours.” George muttered

The demon pair had been standing in a line that seemed to stretch forever and they finally made it to the front.

“Alright, alright! Once the Prince sees us he won’t be able to say no. He may even be so weakened by my beauty that he will ask me to dance under the light of the Blood Moon. And once Raya and Blair find out, I bet they will be so jealous, hehehe!” Indigo swooned followed by a shrill giggle as she fantasized about how glamorous the occasion will be.

“Ugh… This is going to be absolutely dreadful…” George groaned.

“Next!” Tom called, though he was preoccupied since he was discussing preparations for the Ball with Brian and two other advisors at a judging table.

Indigo ambitiously pulled George along as they approached.

The demon girl began to say, “H-hello, Your Majesty! We think we should be considered because--”

“You’re in, collect your tickets to the left.” Tom informed them in an aloof tone as he snapped his fingers, barely glimpsing at the pair. One of the advising demons on his counsel pointed to a sizable winged demon in stocks on their left.

“Here you go.” The flying demon handed them the tickets.

Indigo accepted them without hesitation as she held them up victoriously to George. The boy demon just shrugged.

~Now

Tom was a little regretful for how he acted back then. Star consumed his world and, as a result, he neglected the Underworld and its inhabitants. But he knew now that you shouldn’t put up a false act just to win over the affections of another. He concurred ruefully, “You’re right, that’s where I saw them…”

“That’s the only place? You literally don’t remember them at the Ball at all?” Tiras chided now with his arms folded in frustration.

“Hey, you know we were just happy to go. No need to get defensive toward the Prince.” Indigo coaxed but it was no use.

“That’s not what you told me.” Tiras snapped and caused Indigo to jump at his sudden remark towards her.

Tiras kept up his heckling, “I heard it wasn’t anything like it was supposed to be. No bubbling cauldrons that melt flesh off. No garbage that destroys the universe. Was there even unicorn blood?!”

“There was that.” George mentioned aside to the others.

Tom’s eyebrows were furrowed as he stared down at the ground in silence.

“Sorry to be blunt,” Tiras crossed his arms over his chest and denounced, “But if you didn’t care about getting to know two of us then, why should we care about getting to know just you now? And making them go all the way outside of the city to be judged, that’s ridiculous. Prince or not, you should still treat others with some kind of value and not just to show off to your rich friends--”

“I agree with you.” Tom interrupted him.

“Huh?” Tiras gasped astounded.

Tom stared up at the other teenaged boy but didn’t look hurt at all from what he had been saying. He appeared relieved as he explained to him further, “My mind and heart weren’t in the right place back then. I hurt a lot of people and didn’t care how others felt. I was selfish, and full of myself. I wanted everything to be perfect for someone who found me unbelievably annoying at the time…”

Tom glanced at Raya and gave her a half smile as he continued. “It took some help from some special people to see where I was heading. I know now that being that way was wrong. I’m making amends for how I acted.” He then looked over to George and Indigo, “I’m sorry for not giving you my full attention when I should have back then. I hope we’re cool?”

“Yep.” Indigo piped up while George gave Tom a thumbs up.

Tom faced Tiras again and went on to tell him, “And I’m sorry I hurt your feelings too. Your friends are clearly special to you and you’re protective of them. I’d feel the same way you do if someone treated them like crud. Thanks for being honest with me about how I was. You seem like someone whose dignity I can respect. I just want to start over and make friends the right way…”

Tiras became flustered as if he were a little embarrassed by the compliment from Tom. He was about to come up with a counter but was quickly cut off.

“Tiras.” Raya stepped in front of Tom. “Remember, this is our Prince you choose to speak so carelessly towards. He’s my friend and I invited him here today. If you continue to try and belittle him then… I’ll lose all respect for you!”

Tiras mouth was agape in shock. “Ahh, no, no… Raya, I was just kidding. No need to be so harsh.”

“Apologize.”

“Hey, it’s all good—“ Tom began to say but Raya shot a glance at him that resembled her father’s so he quieted.

Raya diverted her attention back to Tiras and commanded, “Apologize to our Prince.”

Tiras looked back at each of his friends now eyeing him. He bowed down to Tom and mumbled, “I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

“Dude, it’s cool. We’re cool.”

Tiras regained his stance and turned away, walking into the arcade still with tinted red cheeks. Kraven followed.

“Don’t worry about him, Tom. He’s pretty arrogant.” Blair commented while patting the prince on the back.

“That was kind of a rough start, huh?” Tom said as he looked to Raya for reassurance.

“You’re fine, no worries. Tiras is stubborn, he’ll come around.” Raya smiled at Tom and wrapped one of her arms in his.

Tom began to blush but then Indigo suddenly did the same with his other arm.

“Come on, let’s play some games and have fun!” The other female demon said excitedly but seemed to shoot a strange glance in Raya’s direction, though she didn’t really pay it no mind.

George rolled his eyes, seeing all too well where this was going.

The remaining group of teenagers proceeded to enter the arcade.

“...” Kraven stared at the screen as the score popped up with a victorious tune indicating that he got a rank of ‘S’!

“Whoa!” Tom gasped in awe. They all took turns playing Dance Dance Revoltion but were nowhere as skillful as the latest player.

“Hehe, yep. Don’t let his size fool you, this is Kraven’s favorite game.” Raya explained with a giggle.

The larger teenaged boy stepped off the dancing platform and seemed to slowly be heading towards the food court.

Raya noticed and quickly whispered to Tom, “He always works up an appetite after playing, this is your chance!”

“Oh really?” Tom was a bit apprehensive. “But he doesn’t like to talk I thought?”

“Food is THE universal language! Go, hurry.” Raya nudged the unsure demon boy.

“Alright, here goes!” He gave in with a newfound air of confidence and jogged through the crowd to catch up to the retreating teen.

Raya called after him, “And his favorite thing to order are the Poisonberry Shakes!”

Tom waved back to show he heard her suggestion, all the while Tiras sat at one of the booths sulking while observing the exchange.

“What’s wrong? Jealous?” Indigo asked Tiras with a mischievous smile on her face.

The blue demon boy shot up from his hunched position and smirked back at her as he replied, “Jealous? Isn’t that your prerogative? A Zephyrson doesn't know such a homely emotion.”

“You mean you try not to show it.” Indigo corrected. She looked rather delighted as she leaned on the table with her chin in her hands.

“Ugh… Whatever.” Tiras scoffed. He was now watching Raya and Blair race each other on a virtual dragoncycle game. “I mean, just because he’s a prince, Raya wants to spend all this time with him. He doesn’t seem that much like one of us. What does she see in him anyway?”

“He’s handsome, duh.” Indigo swooned.

“What?! S-Stop playing around.” Tiras became flustered again.

“You don’t see it because you are so conceited.” The teenaged girl began to cackle. “But if Raya doesn’t act fast I might have to scoop him up for myself, teehee.”

“Then you have bad eyes if you think he’s more attractive than me!” Tiras argued back.

“Both of you belong together.” George said calmly as he sipped from a coffee mug in the booth behind them.

Both Tiras and Indigo gasped simultaneously after being startled by his presence. “Could you not do that!”

Kraven was standing at the counter by the time Tom got there. The employee just asked if he was ready to order.

“Hey, man! What’s up?” Tom greeted and hung over the counter.

Kraven glanced down at him but then back to the attendant.

“Yea, I’m kind of hungry too. What’s good exactly?” The smaller teen was trying to skim over the menu board.

“Well, he is a regular here, he usually always gets the same thing… 20 tacos.” The employee mentioned.

“Okay, I love tacos! I’ll take the same thing. With hot sauce on the side, please.”

“Alright, one moment sir, let me calculate your order. Is it together or separate?” The employee asked.

Kraven reached for his wallet out of his back pocket but Tom halted him.

“Hey, no problem. This is on me.” Tom offered. “Oh, and can we add two Poisonberry Shakes?”

“Sure, one moment sir.” The employee began typing in the order on her register.

Kraven seemed to stare down at Tom with some curiosity now.

The demon prince paid the total and they both stepped to the side to wait for their food. It was awkward at first since Kraven didn’t really speak but Tom was determined to get to know him.

