#;; ( mother nature herself would be jealous. IVY / POISON IVY )

[j-graysonlibrary]

The Xiang Chronicles: Book One Chapter 2

Title: The Xiang Chronicles: Book One

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 83k

Genres: Fantasy, adventure, drama, LGBT+

Available on: my website

Synopsis: Every few centuries a hero is born—one chosen by the God Tiandi to carry out his will in the mortal realm. The Xiang. Whether it is to quell a war instigated by the forces of shadow—of Shakti herself—or whether it is the miasma that poisons the world, the Xiang is born to bring the world back into balance.

Shu Pangu Min knows what his purpose is and he does his best to fulfill it even if he doesn’t fully understand all of the details. He must travel from city to city—lord to lord—to clear out the miasma. Along the way, he is to enlist the aid of four disciples. Each is to be of a different country and each must have high resonance and deep faith.

The holy men who raised him have great confidence in his future successes and they leave him to begin his journey on his own. But, can Pangu live up to the expectations of those around him? Can he really save the land like all other Xiang before him or will his unconventional methods doom them all?

Full chapter 2 under the cut

Chapter II

The same terra cotta home that Pangu had been taken from nearly twenty years ago still stood but was partly taken over by ivy and moss. Its age wasn’t as apparent to Sayama, Karto, or Heidi who lived every day within the walls but to Pangu, the shift in time was obvious.

His mother had deep lines under her eyes but Karto was much more aged. Heidi was nearly a spitting image of their mother but her hair texture was silky like her father. Also like her father, her eyes were a deep purple color instead of Sayama and Pangu’s green.

The four holy men stayed back while Pangu returned to his home for possibly the last time. He hugged his mother and her husband who he looked to as a father despite knowing the truth. The man had done his best to raise him in the short amount of time he was given and, during each of Pangu’s subsequent visits, he welcomed him back with open arms.

Naturally, Sayama was the happiest to see Pangu every time he returned. She tended to hold onto him and refuse to let go for at least the first few moments. She would only part from him to fetch food for the family or to bring him his new clothes that she had made in her spare time.

Only Heidi was unenthused about the visits. She had been cold toward Pangu since she developed an understanding of what happened. The old men told Pangu that she was jealous of his specialness but he felt there had to be more to it than that. She didn’t hate him—at least he didn’t get that impression. To him, it was more that she didn’t want to get close to him while knowing that he would just go away again.

But, he considered, he could be wrong and she could have just been jealous this entire time. She never spoke to him directly so he felt he’d never truly know.

What he knew of his little sister came from his parents. His mother spoke in an animated fashion about Heidi’s apprenticeship at the lodging house outside of town. Karto showed concern that his daughter would never find a husband in that field but Sayama would always dismiss the idea.

“She is a beautiful woman. Just because she is strong and has her own thoughts about things does not mean that every man will be frightened of her. A stronger, more willful man will come along and sweep her off of her feet, I bet,” Sayama said with a wishful smile.

Pangu shook his head. He knew they were hyper focused on Heidi having a family and children because he couldn’t as Xiang. She was their only child in that regard. Maybe that was why she was so resentful of him?

“Heidi can do as she pleases,” he said, hoping she could hear them from her spot on the Cliffside. “You cannot make decisions for her, after all.”

“We aren’t getting any younger, Pangu,” Karto mentioned, casting a look over his shoulder at his daughter.

“Why didn’t you have more children then?”

“We tried,” his mother answered, “We never had any success after Heidi.”

“Without her, I have no heir…” Karto looked down and cradled his cup of tea in his hands.

Pangu didn’t quite understand their obsession with a legacy. It was common, he’d been told, for people to wish for a successful lineage but, because he was so cut off, he couldn’t exactly relate. His problems and normal people’s problems were just too different, Hwang had told him.

“Well your pressure won’t make her move any faster,” Pangu decided on aloud, “If Heidi doesn’t want to then she won’t.”

“That’s the concern,” his father said with a sigh.

“Are you quite done talking about me?” Heidi demanded as she walked closer, clearly having overheard everything. No one was surprised—it wasn’t as if she was particularly far away from them.

“Sorry, dear, but we were just catching your brother up on things,” Sayama responded with a smile that her daughter did not return.

“Your mentors are ready to take you back,” Heidi commented with her eyes settled on the men in the distance.

They were walking closer, silently signaling that it was time for Pangu to leave. He stood from his stool and waited for his parents to follow his lead.

“I may not be back for some time…” he started, unsure of how exactly to tell them that he was finally setting off on his journey.

It seemed his mother, at least, picked up on his subtext. Her eyes glossed over and she raised her hands to her face. “You…you have to clear the miasma now…?”