“So… Tacos, huh?” Tom said trying to break the ice.

“...” Kraven didn’t stir.

“My best friend’s favorite food is tacos, well actually it’s nachos. He makes some killer nachos back on Earth… well I guess it isn’t Earth anymore...” Tom rambled.

The two boys stood in silence again.

“This place is pretty cool. Well, you would know, you guys come here all-all the t-time.” Tom stammered as he rubbed the back of his head.

Kraven leaned up against a nearby claw machine and folded his arms.

Tom began to think to himself. ‘This isn’t going too well. I knew he didn’t want to be bothered. And why’s our order taking a long time? How hard is it to make 40 tacos? In Yomi Town the food came out quick. This guy probably would never leave… Oh, that’s right!’

“Hey, were you the one Raya and I bought the chocolate scorpions for?” Tom asked him.

Having caught his attention, Kraven turned his head to focus on the Prince.

“It was you, right?” Tom seemed to be happy to find out he was the one to receive that particular gift. “Dude, you have to go there one day. They had all sorts of delicious food, you’d love it! Raya said a lot of the stuff was imports from up above, food you can’t get anywhere else or that has been banned for sale in other regions! We tried some of these flaming corn kabobs, Minotaur Cheese, and sugared arachnids, and this Hydra sashimi, Pegasuswings breaded in pixie dust (so good!), dry-cured pig-goat bacon, Ember Berry nectar on fresh-caught Scylla eggs—“

As Tom listed the delicacies from Yomi Town, Kraven seemed to be entranced by the wide array of food selections to the point of almost drooling. He didn’t even hear the attendant call out their order number.

“Oh, food’s done!” Tom realized from the fifth announcement. He went to grab both trays but Kraven intercepted them. The larger boy seemed to be offering to carry the trays to the table. “Oh, okay. Thanks, man.”

Kraven gave Tom a smirk with a nod and they went back to join their friends.

“Do you mind if we sit with you, Geo—Gargozoth?” Tom asked.

George fanned his hand to the empty space in the curved booth in a “by all means” kind of way.

The two boys sat down with the other and began to eat.

Tom was putting hot sauce before he took each bite. George watched him rather intrigued. “Curiouser and curiouser our demon Prince becomes.”

“Hm?” Tom looked up from his tray.

“You share a habit with another, is all I mean.” George began to turn the page of his book he’d been reading.

Tom glanced at his coffee mug on the table and was excited to ask. “Oh! You’re the friend we bought the gourmet coffee for in Yomi Town too? That griffin stuff.”

George replied, “Kopi Griff, yes. The beans are digested by griffins and the remains create the coffee.” He then took a sip from his mug as Tom and Kraven stopped eating and stared at him rather disgusted. George gave them a grin. “Heh. No need to fret, this is just regular processed coffee from the food court.”

The boys started to eat again as Blair and Raya came over to the table.

“Tacos! Can I have some, please, please!” Blair pleaded with drool creeping from the edge of zir lip.

Kraven hunched over his tray to protect it.

“Sure, all of you can if you want.” Tom offered.

Tom scooted over to Kraven as Raya and Blair sat down with them.

“Thank you!” Blair beamed happily as ze reached over for a taco, causing Raya to press up against Tom and left both teens blushing.

“S-so, what did you want to do next? Uh-not just y-you, I mean. What do all if you want to do next?” Tom stammered while he darted his eyes from Raya and focused on the tacos in front of him.

Raya was still blushing as she picked up one and proceeded to put hot sauce on after each bite. “W-Well there’s Sat-Man or Ms. Sat-Man, either one is fun. There’s some shooter games like Gloom, House of the Mewmans, and Spacaga. Or if you want to get real competitive, there’s pitchfork bowling or even flamethrower tag—“

“Oh! Like what we did in Yomi Town?” He remembered as he applied hot sauce before his bite.

“Mhmm!” She muffled a confirmation, not wanting to impolitely open her mouth full of food.

George was watching amused with a slight grin across his face.

“So you guys did a lot there, huh?” Blair asked. Indigo and Tiras in the adjacent booth seemed to be eavesdropping.

“Yea, there was so much to do! There was this awesome temple where they did rituals, and ziplining through the caves, and every hour this flaming geyser Old Fearful erupts. We raced hot air balloons powered by these itty bitty dragons--” As Tom gushed over the trip, Raya began to smile to herself remembering all the fun they had. “--and, like I was telling Kraven earlier, the food we ate at this hotel before going to the hot spring was--”

“Whaaaat?!” Blair interrupted bemused. “Raya and you went to the hot spring together? Like bathed in it? How lewd!” Blair grew a naughty smirk from such knowledge. Kraven hung his mouth open in shock while George almost choked on his sip of coffee.

“N-no, it wasn’t like that!” Raya and Tom both said together flushed with embarrassment.

Indigo quickly popped up from the booth behind them with an alarmed expression after hearing how the situation turned. She moved over to the one her friends were occupying in a blink of an eye with Tiras in pursuit.

“Oh stop your teasing, hehe.” Indigo gave a nervous laugh as she interjected. “Raya is a good girl, she wouldn’t do that. She’s never even had a boyfriend before.”

“Guys!” Raya groaned pulling her hoodie over her head and not wanting to be apart of this awkward subject.

“I swear nothing like that happened!” Tom spat out in their defense.

“Haha! I was just joking.” Blair stuck zir tongue out and winked in a playful way.

Tiras had an irritated expression cross his face as he finally sat down in the booth while Indigo and George scooted over to make what little room they had left for him.

“Soooo anyway,” Indigo tried turning the attention back to something more appropriate, and less about a possible relationship between her girlfriend and the demon prince. “You were telling us about Yomi Town.”

Tom gathered his composure again and continued, “Oh, well there was also the shopping district. It had this amazing music store, that’s where we bought some of the souvenirs for all of you.”

“Whaaa?” Indigo gasped surprised. “Raya, why didn’t you tell us the Prince helped you pick out the gifts you got us?” she said with a whine, bumping elbows with George. He shifted over to try and reclaim some of his personal space.

“I didn’t?” Raya looked actually puzzled from the thought. She put one of her hands behind her head and tipped it in an apologetic gesture while giving one of her clueless smiles, “I guess it slipped my mind. Heh.”

Indigo lightly slapped her own forehead and mumbled, “Oh Raya…”

Blair realized something and asked the prince, “Ah! So you helped Raya pick all that out? Even mine too?”

“You mean the widely-sought-after-by-fans album of THE Love Sentence with songs that hadn’t been released from when they first started out?” Tom turned toward Blair enthused, “Nah, that was all her before we ran into each other. But, let me just say, I’m SUPER jealous that you got the last copy that was there because if I would’ve seen it first I SO would’ve bought it!”

“Really, really?!” Blair giggled with joy as ze grasped Raya’s shoulders.

“Chyeah! I’m their number one fan!” Tom declared proudly.

“Whaaat?! I love them!” Blair squished Raya closer towards the demon boy by accident during zir fit of excitement--Tiras and Indigo were overcome with distress once again.

Tom was actually unfazed by their closeness this time as he responded to his fellow fan, “Love them so much it gives you an…”

“Awesome Feeling!” Both fans sang in harmony.

“And you were like oooh-aahh-ooohh.” Blair started the chorus as ze leaned in toward Raya’s left shoulder.

“And I was like ooohh-weee-ooohhh.” Tom added, also leaning on Raya’s right shoulder.

“Hey! Why don’t we do flamethrower tag!” Indigo suggested while slamming her hands on the booth’s table and trying to steer the situation again.

Blair snapped out of zir singing session and agreed, “Yes, lets, lets!”

“Ugh, now?” Tiras protested while folding his arms. “Why not let all that food settle in your stomachs—“

“Come on, it should cheer you up. It’s your favorite game after all.” Raya said sweetly to her stubborn friend.

A blushing Tiras mumbled while he averted his gaze, “O-okay…”

Tom was beginning to notice this change in emotion and the effect Raya seemed to have over the other teen. For some reason he was starting to feel discouraged.

“That’s the spirit, let’s go then!” Blair urged and pointed off as if directing everyone toward a grand adventure ready to unfold.

The part of the arcade that had recreational activities other than video games was at its center and shaped like the inside of a great colosseum. It was mystifying how all this could fit inside such a building, the cramped appearance seen from outside of the arcade was very misleading.

But I’m one to talk, I built my carriage myself and it is as if stepping into another dimension because of all the space inside.

The application of the flamethrower device was the same and so were the rules. The playing arena was much different than the Yomi Town since it went with a very Roman theme, fitting for this arcade. I knew it would be fun based on the activity and the game chosen; however, the only thing I was apprehensive about was our team dynamics. Raya, Blair, and Indigo were the opposing team against us guys.

I couldn’t lie; it was still a bit awkward with the group I was in. Kraven was still hard to communicate with since he didn’t like to talk and George spoke in confusing sentences at times. Then there’s Tiras. He doesn’t seem to like me at all. And I feel that bias has to do with Raya. If I didn’t know any better, he obviously has a crush on her.

We were traveling through the hypogeum of the arena with Tiras in front, Kraven on the tail end, and George and I together in the middle.

Tiras, who was our acting captain, halted at the edge of a long stone ruin and peered around to see if he could spot the enemy. If it wasn’t for the light of the torches, we would barely be able to see in front of us.

“Let’s hold here.” He ordered. We all huddled close behind him.

I take it being in a leader role was something always expected of him by his group of friends. He seems confident and is without a doubt strong. So having someone like me here, future ruler of all demons, must make him uncomfortable. And his reluctance to get along with me also stems from my friendship with Raya. Her and I spend time together where it’s been just the two of us. So he is probably jealous of that too the more he hears about it... How long has he known her? And how long has he liked her? I wonder if he ever told her…

I wonder if I told Raya how I felt, would she really want to be with someone like me that she hasn’t really known for very long…?

Since Tiras’s back was now all I could see from our formation, I noticed some band buttons on the lower flank of his jacket during my deep thinking.

LTJ? Hmm, I like that band too… At least we have some things in common other than our love interest with the same girl.

Tiras glanced behind him and caught me staring down his back. He became flustered and questioned me, “W-Whatcha gawking at?!” He tried tilting his head to see down his backside.

I also became flustered and began to chuckle nervously. “Heh. N-nothing. Just uh, admiring uh, your butt-uh—”

“What?!” Tiras’s blue skin color turned completely red.

“Buttons!” I quickly corrected myself.

The other teen darted his head forward again still blushing while Kraven and George could be heard snickering behind us.

Wow, I can’t believe I just said that. Now he can add ‘being weird’ to the list of why he’s uncomfortable around me.

“So…” I started to say in hopes of breaking the awkwardness, “What’s the plan?”

Tiras cleared his throat and tried calming himself enough to respond to me. “W-we’re going to head down that passage way on the right.”

I popped my head around the corner to see what he was talking about. It looked completely dark down that path while another passageway was leading back up to the main floor.

I thought over whether I should mention that or just keep my mouth shut. Maybe he doesn’t realize the disadvantage we might be in or maybe he has something up his sleeve…

I’ll just give it a shot anyway. So I suggested, “Wouldn’t it be better to head back upstairs where we could see?”

“What? Is our prince scared of the dark?” Tiras spat out.

Dude, do you even know what real darkness even is? Or what it feels like…

Unexpectedly, George spoke up on my behalf. “I agree with Tom. Do we continue to run blindly through the madhouse to a destined fail? You know they always find a way to beat us at this game.”

“Well that’s not happening today. That’s why we are going to give them the element of surprise by doing something they won’t expect.” Tiras assured us of his view for victory.

“Surprise!” Blair shrieked while zir head popped up from a shadowed spot in the floor between Tiras and I.

“Gyaaagh!” I screamed from the sudden shock of seeing only Blair’s head as we all started to run. Ze started to laugh maniacally as ze held up zir nozzle and unleashed the flames from within zir tanks.

“And so it came to fruition as I have prophesied..” George groaned.

“Hey, we agreed on no powers!” Tiras protested while ducking behind another pillar.

“Hm? Must’ve missed that part.” Blair disputed and stuck out zir tongue. All of a sudden ze stepped out of the shadow on the floor and pulled Raya and Indigo out of it.

“Well if that’s how we are going to play then… Let’s play!” Tiras had a gleam of excitement in his eye as he brought his hand by his own nozzle. I felt a gust of wind shoot passed me and twirl around him just like when he shook my hand during our first encounter. Within an instance, as the gust blew, it merged with the fire from the flamethrower and hurled at the other team in mighty blast.

“Determined to win, are we?” Indigo smirked while commanding Raya to act quickly. “Hurry Raya, let’s show ‘em!”

“Alright.” Raya piped up as she placed her hands to the ground. All of a sudden a stone wall came up in front of their group and shielded them from the inferno. It ignited on impact and trembled the chamber.

“Are you sure this is a game? You guys are acting like you are trying to kill each other?!” I objected.

“This is how we play, Prince.” Tiras remarked. He quickly squinted his eyes as if searching for something but then became alarmed. “Oh no! We lost sight of Blair--”

“Surprise!” Blair shrieked again now popping out from the darkness in the wall. Ze unloaded zir flamethrower on us yet again.

Kraven immediately shoved us out of the way and sacrificed himself by taking the brunt of zir attack, which luckily hit only the sensor on the flamethrower apparatus he was wearing. By singeing the sensor, you would be considered ‘out’.

“Haha! One down, one down!” Blair cheered. Ze quickly retreated into the shadow before ze was tagged by Tiras’s burst of flames.

“Ugh! This sucks!” Tiras growled with clenched fists around the gun of his flamethrower.

Kraven shrugged and headed toward the lobby of the arena to wait for the game to finish.

“Perhaps would be a keen moment to take flight back to the world above.” George insisted.

“If you mean run upstairs then I second that!” I added.

Blair rejoined Raya and Indigo as they stood their ground.

“Whatever, lets go before Blair tags us all.” Tiras faltered.

As we proceed to the path that led upstairs, a wall of stone suddenly built up from the ground and blocked the way. by Raya’s doing, of course.

“Uh-uh, not so fast.” Indigo teased. “Looks like you’re going to lose again, Tiras.”

With their flamethrowers ready to fire, the enemy was closing in. George gave a sigh in defeat and Tiras had his head held down as well. I felt kind of bad for him. They mentioned that this was his favorite game but he seems to always lose from what George said. And today hasn’t been a good day for him at all. He didn’t seem to have any fun or participate during any of the games until now--one in which we are losing. Even if he didn’t like me, I didn’t want him to feel so crushed any longer.

If this is how they want to play, then I might as well get serious too. Fire is my specialty after all.

And with that, my three eyes began to glow and I brought my hands up. All of a sudden, a wave of fire exploded from the ground, too fast for Raya to create a barrier of stone to stop it or for Blair to escape into a shadow from it. The flames broke through the ceiling and sent them flying into the air above ground, hitting all of their sensors in the process.

I levitated the guys and myself above ground as the alarm was sounding off in the arena that indicated that our team had won the game. Everyone was mystified at such a feat, including Tiras.

“That was freakin’ killer, Tom! What a way to win!” Blair congratulated me.

“Definitely did not see that coming, but you are a prince and we shouldn’t have underestimated how amazing you are.” Indigo concurred as she plopped down on the couch.

We were now in one of the swanky karaoke rooms in Tartarus. There were all sorts of colorful lights on the ceiling that would move in sync with the song and huge speakers were in each corner of the room to give a solid surround sound. There was a long leather sectional couch with a table in front of it with some pizza we ordered. The video monitor on the wall was idle and waiting for its first singer to approach, but we all had been too busy discussing the session of flamethrower tag we just got back from to even begin.

George sipped from his coffee mug beside Indigo and told her, “I must admit, I was beginning to lose the faculty of enjoying that activity, alas seeing your destruction unfold for the first time has given me a change of heart.”

“Hey, stop rubbing it in.” Indigo nagged at him.

I was a little embarrassed from all the praise. It wasn’t my intention to show off, I just didn’t want Tiras to lose. I hope he understands.