“Has it finally become too much to ignore?” Karto asked.

“It is his duty,” Heidi added in a more blasé tone.

“It is,” Pangu agreed with his sister, “I will end my trip back here as is custom.”

His mother fell into his arms, unable to hold back her tears any longer. Shortly after, his father’s arms circled around them and squeezed. Heidi was pulled into the mix and she, reluctantly, held on for a brief moment.

“Be careful; the world is a cruel place,” Karto said once the group hug dispersed.

“Please take care of yourself,” Sayama added.

Heidi looked him up and down before saying with a flat voice, “Go save the world.”

Pangu nodded and turned his back to them, effectively making the first step in his journey. Jun was the first of the old men to meet him and put a hand on his back as they walked into the wooded path away from his childhood home.

The first destination was the capital of Kyrie in the north Din territory. Castelle was ruled by the only active King in the land—whereas the other countries had warring clans or power struggles, Din Raime Cast led all of Kyrie under one banner. There were lesser lords but they all worked for Raime.

It was a long trip from the smallest island of Aspas to the shores of Kyrie. The ferry ride took two days alone and Pangu spent his time studying more about the land he was about to step foot on for the first time. Occasionally, he would use the abundance of water to practice his manipulation of the element with the help of Zhu.

“You have almost full mastery, Pangu,” Zhu told him as he watched his training session on the deck of the ship. “I can think of little else to teach you.”

He looked to his master with a wide smile. Before him, he had collected all of the water droplets from the deck and lifted them to form a bubble in midair. It required the use of air as well but the focus was on the individual beads of water.

“The attention to detail will serve you well,” Hwang seconded.

Pangu hadn’t seen or heard the others approach so he slipped and dropped the ball of water, creating a rather large splash that soaked each of them. “Oops.”

“That,” Zhu said and repelled the water off of his body, “Is the one thing you need to concentrate on.”

“What?” Pangu asked with his head tilted to the side.

“You’re easily distracted,” Gong explained.

He laughed and agreed. Luckily, he hadn’t encountered any situations where his lack of focus could hurt someone. He liked to think that if a situation such as that arose that he would be able to step up and do better in the moment. Or, preferably, no situation like that would come to pass at all.

Once they reached the shores of Kyrie, the group traveled along the beach for some time. Just as Pangu was ready to ask where all the famous forests of Kyrie were, they entered a patch of colorful woods. The trees were tall and the leaves were multicolored—red, pink, orange, and yellow. It was more beautiful than the paintings he had seen and no description from poetry or adventure journals did the sight proper justice.

Zhu and Gong spearheaded the conversation about the King of Kyrie as they walked to try to ensure that Pangu was as up to date as he could be.

“Raime has been on the throne for as long as you’ve been alive, Pangu,” Gong said, forcing his attention downward instead of up in the trees, “His father, Maris, did not have the best reputation in the world. Raime is still strict and many have issue with his methods but, compared to his father, he is an angel.”

“You should make sure to use his full name when speaking to him, however,” Zhu responded, giving Gong a pointed look.

“Apologies,” the other man quickly realized his error and corrected himself, “Din Raime Cast. He is focused heavily on his military and his trade relationship with Terra. He will, most likely, try to enlist you to help him in political affairs so be prepared to say no many times.”

“What if he doesn’t accept me as Xiang and chases me away?” Pangu asked as he carefully stepped around some raised tree roots.

“You must prove you are the Xiang. No one but you can manipulate the elements—remember that.”

Blasting the King with air or setting something on fire to prove his legitimacy seemed vaguely threatening and Pangu hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

“Sometimes you will be asked to undertake certain errands for the lords,” Jun spoke up, “These are all okay as long as they don’t force you into a political stance. The second you take sides in any dispute is the same second you lose your power as a true Xiang.”

“I know I must remain impartial.” Pangu had every intention of shutting off his ears when any lord started to drone on about politics. He would retain what knowledge he needed as to not seem ignorant but anything more was beyond him.

The group came upon a large inn in the woods. The building was crafted into the trees and had a large, glass ceiling that let the sun in to light the place. A natural pool curved around the side of the building and a few guests were taking a dip and enjoying the mild weather.

Zhu made reservations and paid with a stash of money that he always seemed to have. Pangu didn’t ask. Since the currency hadn’t changed in centuries, he just assumed that his teachers had collected and hoarded money every time they took physical form.

He looked up at the ceiling from the inside, feeling the warmth radiating down. It was probably a popular spot in the colder months, Pangu mentally bet. His eyes followed all of the flowing and hanging decorations from the walls down to the floor where he stuck to a family gathered together by one of the halls.