I glanced at the other side of the couch where he was sitting to see his reaction. Raya was sitting next to him and flipping through an album of songs. Watching her made my heart race and almost forget why I looked over there. But instead of seeing a scowling Tiras, he was chatting with Kraven (more like a one-sided conversation) and didn’t have that miserable expression anymore. He looked somewhat happy!

I smiled to myself knowing I at least accomplished a few of my goals I set out to do today. But I still felt as if there was one more push I could do to really win them all over.

“Who wants to go first?” Indigo asked as she cradled the microphone in her palm.

“Me, me!” Blair waved zir hands as if to be picked.

“No way, you always choose a Love Sentence song so you get to go last this time.” Indigo refused to give the microphone to zir.

“Aww but I want to sing ‘Just Friends’ with Tom!” Blair whined.

Raya slammed the album shut to gather everyone’s attention. “Actually…” She stood up and stepped over to me as she suggested, “Tom should go first since he won the game for his team. And he is our special guest for today.”

I blushed as she spoke. “Well, if you really want me to… But what should I pick?”

Raya handed me the album and said with a smile so sweet I could surely get cavities from, “Anything you choose will be fine.”

“Yay! Can’t wait to hear it!” Blair cheered as ze hopped over to the couch and sat on the other side of George.

Raya returned to her spot beside Tiras and waited for my selection. Tiras and Kraven continued their side conversation quietly as Indigo and George began to eat some of the pizza with Blair.

I went over to the karaoke machine with the album and started flipping through it. I felt all this pressure on me now. What if I pick something corny or silly? What if I pick a song they hate? Maybe I should just pick anything and give it a shot…

Suddenly, my eyes caught the name of a very familiar band. I thought it over but had this strange feeling deep down that it had to be a song by them. It was as if it were fate. Of all the songs to be listed by them, the one I went to choose was my favorite. I knew all the words without the assistance and it was fun, wild, and different. Just like Raya’s friends.

I punched the song number into the machine and sat the album on the shelf next to it. I retrieved the microphone from Indigo and stood at the front of the display screen, confident of my selection.

I took a deep breath and was ready to belt it out.

As the instruments from the speakers began the intro of the song, the demon teenagers sitting on the couch all froze in bewilderment. From the horn section to the drum build up, they heard a song they all knew too well.

Tom began to sing without reservation.

“You think it's strange, that there's a way

of how you looked and how you act and how you think,

pretend they're not the same as you...

You think it's strange, that there's a way

of how you looked and how you act and how you think,

pretend they're not the same as you!”

His voice was in perfect tune and didn’t trip up at any of the lyrics that came fast. It was as if he was meant for this kind of lifestyle.

‘OMD, I love his voice!’ Indigo thought with hearts in her eyes.

George was in mid-sip of his coffee and had his eyes totally fixated on the demon prince.

‘He’s incredible!’ Blair was clapping in celebration of the prince.

Kraven’s mouth was hanging open in awe.

“Whoa…” Tiras whispered to himself as he listened intently.

“Do you know about her strength in convictions?--

Raya’s eyes had that dreamlike expression cross her face. She was holding one of her hands to her mouth and couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. ‘Is this really happening? This was the song I played this morning and…’ She thought.

--Or how she puts all her faith in religion?”

As the lights gleamed a brilliant white light against the singing teen, he glanced in her direction and held out his hand to her while singing.

“Did we take the time to really discover--

Raya’s eyes began to sparkle as she remembered, ‘This was my dream…’ She instinctively reached for his hand but stopped herself. Amid everyone getting caught up in the thrill of the song, Raya had an indescribable feeling overcome her. She held her hands to her cheeks to hide the fact that she was blushing.

--How little we know about each other!”

The lights were spazzing out with the drop of the chorus. The group of friends couldn’t contain their urge anymore. They all erupted from the couch and joined in singing along and dancing about.

Tiras, Tom, and Blair went back and forth on the mic between lines:

“Keep us from saying anything--” ~Blair

“Can't separate from everything--” ~Tiras

“And all this really means is you're one in a crowd--”~Tom

“And you're paranoid of every sound!” ~Tiras and Blair

“Another friend you won't miss anyhow!” ~Together

Everyone was rocking out with the music and enjoying every bit of it as they all took turns singing the rest of the song with Tom. Except Raya. She didn’t realize she was still seated but quickly stood up as soon as she did so to not arouse suspicion. Indigo looped her arm in hers and tried to get the other girl to skank along with her. Raya did, though only slightly since she was still bewitched by what was overrunning her mind at that moment.

As the song came to an end, everyone clapped and hollered for the prince.

“That was amazing! You’re amazing!” Blair jumped up and down while holding onto his shoulders.

“Bravo, bravo.” George clapped along with Kraven.

Indigo had pulled Raya with her into the huddle. “I can’t believe you can sing like that, and a song we all love too! How’d you know?”

“Thanks everyone, that was so fun!” An exhilarated Tom beamed. He was grinning from ear to ear because he finally felt accepted.

Tiras approached Tom and they both held each other's gaze for a moment. But then the demon boy did something Tom never would’ve expected. He smiled at him, and genuinely at that!

“You’re exactly who we’ve been looking for!” Tiras said with a toothy grin as he wrapped one of his arms around Tom’s shoulders.

Tom was taken aback by the sudden personality change and stuttered, “W-what? L-looking for?”

Indigo folded her arms across her chest and watched Tiras with a peculiar expression, “Oh, buddies now hmm?”

“Of course!” Tiras began to repeatedly pat Tom across the back lightly as he spoke, “This is our prince! He is just like one of us, can’t you see it?”

“Hmm...With a voice like that, he’d really help us achieve the style we’re going for.” Indigo commented.

“And he is fun to hang out with. I vote yes!” Blair added.

George and Kraven both nodded their affirmation.

Raya was standing outside of the group as if not wanting to be seen. She was clutching her hands together to her chest still deep in thought and not paying attention to the conversation. She didn’t hear Indigo call her name until she placed her hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, Underworld to Raya. Anybody home?” Indigo asked while nudging her.

Raya snapped out of it and faced the other girl. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was just… I’m sorry, what were we all talking about?”

“You felt it too, right? The way he sings is perfect. It’s what we’ve been searching for. Let’s ask him.” Indigo told her.

Tom finally interjected, “Um, excuse me but ask me what exactly?”

Tiras stepped away from their friendly embrace and joined his friends. They all faced Tom and had a look of both admiration and determination on their faces.

Tiras smirked confidently and asked of him, “We want you to be the lead singer in our band. Will you join the Seven Undeadly Sins?”

#TomVSTheUnderworldFanfic #TVTU #svtfoe #oc #oc fanfiction #starvstheforcesofevil #tom lucitor #star vs the forces of evil #The Underworld

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ladyjonquilinthenorth · 7 years

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The Sisters Stark- A Study in Contrasts.

Sansa and Arya have never gotten along. From their earliest days, GRRM (and the show) has set out to make the contrast between the two sisters especially…stark (sorry!). Sansa dreams of handsome knights and talented singers and majestic castles. Her dearest wish is to become the Lady of a great house, just like her mother. So when the fortunate opportunity arises for her to become queen of the Seven Kingdoms, it’s no wonder that she jumps at the chance. Arya, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to practice swordplay with Jon and Robb in the yard, climb the keep’s walls with Bran, and generally do things that would cause most ladies of noble birth to put their hands to their mouths and faint dead away. The farthest thing from her mind is needlework with Sansa and their dour faced Septa. So you see, complete opposites.

In King’s Landing, Arya constantly finds herself being made to attend court with her father and sister, always being reprimanded for not acting like the lady she was born to be. She feels completely out of her element until her father, in his wisdom, hires a sword master to teach her proper use of her “needle”. It is only then that Arya feels fulfilled.

Sansa, however, is forced to face life to the fullest. She quickly learns that her dreams of gallant, dashing knights, are not in the least bit tales told true . In fact, most of those she meets, Joffrey in particular, are violent, heartless creatures who would not hesitate to bring dishonor to a lady or harm to those less fortunate. The same romantic figures that once occupied her daydreams have become the very monsters she was hoping to be protected from.