Their child laughed and played with a simple paper toy in their hands while their parents spoke with one of the employees of the hotel. After the short, inaudible conversation, the family walked off to, presumably, their room.

The employee looked up and met Pangu’s eyes. He shot him a handsome smile and walked closer. “Hello, is there something I can do for you?”  His hair was short and dark while his eyes were a light brown color that reflected all the oranges and yellows from the ceiling.

Pangu shook his head. “No, I…my companions are taking care of everything. I was just looking around at how beautiful this place is.”

“Oh, well, if you need anything, just let me know. I’m Fei Shin Jon. You can just call me Shin though.” The young man smiled wider and gave a small bow.

“Thank you,” Pangu responded with a bow of his own. “I am sure you are quite busy, Shin. There appears to be a lot of people staying here at the moment.”

“Oh, this is nothing compared to the pilgrimage crowd,” Shin said and waved his hand, “That’s our main source of income per year, I’d say.”

He cocked his head to the side. His teachers hadn’t mentioned such an event. “What is the pilgrimage for? I’m not from Kyrie…”

The other man appeared surprised for a split second before jumping straight into an explanation. “It’s nothing huge but there was a battleground east of here that some very religious people regard as sacred. Apparently an old Xiang fought the Chaaya there and even had the assistance of Tiandi to help her take her opponent down.” Shin shrugged. “I don’t know if I believe in all of that but a lot of people make an annual trip to the site.”

Pangu nodded slightly. He wasn’t aware that the area was so highly regarded but he did know which Xiang he spoke of. Xiang Kern was one of the most famous female Xiangs and she was said to have had some of the highest resonance. It was what allowed her to summon Tiandi for help.

He wondered if his mentors knew about the pilgrimage and if they would be willing to stop by so Pangu could see it but, when he turned to look to where they should be, they were nowhere to be found. He glanced back to Shin while gesturing to the front desk.

“Did you see four older men leave this area when I wasn’t looking?”

The young man chuckled. “No? Were they your companions?”

“Yes…perhaps they went a different way…” Pangu rubbed his chin as he searched the room. He nearly jumped when he spotted them exiting a hall that he definitely had not seen them leave through. “Oh, there they are. I suppose they wanted to place our bags in the room themselves.”

“I take it they will not want my help either?” Shin guessed and scratched the back of his head.

“Pangu,” Zhu addressed him as they walked over. “May we speak with you outside?”

Pangu shifted his attention between them and Shin. He bowed again at the employee. “Excuse me, Shin.”

“Let me know if you need anything else,” he said before bowing and then waving as Pangu was ushered out of the building.

Night had descended upon them without him even noticing. The glass roof of the inn started to glow a dim yellow color and Pangu wondered what kind of material was used to make that work but he would have to hunt Shin down later and ask him. Now, his mentors demanded his attention.

“Talk us through your plan when you reach the king,” Hwang asked of him as they stood out by the pool. Everyone who had been swimming had since retired to bed so they were alone.

Pangu took a deep breath and mentally imagined that he was in the palace. “I will introduce myself to the King, prove that I am truly the Xiang, and then I will inquire about the areas with the highest concentration of miasma.”

“Good, good,” Hwang said and nodded, “Hopefully, the King directs you to a city with a lower level of miasma. That way you are not overwhelmed by the sensation.”

“Will it absorb automatically?” Pangu asked. It was probably the most mysterious part of his quest despite being the most important. All he really knew was that he had the ability to absorb the miasma and not fall ill from it.

“More or less,” Jun responded, “You may need to use some air manipulation to draw it in.”

“But to the average person, it will not be noticeable,” Hwang stated before going on, “You may want to add some ceremony to it just to make it clear you are doing something.”

“Ceremony?” Pangu echoed.

“Perhaps a dance?” Gong suggested.

“A ceremonial dance while you absorb the miasma would be a good idea,” Hwang agreed and rubbed a hand down his beard.

“What kind of dance?” Pangu questioned and glanced between them.

“Something simple that is easy for you to remember,” Zhu stated, “Do not worry too much about it. The important thing is that you absorb all of the miasma into your body.”

He nodded. “I understand.”

Zhu let out a sigh of relief before looking at Hwang, Gong, and Jun. They shared a look that Pangu was not privy to and he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“What is going on?” he asked after a moment of silence stretched out for a little too long for his comfort. It was as if they were having a conversation telepathically—which he knew was possible.

“Pangu,” Gong started and touched him on his shoulders, “You have become a kind, pious man. You do not need our guidance any longer.”

Pangu’s mouth fell open. “You’re leaving already? I…I thought you would at least accompany me to the capital…”

“We cannot waste much more time on earthly soil,” Zhu spoke, “We have stayed for as long as we can and we have taught you as much as possible in that time.”