Some might say, this is an essential part of the maturing process. As we grow, we learn that not all dreams we had as children are rooted in reality. As harsh as it sounds, real maturity comes when we can let go of the flights and fancies of childhood, while at the same time, doing our absolute to make the best of our current surroundings and come out on top.

The Stranger

Arya is the Stranger. That much is clear. Ever since the death of Mycah at the hands of the Hound, her kill list has grown with every loss. She brings Death. She IS Death.

And ever since embarking on her goal of vengeance, she has never veered from her target. She endured humiliation, poverty, abuse, blindness, all in the name of mastering her “needlework” and becoming a Faceless Man. For what? To finish her list and to bring the wrath of the North down upon those who have wronged her.

Arya has not matured. She has not moved from her goal or expanded her world view. She has been so focused on delivering Death that she has refused to consider any other path. Therefore, I think that the ultimate end to her journey will be to embrace Death. In the words of JK Rowling, she will “greet Death as an old friend”, in the sense that this is what she has been striving for her entire life.

Once Arya’s kill list is completed, there is not much purpose left to her character. There isn’t even much she herself would want to live for. And that’s why I think she will die.

The Maiden

The Maiden is the embodiment of youth, purity, innocence, and all that is beautiful in the world. And once upon a time, that’s exactly what Sansa was. But since then, events have taken place that leave Sansa as far removed from these descriptions as possible.

Through her trials with Joffrey, Cersei, Tyrion, Littlefinger, and Ramsay, Sansa has gained an acute knowledge of the dealing of men (and women) and a keen understanding of just what it takes to win at the Game of Thrones. In my opinion, her story arc is one of the most extreme of all the players we have encountered. She, who was once a delusional girl given to unrealistic flights of fancy, has witnessed her ideals stripped away particle by particle, and through the process of a thorough and brutal deconstruction of her ideas, become a woman so knowledgeable in the finer intricacies of human nature, that it’s only natural she should become a key player herself.

Sansa has never had a lust for power, or blood, for that matter. Only for rightful retribution. And in that, she is very similar to Arya. But Sansa has a very different motivation. Despite all her dreams being submerged in reality, she still holds on to them and in her heart of hearts hopes that one day they will indeed come true. She still dreams of castles and handsome knights and singers with the voices of nightingales. But now she knows what the true measure of a knight is, and can therefore appreciate one much more when he does appear. She knows that what is on the outside must reflect that which is on the inside. Otherwise, she is looking at a mummer’s dragon.

Sansa has matured, in the truest sense of the word. She could have sat in her room in the Eyrie or Winterfell and played the victim, bemoaned her current situation. But no. She chose to rise above it. She learned from her abusers and became savvy enough to use their own tricks against them, thereby earning her freedom, as well as the knowledge to play the Game.

How it will end

Please be aware that we are presently leaving the realm of fact and entering the realm of conjecture. Be sure to have your tin-foil hats ready.

We need to ask ourselves, what would be the most satisfying conclusion for these characters based on their respective storylines?

Let’s start with Sansa. As mentioned before, Sansa still holds dear the dreams of knights and castles and pretty songs. But she has matured. She knows that not every helmet hides a handsome face and not every castle promises the comforts of home. But let’s imagine for a second that she will come full circle. She will get her handsome prince and her turreted keep, but it will come at a price. That of her innocence. And when it does come, she will be able to appreciate it that much more with the knowledge she has gained.

Let’s be real for a sec. This IS GRRM. So any version of “bittersweet” he wants to serve up, I’ll happily accept.

Now, who else do we know that cherishes dreams of castles and just a peaceful, drama-free life? Why Sansa’s very own cousin, Jon Snow. Jon “I will never let anyone touch you ever again” Snow. Jon “you are to me” Stark Snow.

And now I invite you to draw your own conclusions as to the nature of their relationship.

As for Arya, death is an old friend. Death is the goal, and she will greet it contentedly. Maybe after seeing Gendry first.

HUGE shoutout to @heathergee25 for listening to my ramblings and helping to hash this out into a a semblance of logic. Thank you!

#sansa stark #arya stark #gottheory #the stranger #the maiden #jonxsansa #jonsa #tin-foil

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shadow-is-upon-us · 7 years

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Unexpected

Hello mates and welcome to my first try at a Dishonored fic. A one shot I did because I needed to, since the ending to Death of the Outsider kinda... killed me. So, this is what it came to. Low chaos through all games and DLCs so, there's that (and non-lethal assassinations) Also, spoilers for all games and DLCs - you've been warred. Might be kinda out of character, since it's my first attempt, but consider it humor.

Okay, done, read, review and enjoy~

You can also read it on FanFic or Ao3

They all felt a shift in the Void, but no one was quite sure what happened. At least, until Billie showed up with the Outsider himself, only his eyes were clear. The whole, ‘adopt him’ bit was even more weird.

It's hardly been a week since Delilah was taken care of, trapped in her own fairy tale world. Dunwall was still recovering, and so were Corvo, who had been trapped in stone for two months, and Emily, who worked to restore her throne.

Corvo was still somewhat weak from the prolonged imprisonment, but he had said it was better than Coldridge Prison, so he won't complain. Emily was mostly just happy to be home and didn't need to scavenge up food or coin, even if it was fun at times. Both of them spent the first few days just… resting, doing light work. And no one blamed them. But then, Attano got a surprise visit from an 'old friend', if he could call him that…

"Corvo, my dear friend," the familiar echo of the Outsider's voice rang in his ears and he let out a muffled groan. Suddenly waking up in the Void was never fun, and probably never will be. Maybe only to this God though.

"Outsiders… It's been a while, hasn't it?" the Royal Protector got off the bed and saw he was, as usual, on a piece of rock floating in the Void. "I see nothing's changed here," he muttered to himself, looking at the Whale passing by casually.

"It has been an interesting two months, hasn't it? Your daughter impressed me in much the same way you did, when we first met," the Leviathan was sitting on a slob of stone and Corvo leaned on a broken wall nearby.

"She mentioned yes… I'm proud she managed to restrain herself, even when faced with all these enemies," the father couldn't keep the pride from his voice as he smiled. Emily really outdid herself, but she always said it was because of him. Because she was trying to follow in his footsteps of never shedding blood until absolutely necessary.

"I'm curious, if you would have done the same," the Outsider asked, a small glimmer in his black eyes and a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"…I would have tried," came the answer. "I don't know about Delilah… I heard-," he cut himself off, rubbing his face. It was still a lot to take in, what Daud did fifteen years ago. And how his former Lieutenant – Billie Lurk helped Emily now. He learned all that soon after being freed as Emily needed to tell someone who would understand fully.

"It seems your mercy has rubbed off on more than your daughter," the God sounded so amused as he said that and disappeared in his usual fashion, only to appear atop a stone wall, moments later.

"Are you lonely today? Because you're clearly just… killing time," Attano said suddenly, and he saw the Outsider was taken back. Heck, he even looked away.

"We haven't spoken in two months," the God quickly recovered and disappeared, only to appear in front of the Royal Protector a moment later. "I am curious."

"Emily would probably be able to tell you more about anything that happened than me," Attano said automatically, mentally smacking himself. He still doesn't like the fact his daughter got Marked, but it was her choice. He's just waiting for her to ask him about his own Mark. Not looking forward to that conversation though…

"Perhaps… But she is, new, to all of this. And needs more time to process all of it. You on the other hand, are quite used to it," Corvo only frowned slightly as the Leviathan seemed to chuckle.

"Shall we take a walk?" the Outsider smirked and waved his hand towards the left, where stone and metal seemed to appear of out nowhere to create a path from one floating island to the other.

"You really are acting weirder than usual…" Corvo let out a small chuckle but followed the Leviathan none the less.

"I feel as if I should… apologize," the Outsider said as they walked. Attano gave him a baffled look because today was just getting weirder and weirder.

"I did not know about Delilah until it was too late… She drifted in the Void for a near decade, before being freed. I should have warned you," the God didn't look at his mortal friend, instead keeping his eyes fixed in the distance.