“It has been a wonderful experience,” Jun added and moved his arm around Gong to touch Pangu, “We would stay if we could.”

“Now you must begin your search for your disciples,” Hwang stated, “I am certain you will find your Kyrie disciple in the capital.”

“But what if I choose wrong?” Pangu asked, his green eyes darting between the men for some sign that he could convince them to stay. “I can’t re-pick a disciple…”

“Not usually, no,” Zhu answered, “But we have faith that you will make the right decisions. You can feel the resonance of others and you are good at assessing the character of those around you. We doubt you will pick a disciple that you regret.”

He pouted. They didn’t know that—he certainly didn’t know that. Just because someone had a high resonance with the elements didn’t make them a good person. What if he made a mistake? Would they come back to correct him?

“Do not over think it,” Gong said and he squeezed his arms. “You will be okay.”

Pangu wasn’t sure what else he could say to convince them as they had clearly made up their minds. All four of them stepped away and stood, shoulder to shoulder as they began to glow faintly. He could see through their forms and, in a flash, light burst forth from their chests and they completely disappeared.

In their wake was a cloud of fireflies that flew off into the night sky.

He stepped closer and looked up, watching to see where the fireflies disappeared to but he lost them in the trees. A soft breeze rustled the leaves and he was left, alone and a little cold.

Pangu slowly walked back to the room that Zhu had reserved for them. Once inside, he realized that it was really just a single cot and only had enough space for him. They had been planning on leaving him there from the start.

On the cot there was the satchel of money that Zhu always carried along with a bag full of food for the remainder of the trip to the capital. Next to those was a note written by Gong.

“You will change the world, Pangu. You have already made us proud. Now go and fulfill your destiny. We will always be with you.”

His eyes became hot and his throat tightened as he read the note over and over again. Knowing how much they believed in him was enough to give him the strength he needed to continue but he still felt horribly lonely in their absence.

[aikoiya]

DPxDC - Family of the Green

Yo, I was just reading a DPxDC crossover where Undergrowth & Poison Ivy met. Literally, the first moment he heard of her, he asked if she was single.

I can't help but think what a nightmare that scenario would be for Sam.

Like, imagine Undergrowth & Poison Ivy getting into a romantic relationship & having the deluded idea of making Sam their daughter. So, they go to Amity to make her theirs.

Then, bring to your minds, them capturing her & initially trying to convince her of their ways. Not through power, but by via her environmentalist ideals.

They tell her that humans are hurting nature. However, the very idea of plants actually being able to feel pain would horrify Sam. She explains that that can't be true because the argument behind veganism is that plants can't feel pain.

Undergrowth counters that the hunters believe that ghosts don't feel emotions, but that he knew Sam didn't believe that to be true. So, why can't plants feel pain?

She says that they don't have pain receptors or nervous systems, but Undergrowth scoffs & says that ghosts don't have pituitary glads or chemicals, but that doesn't stop them from feeling.

But when Sam contemplates this, she asks how they expect people to live if they can't eat plants.

Ivy suggests the fruit that falls off the vine & meat, after all, once it's left the plant itself, it is only destined to wither.

But Sam refuses to eat meat because animals feel pain too & it isn't right to hurt them any more than it would be to hurt plants if they did feel pain. Not to mention, humans can't get enough nutrients from just the fruit. They'd starve. Sam herself would starve!

She asserts that all life is sacred & that plants need carbon-based life too.

Ivy remarks that they do, as food, producers of carbon, & fertilizer. Plants don't need humans for anything more than that.

Sam then counters that then they wouldn't need Ivy either. To which Ivy backhands her & Undergrowth scolds her for backtalking her mother. Which just goes to show how nutty he is.

In the end, Undergrowth puts Sam under his control again. They then model themselves as a twisted sort of family through their reign.

Of course, Undergrowth warns Ivy about the ghost boy his 'daughter' has an infatuation for. She just remarks that if he's male, then he'll be no problem for her.

It turns out that her pollen only works on him half-way because he's half-ghost. The reason being that ghosts don't work based on chemicals, rather their cores are what give the signals & work more on electrical impulse & psychic control. So, because of Danny's core, he at least managed to retain some level of sanity.

Ivy attempts to use her kiss to gain full control, but Sam intervenes, becoming jealous of her 'mother,' claiming him as hers & saying she intended to make him her prince, which Undergrowth would recognize as his ghostly influence on her coming through.

He'd grumble, feeling cheated of his revenge, but figured that if he couldn't kill him, then having complete control over such a powerful being would do.