"Yeah, you probably should have…" Corvo said with a small sigh and saw the Leviathan twitch slightly. "But she probably would have found some other way to do this…" he added soon after and continued walking, even as the Outsider stopped in his tracks.

"Corvo," the God said and it sounded anxious? Worried? He couldn't quite place it, but the Royal Protector sat down on some rocks, resting his arms on his knees.

"Do you think it is my fault? That Delilah did, what she did?" the question took the mortal by surprise, especially since it sounded like he wanted to add more. But still, Attano shook his head, to make sure he heard right.

"…You sound guilty?" he stated first because he still hasn't processed the fact the Outsider asked him a question like that.

"Perhaps I am," the Leviathan had his hands behind his back, staring off into the Void again.

Corvo sighed and leaned back on the stones, looking up at the purple glowing lantern floating by. He wasn't really sure what to say, because, he never thought he'd have to say it. Then again, maybe it was who he had to say it to that was so strange.

"How long ago did you Mark Delilah?"

"Decades," was the answer, and Attano could see the God tense. "She may not show it, wandering the Void for 12 years, but she's much older than she seems."

"And Daud?" he never took his eyes off his companion who frowned slightly.

"He was seeking me out since a young age… I granted him the mark at the age of 25, I believe," his voice was getting more and more strained.

"That's about the same age Emily is…" Corvo mused, letting out a small sigh. "I was near 40 when you gave it to me… Hah, now I really do feel old."

"Do you have a point here?" the Outsider snapped his head to the mortal, actually looking annoyed. "You didn't answer my question."

"…" Corvo gave him a steady look before closing his eyes and shaking his head. "My point, is that people change over the years." Opening his eyes, he saw the Leviathan looked puzzled and confused and couldn't help but chuckle.

"If you have given me my Mark at the age most others got it, things would have been different. So, when you Marked Delilah and Daud, you might now have really seen what would happen… You can't control us or our actions."

There was a moment of silence as the Outsider seemed to process the information, relaxing his stance and opening his eyes slightly.

"So, no, I don't blame you for what Delilah did. Or Daud, for that matter…" the last bit was said more silently, but it seemed to echo in the Void. "We make our own choices. You just gave us the tools to do it."

Another silence as the two stared at each other, before the Royal Protector looked away and into the Void again.

"I'm from Serkonos… And Emily was there now…" his voice was softer, quieter, as his expression turned to sadness. "There's always at least one duet singing that song, even if it's not the Month of Darkness yet," glancing at the Outsider showed him stiffen again. "I know it supposedly tells your story… What they did to you. Don't know how much of it is true, but it's the closest thing we have to a real story… So, I know you didn't chose this yourself," a humorless chuckle escaped him. "Seems like none of us ever did…"

"…Thank you, Corvo," the God said and Attano could have sworn he saw a real smile on his lips right before he disappeared. But this time, he didn't see him appear again.

"We have never really had a proper conversation have we… I'm glad we finally did, even if it's for the last time," the words echoed all around and Corvo was confused, but seconds later, he woke up in his bed, as he was supposed to.

It was about a week later, that both Corvo and Emily felt something shift. Their Marks burned and it was only luck it didn't happen during some meeting or whatnot, since they both felt like their hand would melt.

"What was that?" Emily asked, holding her pained hand and looking from the Mark to her father. By now, she knew his story, if only partly, because he didn't wish to go into detail of what happened fifteen years ago. And she can't blame him.

"…Something's happened to the Outsider…" Corvo muttered, seeing the Mark pulse ever so slightly. And the last words the God gave him rang in his head. I'm glad we finally did, even if it's for the last time.

"Should we search for a shrine? See what's wrong?" the Empress asked, concern in her voice as she gently rubbed the Mark.

"I doubt we'd find anything… But it may be worth a try."

For about a week, the duo scoured Dunwall when able, searching for shrines. And while they did find some, they were… dead. No eerie light, no whispering Runes, no shadows licking the floor and walls. Corvo eventually told his daughter of the Outsider's visit, though he didn't do into great detail of what they talked.

The thing which confused them, was the fact their powers still worked. Though at times they would spike, like Corvo overshooting his Blink or Emily's Far Reach gripping too tightly to a fence. They had tried to not use them for that reason, but sometimes it was still needed. Corvo had a near heart attack when he thought he'd trapped himself out of time forever when using Bend Time. Or the time they had to shove Emily's Doppelganger into a closet because it wouldn't disappear. That was a hectic week indeed, but after it was over, what came next effectively turned everything on its head.

"So, as you can see, we will need further funding for a proper reconstruction," Lord Baylish spoke clearly and calmly, standing in front of the Empress who was leaning her cheek on her palm and her Royal Protector looked half asleep.

"Yes, I see," Emily answered absentmindedly. "I'll make sure the proper funds are given."

"Thank you, your majesty," the Lord bowed with a smile and turned to leave, his guards following soon after.

"How many more?" she whispered, tilting her head slightly towards the direction of her father. When no answer came, she turned fully only to find his eyes closed and a soft snore coming from.

"Oh for the love of-," she grumbled and jabbed her elbow into the man's side, effectively making him jump and pull out his sword.

"You fell asleep," she accused and disapproved as Corvo cursed under his breath.

"You sleep more than I do and you know it."

"That doesn't excuse you, Royal Protector."

The answer was a half exhausted glare, but she gave her own tired frown as the two looked like they were ready to drop dead. Just as Emily was about to ask, again, how many more meetings she had to do, the doors opened and a guard stepped in.

"Forgive me, your majesty," he bowed, sounding anxious. "But, there is someone who insists she must speak to you immediately."

"Don't they all…" the Empress muttered, luckily silent enough for the man not to hear. "Who is she?" she said more loudly.

"Meagan Foster, your highness," at the name, both Marked tensed and stiffened, their exhaustion seemingly forgotten. "She has someone with her as well."

"Send them in," Corvo said, his hand already moving to grip his sword. Emily herself moved her arms so she would have her own weapon out in a second.

"Right away," the guard gave a final bow before leaving.

"I got a bad feeling about this…"

It was a minute later that the doors opened again and two figures walked in. One, the two quickly realized was Billie – Meagan – wearing her white coat and a scarf around her head to try and avoid being recognized. The other one was… familiar, but at the same time, new. A man in a hood, wearing a black coat similar to Lurk's, his hands pale like snow.

"Meagan," Emily said flatly, still having mixed feelings about the woman who helped murder her mother. "Or do you prefer Billie?"

"Billie, so long as no one else is around," Lurk grinned and took off the scarf, showing her red glowing eye and not hiding her right arm.

"What happened to you?" the Empress' suspicions vanished as she saw the strange body parts. But she fixed it. She saved Stilton. Billie was supposed to have both her eye and arm back to being whole.

"…He did," the former assassin simply nodded to the hooded man and both of them felt a very familiar feeling. Even if it was only phantom of what it used to be.

"Greetings, Corvo, Emily," the man pulled down his hood to reveal the face of the Outsider, a smile on his face and his eyes no longer pick black.

The duo simply stared in stunned silence, their weapons forgotten, their body language rigid with shock and their eyes wide.

"How-?" Corvo couldn't even properly form a sentence as Emily stood up.

"Is this real?" the daughter asked, descending the stairs, her father close behind.

"It is," the Outsider said, sounding… so human. It was weirder than most of what else had happened in the past few months.

"…" Attano stared for a few seconds, before putting his face in his hands and letting out a muffled groan. "Do I even what to know what happened?"

"It's a long story," Billie spoke up, giving a smug and almost satisfying smirk. "I'm sure you'd find it interesting if you'd listen."

"Well, I didn't have anything important to do for today anyway," the Empress grinned, folding her arms. "And I'm sure your story is much more interesting than boring old politics."

"…I'll cancel the rest of your meetings then," Corvo looked tired and done as he kept looking at the former God.

"Cancel your own as well. You're listening with me."

At the end of the tale, when all four of them were in a small, private room sharing tea, a silence covered the room. The Outsider didn't speak much, only added a comment here or there, as Billie explained the majority of it.

"…Daud sure had some wild ideas…" Corvo said, leaning on the table. "First an Empress, then a Witch and finally a God…" a humorless chuckle escaped him.