Eventually, Sam comes into contact with blood blossoms & their anti-ecto properties snap her out of Undergrowth's control. She soon discovers that she's able to manipulate them, but lays low until she has the advantage.

[mr-lancers-english-class]

Waiting to Die Part 3

Waiting to Die Part 3!

AO3 isn’t working for me, but I’ll update when it is.

Word Count: 1916

Sam didn’t go to school the next day. She had woken up with a massive headache, and when her mother checked, a perfectly normal temperature of 97° (for Sam that was absurdly high, but Pamela didn’t know that). As a mature and responsible high school junior who was definitely totally worried about getting good enough grades to get into a good college, she spent all day texting Danny and Tucker. She tried using Discord, but after twenty messages with no responses, Sam remembered that first, the school wifi had recently gone on another purge and now blocked any sight deemed “games” or “personal” or “messaging,” and second, Danny had English Literature and Tucker had Statistics and neither teacher was particularly forgiving when it came to phones. After watching half of a movie and knitting a hat, she tried again, this time via text.

SM: Am I missing anything good?

TF: No

DF: Yes

TF: Definitely not

DF: Wes has decided that Tucker’s a ghost

SM: But…

SM: He is. Is that news?

TF: Ha ha

SM: I’m here all week, folks

DF: Lancer gave me your homework. We’re starting presentations next week, and we all need to make an outline for next class

SM: I thought only six people are presenting?

DF: Yeah, but we don’t know which six, and I think Lancer’s gonna pick based on the outlines

Sam groaned. She had not enjoyed reading The Great Gatsby, and did not want to have to think about the book any more, much less give a ten minute presentation.

SM: Well fuck

TF: Lol

TF: That’s what you get for taking Lit honors

DF: Moderately jealous

SM: You did this to yourself, Fenton

He had. Where her parents had made her take the hardest courses, his parents often didn’t even realize he was at school, much less think about his course load.

TF: Sooooo……… how’re you doing?

SM: My head hurts and I have a fever

DF: How high?

SM: 97 F

DF: That’s not good

SM: I know

DF: Aren’t you normally like a 93?????

SM: Yeah

TF: When do you start melting?

DF: Dude!!!

SM: Right under 100

DF: You don’t ask somebody when they start melting!!!!!

DF: But Sam, if you get up to 98, let me know and take an ice bath

DF: I don’t want to have to explain to your parents why you’re missing and there’s a puddle of ectoplasm in your room

SM: That’s fair

TF: Gtg. Tetslaff is yelling at me for not changing out

SM: Good luck! Don’t die!

DF: He should be fine…. Right?

SM: Nope

Suddenly, Sam straightened up. Her hair started to float up around her head and the air smelled a lot cleaner. She sighed, and climbed out of bed.

SM: Ghost. I’ll text you when i’m done

DF: Valerie just “went to the bathroom”

SM: Got it

DF: Be safe! You’re still sick

Sam pulled her hair back into a quick ponytail, stuffed a pillow under her sheets and turned the lights off to keep her mother and father from noticing anything, and shuffled over to the window.

“Well then, guess I’ll die.” As her voice trailed off, the two rings split around her waist, and she transformed. Immediately, she staggered and fell against the wall. “Oh, no no no. Not good. Come on, Sam. Just one ghost. You got this, you got this.” She quickly turned her arm intangible and reached through her wall, grabbing the Fenton Thermos and Fenton Wrist Ray she kept there. Danny had been both building and stealing his parents weapons since the Trio first started fighting ghosts, leading to the rather sizeable hidden collection they now maintained. Aside from the three other guns and extra thermos in her walls, Sam had stuffed an arsenal into the school walls, her locker, Danny and Tucker’s locker, her car, an old oak tree in the park, the library bathroom, and the Nasty Burger.

“Alright, let’s do this.” She attached the Wrist Ray to her left hand and the Thermos to her belt as she phased through the wall. It only took her a minute of meandering up Main Street to find a trail of small craters and broken bricks, and only a few more seconds to find Skulker.

“Ah, Ghost Child! You are here, which means I can-”

“Cutting you short there, buddy. I’m sick. I need to be home sleeping. I don’t have time to deal with your whole ‘Kill the Whelp! Take the Whelp’s pelt and hang it on my wall! Argh! bullshit. Can we just call it a draw and you head back to the Ghost Zone?”

“Never! I shall be victorious in this hunt-”

“Dude, seriously. You never win. Like, never. Not once. I’m giving you one chance to go home. The Red Huntress is gonna be here two minutes ago, and she’s not as nice as I am. Can you please just go away?”

“You are weakened. That means I shall-”

Skulker was cut off and thrown spinning backwards in the air as a missile hit him square in the chest. Sam groaned and dodged to the side as Valerie shot by her. She popped up, and almost went crashing to the ground just as fast, her vision fuzzy and darkening. She watched as Valerie went zipping around, peppering Skulker with rockets and plasma blasts and the occasional sideswipe with her hoverboard. If she hadn’t been on the verge of falling, Sam would have taken a moment to appreciate Valerie’s skill. Sam had never seen her equal. Back when they had dated for a month in freshman year, back before either of them knew what they were doing as ghost and ghost hunter, Danny and Tucker were convinced Sam was better. Having seen Valerie in action (and having been on the receiving end of that action more times than she would have cared for and thankfully not recently) Sam knew that, if it weren’t for her plant powers and preference for negotiation over confrontation, Valerie would have long surpassed her. As it was, most ghosts just needed a few kind words, directions to a natural portal, or a weekly shipment of boxes.

“Take that, ghost!” Valerie’s shout jolted Sam back to the present, right in time to fall into the road. She sat up as Skulker crashed a few feet away.

“I shall have your skin, huntress!” Skulker roared, clawing out of the new crater.

“I already told you, Skulker, go away!” Sam planted her hands on the ground, and let her powers loose. In seconds, vines and roots began to spring from the ground, breaking through the asphalt and wrapping themselves around Skulker’s suit.

“No! I will not be defeated by a tree!”

“It’s poison ivy right now, thank you very much, and yes, you will.” Sam pulled at the vines with her mind, and they brought the metal suit crashing into the ground. Skulker’s head popped off and rolled away, his little feet kicking frantically at nothing.

“And in you go,” Valerie laughed as she pulled out her own thermos and sucked in the head, as well as the rest of the armor. “That wasn’t too bad, eh?”

Sam smiled weakly. “Not too bad.” Valerie nodded back, her mask hiding any emotions. The two girls had come to a tentative truce at the end of sophomore year, and had been getting more comfortable with each other ever since. Sam had even gotten a burner phone so Valerie could call her at any time. She hadn’t yet, but it was the thought that counted.

“Hey, you good?”

“Mostly. Just a little under the weather.”

“Aren’t you dead?” Sam turned abruptly to glare at Valerie “Ack, wait, that came out wrong. Sorry. I just, well, I didn’t think you could get sick.”

“Oh,” Sam’s face relaxed. “Yeah, neither did I. But, here I am.”

“You should go rest.”

“I’m planning on it.”

“Like, right now. Go back to the Ghost Zone. I can take care of things here, at least for a few days. Besides, if I need any help, you have a phone number for a reason.”

Sam sighed. “Okay. Don’t die, Huntress.” She lifted off the ground a little.

“You too, Wraith.” Sam chuckled at the mention of her ghost half’s name as she flew shakily away. Valerie sped off in the other direction with the small hope that maybe she would make it back in time for the end of class.

“Now, back home I go. Slowly, very slowly,” Sam said to nobody. “Very, very slowly. Don’t want to collapse, don’t want to fall.” She faltered above the buildings. “I’m gonna set myself down right there, because falling hurts a lot. That is more power than I’ve used in a while. That was more power than I meant to use.” Sam set herself down in the middle of the road, and glanced back at where the fight had just gone down. Vines were everywhere. A few were still growing, twisting up to the sky. The entire road was blocked, along with half of the sidewalk.

“That is way more power than I thought.” Sam turned away from the destruction and pulled out her burner phone. She wasn’t sure how, but once she clipped it to her belt, the phone was always there when she transformed.

“Where is it… there it is.” She speed dialed the fire department. “Yes, hello?”

“Amity Park Fire Department Non-Emergency line. How can I help?” The operator on the other side of the phone sounded too cheery.

“Hi, yeah, it’s the Wraith.”

“Oh, hi! How are you? It’s been so long!”

“I’m pretty good, Sharon, you?”

“It’s good, it’s good. Nothing’s burned down recently.” Sharon, the operator, laughed.

“That’s good. So, I made a bit of a mess…”

“Just now?”

“Uh huh. Skulker showed up on Main Street.”

“Is everyone okay? Do I need to get an ambulance? A firetruck? The police? Did you burn something down?” Sharon’s voice rose an octave as lots of scrambling and thudding was heard through the phone.

“Nothing’s burned, Sharon, and nobody’s hurt. No police or ambulances necessary. Just a lot of vines in the middle of the road.”

“Can’t you undo them?”

“To be honest, I don’t know how. I was hoping, if there’s some extra people at the station, you could send some to burn them down?”

“You said in the middle of the road?”

“Yeah, they’re growing through the road. And a few on the sidewalk. And they’re poison ivy. Sorry.” Sam winced.