"I'm surprised you managed to convince him to help you, after his… defiant intent on killing him," Emily held the cup in her hands, giving a small nod to the Outsider.

"It wasn't easy… But I like to imagine he's a peace. More so, than if we had killed again," Billie looked down at the tea, sorrow in her expression.

"It's delicious," the Outsider said suddenly, probably on his fifth cup of tea. The Marked look at him in mild confusion, before recalling that he hasn't been able to really see, taste, feel or smell anything in over four thousand years.

"I can ask Mina to make a different one, if you wish," Emily offered a kind smile.

"…Thank you," was the slightly embarrassed reply as the three around him all laughed or smiled.

"I can't say I know what you're going through," Corvo leaned back in the chair, looking at the former God. "But being trapped in stone like I was, I can imagine what it may be like…"

"It's… all new," the Outsider had a small, excited smile on his face. "I can't imagine what else I can find now… Four thousand years truly changes a world."

"About that," Billie caught their attention, but she was looking at the ground. "I didn't bring him here, just so we could explain what happened. I was hoping I could leave him in your care."

"…What?" Emily and Corvo asked in the same manner, head moving back, eyes wide and blinking. It actually made the former God and Assassin laugh. Truly, father and daughter.

"Consider him an… adopted brother," Lurk raised the cup to her mouth, taking a sip. "He has no powers, so he can't mess with anything. And he's too… new, for this world to just leave him wandering around."

"Why can't you take care of him? You saved him," Corvo was still reeling from the question while Emily seemed to be thinking it over.

"Please, do I strike you as the type of person who could take care of a kid?"

"I am not a child…"

"Maybe, but you're as clueless as one."

"I like the idea."

"Emily?!"

"On one condition," the Empress smirked, eyes focused on Billie. "That you stay here, in Dunwall, and work for me."

"Excuse you?" now it was Billie's turn to look in shock as Corvo covered his face with his hand. The Outsider was merely enjoying the development and sipping tea.

"You heard me. A woman of your skill… We could use that. You wouldn't be an assassin, mind you. A spy. Maybe even the Spymaster. You'd be paid, have a place to live here… everything you'd need," Emily continued, her smirk turning into a smile.

"…A fulling life, eh?" Lurk mused, setting her cup down. "What about my crimes? Pretty sure people would still recognize my face."

"A full pardon," the Empress said without hesitation. "No one really knows you were part of mother's murder. Only other, minor crimes. And let's not forget the fact you helped me take back my throne and defeat Delilah."

"…You're serious about this?"

"I am."

"…Then who am I to refuse her majesty?"

"Wonderful! My father can begin working with the Outsider to help him adjust and I can help you begin a new life."

"Hey now, I never agreed-!"

"Corvo, it would seem we will be spending some more time together."

"I'm too old for this shit."

As Billie watched the bickering between the oldest and, in a way, the youngest among them, she looked out the window and could have sworn she saw Daud, smiling. He looked… content, at peace… more than she'd ever seen him before.

"You probably would have regretted killing him, just as much as I would have. I'm glad you helped him. You never could turn away a kid in need," she thought with a smile before the new set of tea arrived.

And cut! So, yeah, short one shot about something I needed to put down. Came out better than I thought, actually... Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it and thanks for reading! Consider reviewing would you? I'd love to hear how my first Dishonored story turned out =D

#dishonored #corvo attano #emily kaldwin #billie lurk #the outsider #dishonored 2 #death of the outsider #spoilers #mentions of daud #i don't even know

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lalobalives · 8 years

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*An essay a week in 2017*

I was late to This is Us for no other reason than that I was just was. I’m not one to follow what other folks are watching, but that has more to do with me just not having been a TV person for some time, because I didn’t have cable for a while and then I only had the local channels and then I only had Netflix, and then I didn’t have wifi for a while and so, you get the point… I never got into Game of Thrones or Orange is the New Black or any other those other shows that have taken their turn dominating my FB timeline. It’s why I was late to Grey’s Anatomy (clutches heart) and Jane the Virgin (Gina Rodriguez, I love you, girl) and why I was late to This is Us. I caught up over the last few weeks, and oh my gah, I am so glad I did.

If you’ve never seen this show, please do yourself and start today. Cry with me, fam!

The episode “Memphis” stayed with me in a particular put-a-thorn-in-my-heart-and-twist way. In it, William and Randall take a road trip to Memphis where William was raised. (William is dying of cancer. Randall, his biological son, found him only a few months ago, and they’ve been bonding ever since. Of course there’s a lot more to it but we can keep it simple here.) They return to the house where William grew up with his mother. He doesn’t need a map or GPS to get there though it’s been decades since he’s been there.

Two things in particular stayed with me from this scene:

When they get to the house, William can’t stop looking at the door. He says there’s used to be two doors when he lived there with his mother, but now one of them is bricked up. “Strange thing to be looking at. All these years and it’s a door that’s messing me up.” His son Randall tells him the story of when he cut his afro, trying to fit into corporate America when he made partner at his firm. When he returned home, his daughter Tess who was then three, started bawling, not because she didn’t remember him but “because she was focusing on the door that was bricked over.”

They ask the current occupants if they can enter the house. William goes straight for the fireplace where he had jimmied a brick out and placed what he called “my treasure” — a few toys and three quarters. He says: “I put these here once, and after all these years later, they’re still here. Isn’t that something? Isn’t that strange how the world sticks and moves like that?”

It got me thinking about the things that stick and those that move. The doors we focus on. The things we hold onto. The memories that remain, thick and clinging.

I am thinking about our beach trips to Rockaway when I was a kid. My mother dancing to old school ballads in the sala, the smell of King Pine curling around her, a mop in her hand, her head is thrown back, she is singing Rocio Jurado’s Algo se me fue continuo madre…

My neighborhood in Bushwick, all rubble and poverty and love…

My brother, before the heroin, before the heartbreak…when he was whole.

My Millie, the way she loved me, her lessons on life–”con puños, Vanessa, con puños!”

My sister when I worshipped her, before she too broke my heart.

The people on my block. My first love. The girl that was both my friend and my nemesis.

***

I’ve been thinking about mothers. Truth is I’m always thinking about mothers and being unmothered and mothering. It’s one of my most potent obsessions. Recently, in my Writing Our Lives class, during a lesson on how to write the self as a character, I asked my students: what is something you do or write that you wish you could just stop doing? I shared (because I always share, because I don’t believe I can expect my writers to trust me with their stories if I don’t trust them with mine): “I wish I could just stop writing about my mother. It’s exhausting. She is both my altar and my abyss…”

Have you noticed how many fairy tales are based on the unmothered syndrome? Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty in Beauty and the Beast, they all have lost their mothers. Cinderella and Snow White gained evil stepmothers in the process. In Hansel and Gretel, the mother is not dead but absent. In The Snow Queen, mother is gone because she’s left in search of adventure.

I posted about this on my timeline, and a friend responded: “Mothers get in the way.” I winced.

***

Apophenia: the minds desire to make connections between unrelated events

***

Then I come upon Granta’s First Sentence series where Granta asks authors to revisit the inspiration behind their stories. Here, Kelly Magee writes about her novel “The Neighborhood”:

In the 1950s, Harry Harlow set out to prove the experts wrong. Everyone from the American Medical Association to the government to practitioners of the relatively new field of psychology was of the same mind: love was a menace, and ‘mother love’ was a particularly dangerous brand of it. Babies who were picked up got sick more frequently, so the advice to new parents was to withhold as much touch as possible. Harlow – by all accounts a cold and demanding man himself – embarked on a series of increasingly disturbing experiments to prove that love was real; that babies needed more than nutrition to thrive, that mothers delivered more than just calories, that physical touch was as crucial to primate development as food. The methods Harlow used to prove the existence of love resulted in the torture and death of baby monkeys, and Harlow has gone down in history as being instrumental in both attachment theories and the development of the animal rights movement. He took hundreds of infant rhesus macaques from their mothers and caged them with two surrogate options: a ‘wire mother’ who offered milk, and a ‘terrycloth mother’ who offered only her soft texture. No surprise to whom the babies clung. No surprise that, even when Harlow pushed his theory further by having the cloth mothers shoot out spikes or blast cold air or shove the babies away with spring-loaded arms – he called these the ‘evil mothers’ – the babies still returned to them, held on to their softness for dear life…. I tried to write a wire mother story, but she would not speak. It wasn’t the cold, robotic mothers of Harlow’s experiment that I could identify with, but the flesh-and-blood ones whose humanity had been stripped from them. So instead I wrote a wire children story and gave the question of love back to the mothers. Mothers who had committed atrocious acts toward their own children. Mothers who had made terrible mistakes. I couldn’t separate myself from them; becoming a parent was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, and I’d certainly made my share of mistakes. Given a different set of circumstances, I didn’t know what worse mistakes I might’ve made. But the point of the story was not the characters’ crimes. Rather, it was the question of love. Love after trauma, love in an inhospitable environment, love for unlovable creatures. Harlow proved that primates need touch, softness, nurture. I gave my story’s mothers their own collection of scientists, tasked them with the impossible and set out to see if I, too, could prove that love was real.