“I’ll send a crew down. Main Street?”

“Yeah, right in front of the mayor’s office.”

“Okie dokie. Sounds good. And thank you!”

Sharon hung up before Sam could respond. The woman was nice, and Sam liked talking to her. She almost never got to, but Sharon didn’t know anything about her other than their phone calls and the news, so when they did talk, Sam enjoyed the outside opinion and caring voice.

“And now, all the way home. You got this Sam. You got this.” She continued walking, slowly and shakily.

It took her another half hour to walk to her house, and then three minutes to muster the strength to fly up to her window and phase through. She wasn’t sure when she had transformed back, but a quick glance in the mirror told her Sam Manson was lying on her bed and not the Wraith. She sighed lightly, and drifted off to sleep.

[dreadhaus-literature]

{Valentine’s Collection} #6

“I hate humanity. Except for you. So…be with me forever?”

It was a question, but Monica also knew it wasn’t.

Standing on the edge of Gotham’s Botanical Garden, Monica was in what any superhero would call a hostage situation; she was trapped with her back to Poison Ivy’s natural domain, the plants all straining for her, reaching for her the same way Ivy was--but she wasn’t Ivy to Monica. She was Pamela Isley, and Monica didn’t consider herself a hostage, a victim. Out of everyone on this earth she was the only one who didn’t have anything to fear from the eco-terrorist Poison Ivy.

“Batman will be here soon,” Pamela gestured toward the night sky, illuminated by the infamous bat signal. “He’ll misconstrue what this is--they all do, dearest, they’re all confused about what we have but I’m not.” Pamela’s brilliant green eyes, so similar to Monica’s, trapped the younger woman’s gaze like the jaws of a Venus Fly Trap. “Are you confused?”

Monica wrung her small hands against her middle, a little noise escaping at the feel of the first vines wrapping themselves around her ankle, winding up her calves like boa constrictors. Pamela took another step closer, crowding Monica toward the entrance of the Gardens, that unanswered question hanging in the air like so much pollen. No, Monica wasn’t confused. She knew the woman known as Poison Ivy, her Pamela, was desperately, obsessively in love with her. What started as an innocent internship at the Botanical Gardens during her college years sprouted a love affair with one of Gotham’s deadliest women and Monica felt she only had herself to blame for that. Of course Pamela favored the Gardens, and it was only a matter of time before the Siren came to check how the plants were being tended to. Monica didn’t necessarily consider herself a plant person but she took her internship seriously (college credits are no joke when tuition prices are what they are in Gotham) and when the plants whispered to Ivy about the tender touch of the one named Monica, Pamela sought her out. To thank her, personally, but that encounter had ended with Monica’s cheeks flushed, her pants around her ankles, and vine burn on her wrists. And while it was possible Monica could blame their attraction on Ivy’s pheromones but Ivy had admitted she hadn’t used any, had been too distracted by the honeysuckle taste of Monica’s lips--both of them.

That moment spawned a daily occurrence; Pamela was usually waiting for Monica at the start of her shift and if she wasn’t, she was there to take Monica back to her dormitory. Monica had first assumed it was simply about sex but it never had been, for Pamela. Someone who took such tender care of what she considered her children deserved the world and everything in it, and Pamela took that very seriously. No, the sex, making love, that was because Pamela felt for Monica. It was because Pamela wanted her, needed her; the intimacy haunted her alone hours until her skin would begin to ache for Monica’s touch, until her lips felt cold and bereft without Monica’s. The world around Pamela shifted at first, her end goal no longer about helping the earth reclaim itself from humanity’s scourge. How could Pamela want to wipe out humanity if Monica was apart of it? It was the sole spark of good in a woman made bitter by man’s selfishness and greed, Monica’s love, but even that became warped the longer Pamela was with Monica. Soon Monica was swallowed up by Pamela’s obsession with saving the earth--not people, but the planet itself--because Monica was a precious flower being trampled by the world of man. She was crushed by anxiety, fear of being in public spaces and the overcrowding of a species that was out-growing it’s planet. Monica was dealing with depression, a fog of numbing sadness that pressed down on her shoulders and Pamela was content to blame humanity for that as well, for all the people.who had mishandled Monica’s petal-soft heart when they’d had it. The deeper in love Pamela fell, the more important it became to protect Monica, until they ended at a stalemate, a stand-off where Pamela refused to back down. She was convinced this was for Monica’s safety and she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“N-No, I’m not confused,” Monica finally answered as a particularly thick, flowering vine wrapped itself around her waist. “I know you...don’t want to hurt me.”