***

Last week, my mother texted to ask if she could hang out with my daughter. She was hanging out with her niece, my aunt’s daughter, who is Vasia’s age. I obliged though I was freaked out by the request. When my daughter got home, I laid in her bed and listened closely as she shared what my mother had said: Mom can’t eat bananas or even smell them since her son (my brother) died because they were his favorite. Mom told Vasia about my birth. How I was born chubby, healthy, 11 lbs of baby rolls, & how I went down to a mere 3 lbs in a matter of weeks. “She almost died,” she said. I imagine her saying it, the accent still heavy on her tongue though she’s been in this country for 45 years. She says she prayed that if I wasn’t going to make it, for god to take me now so I wouldn’t suffer.

I tried not to but I couldn’t help myself–I asked: “Did she ask about me?” My daughter, who was getting her stuff ready for school the next day turned to me and nodded. “Yes, mom,” she said. Her face was soft, searching. She knows…

***

My therapist asked me last week what keeps me hopeful. I saw a clear picture of my daughter’s smile in my head. I thought of my love, my work, my students. I thought about the red cardinal I heard that morning, chirping his little heart out. It’s mating season and he’s calling in his mate. I found him on a nearby branch. Puffing out his chest and singing. He survived this recent snow storm that brought ice in its wake. He’s still chirping. I thought of my Loba pack, with all their gutsy and rebellious, and all your raw pain and tears. I thought of our shadows. I thought of this world and our country and the current administration and the heinous things the president is doing. I thought of the good good work that’s coming out of resistance. Not always neat or pristine, but rooted in love &, dare I say, hope. And I came back to my daughter’s smile, how she smiles with her whole face, how she shows two rows of teeth, how her eyes smile just as bright… So yes, there is scary stuff going on, but I remember that there is also love. I remember that love is also a form of resistance. And it’s a powerful one. Word.

***

How delicious, the power these evil mothers had. The boldness of the ogress to demand a child as payment; the fierceness of the witch with her poison apple. They had appetite and desire and ambition; they put themselves first. And yes, they were punished in the end, but their murderous presences called tale after tale after tale into being. They were where the story began. The easy scapegoats, born into villainy, too loaded with their own character to be redeemed. ~Kelly Magee on Grants

***

A few years ago, a woman contacted me after reading my essay “Mother’s Day for the Unmothered”. She questioned why I had to write this on Mother’s Day. She said it was disrespectful and dishonoring to mothers. No matter how or what I explained, she came back to that: how dare I?! In the end, she taunted: “Well, I have a great relationship with my mother.” It was cruel. I blocked her.

***

My daughter held a gem for a few days from her hang out with my mother. We had just had a mommy-daughter breakfast and were on our way home when she said: “Tata told me something else.” Every muscle in my body tensed. My daughter stared at me, the worry line in her forehead grew deep. “Forget it, mom. I’ll tell you later.” I had to insist.

“Tata said she’ll never be happy again now since Tio Tio died.” She also said no one suffers a loss like a mother. She followed that with: I know other people feel it but not like a mother. I imagine her saying this. I imagine her face looking at my daughter’s face. My daughter has my mother’s cheeks. Her eyes, like mine, like ours. My daughter was heading off to hang out with her cousins and then to a craft store to stock up on slime making supplies, including the largest jug of glue I’ve ever seen. She lingered for a while, making sure I was okay. I played stoic. She hugged me before she left. That worry line was cavernous. “You sure you ok, mom?” I shrugged. “Yes, go. I have to write.”

When she left, I curled up on the couch and slept. Later I cleaned and made dinner. I didn’t try to write at all. It wasn’t until the middle of the night, when I couldn’t sleep, still hours away from daylight, that I started trying, and only because I couldn’t silence the obsessive talk in my head and my bladder pulled me out of bed. I stayed up writing and reading until my alarm went off indicating I had to get ready to go teach.

***

I’ve been searching for literature by women who write about torn relationships with their mothers, and the many ways they weren’t held and loved the way they needed; how they’ve come to terms and haven’t; and how they make their pain into art. I decided to create a list of reading just for us unmothered women, because if I need it, I can’t be the only one. This is my love letter to unmothered women, to us. I see you. You are loved.

I began with the work of Jaquira Diaz. Her work has been like a balm over these years of digging into that unmothered wound. Check out her essay, “My Mother and Mercy” in The Sun. It will shred you then give you life.

This is typical of my mother. I haven’t seen her in seven years either, though she does call on rare occasions to ask me for money. She lives alone in a tiny efficiency in Miami Beach a few blocks from Mercy. Because my brother, Levy, works in Miami Beach, he sometimes (reluctantly) takes care of our mother — as much as you can take care of someone like her.

For many years my mother and Mercy, both addicts, kept each other company. Mercy took pills mostly: Xanax, Ativan, oxycodone. My mother prefers crack, cocaine, meth. Both women have been prescribed powerful antipsychotic medications for paranoid schizophrenia. They saw each other every day, bailing one another out, sometimes living on the streets together, loving and hating each other the way addicts do.

Most recently I added “Mother Could be You” by Chloe Cela. This essay is my introduction to this writer’s work, and I am looking forward to reading more.

A year ago I was pretty, people noticed me in the train. I had this way of not looking. That’s the trick, isn’t it? You present yourself, your perfumed body, soft at the right places, a straight back and tall, strong bones. Living the busy life, giving everything but. And that but is what the weak-hearted want. They’ll crawl for it; they’ll kiss your heels. I know this so well. It’s a model of love, handed over from generation to generation. Mothers who say: go play in the street honey because Mother is busy. Mother has her lover waiting. Mother wants to take a nap in the sun. You really want to play with the other kids, but you wait on the porch for Mother to open the door.

***

Years ago, my mother told me that Rocio Jurado wrote “Algo se me fue contigo, madre” to her mother after she died. I searched for the song on YouTube and played it in the background as I was writing. I selected the original version of the song because that’s how my mother used to sing it when I was a child. This was before I knew what happened between my mother and hers. How my grandmother failed her daughter. How my mother has been trying to restore herself since…the wars that have waged between these two women for more than forty years.

I choked up as I listened to the song. When I went back to the window where the video was playing, I choked up even harder as I saw image after image perpetuating the mother myth, again and again.

Myth says that mother does not fail. Mother is self-sacrificing. Mother always shows up, cradles and coddles and nurses and kisses boo boos and sings songs and is consistent and tender and steadfast. Your biggest advocate. Mother is perfect.

I am proposing a panel for AWP 2017 in Tampa: Deconstructing the Mother Myth in Literature. How writers have and continue to deconstruct the myth in their stories and poems. Why they feel the need to. The urgency of it. How they deal with the backlash.

We unmothered women need to know that there are more of us out there. This existence is so lonely. So isolating. I know this is one of my purposes in this life… and yet, sometimes I wonder, I ask myself: Am I focusing on the door that’s bricked over?

Relentless Files — Week 65 (#52essays2017 Week 12) *An essay a week in 2017* I was late to This is Us for no other reason than that I was just was.

#mother myth #mother-daughter relationships #mothers #This Is Us

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