“Hurt you? Darling of course I don’t want to hurt you. I would never.” Pamela didn’t look hurt by the insinuation, simply rushed to reassure Monica. “I know what those heroes tell you. They want you to believe I can’t be trusted, that if you take my hand...I’ll destroy the world.”

Monica shifted her gaze away, unable to lie about that. She had been told, by Batman, by Superman, by Wonder Woman herself, that Poison Ivy was only holding off on her plan to reclaim the earth because she didn’t have the final piece of her puzzle--Monica. Monica hadn’t agreed to be Pamela’s and that was pushing Poison Ivy’s plan off it’s deadline. The Justice League as a whole knew that Monica was the key to preventing a very real possible future where flora reclaimed the earth from the fauna, and they’d been monitoring Monica for weeks and weeks, coaching her on what to do, what to say, how to keep Pamela from claiming her and setting the doomsday clock ticking.

“I won’t lie to you,” Pamela sauntered over, closing the distance between herself and her love with easy, confident strides. “I will always believe the world would be better without humans.”

Monica knew that, and she...didn’t mind. She could understand Pamela’s disdain for the human race--there was so much wrong with humanity it seemed a reset of the planet, some days, was the only way to go. But Monica didn’t want to be the one responsible for pulling that trigger.

Pamela knew that without Monica having to say it. The taller woman cupped Monica’s face in soft hands, tipping her head up so that Monica had no choice but to meet her gaze again.

“But humanity gave me my greatest treasure, the most beautiful flower in my garden.” Pamela’s thumbs caressed Monica’s cheekbones, her gaze tender but radiant with love. “If you want me to spare them, then I will.”

“I-I...I would never ask you to change, Pamela.” Monica turned, nuzzling against the palm of Pamela’s hand, feeling the vines around her constrict just a tiny bit tighter in response.

“I know, and that is why you’re the only one I would change for.” Pamela pressed a kiss to Monica’s forehead. “Besides, my love, I’m not giving humanity it’s gift up without getting one of my own in the process.”

Monica brought a shaky hand up to Pamela’s wrist, and over Pamela’s shoulder Monica could see Batman loom out of the shadow of a street light. He wasn’t alone--Superman was hovering in the night sky, and Wonder Woman was to Batman’s left. The rest of the Justice League wouldn’t be far behind, and if Monica wasn’t careful, the Flash would whisk her out of Pamela’s arms in two seconds flat in an attempt to save her. The clock was ticking, the wick burning toward a stick of dynamite that would send the entire world in an upheaval of uncertainty. The power in Pamela’s fingers was vast and should be feared, but at the moment the only thing Pamela was concerned with was Monica...and Monica knew without Pamela having to say a word that the only way the world would be safe from these devastating hands would be to say yes to the yet unasked question.

“W-What do you want in return?” Monica asked, turning her gaze up to Pamela’s. Pamela’s answering smile would rival a sunflower.

“You.”

Monica swallowed thickly, but she didn’t object and she didn’t take Pamela’s offered pause to interrupt, and so Ivy continued.

“If you’ll say yes, if you’ll stay with me, marry me, then I will spare the dreck that is humanity. It will be my thank you for their gift of you, to me.” Pamela’s tone was so pleasing, so accommodating, like honeyed dew against Monica’s ears and it was apparent to all listening this was all she wanted. “If you say no...well. I don’t care who is here, or who I have to put down,” Pamela tossed over her shoulder like a thorned barb to the heroes at her back, “I will still have you, Monica, and I will take it as a need to wipe out the rest of the competition. There will be no one left.”

Monica would have argued there wasn’t competition but she knew Pamela wouldn’t see it that way. The other side of Pamela’s desire to wipe out humanity was on a purely jealous standpoint. There were other people in Monica’s life and Pamela didn’t like that--she’d argue with anyone, Mother Nature herself, that she didn’t have to like it. She wanted to be the only sun in Monica’s sky and, well, what better way to ensure she was than to wipe humanity from existence? As far as she was concerned, it was a win-win--the only thing that stopped her, the only thing that would stop her, is Monica.

“Are...we just going to let this happen, Batman?”

Bruce Wayne didn’t stir behind his cape and cowl, not taking his eyes off the scene in front of him even to answer Superman’s question. “What choice do we have?”

“There is always a choice,” Diana of Themyscira was quick to counter, but none of the trio moved. They knew there were choices, options, but there was more tying the two women together than just the vines around Monica’s little body. It wouldn’t matter what the heroes did--no force on earth can stop love at it’s root.

“So what will it be, little blossom?” Pamela’s thumbs resumed their possessive caresses against Monica’s soft cheeks, those green eyes drinking in Monica’s beauty under the watchful moon. “Will you marry me?”

“Y-Yes,” Monica nodded around Pamela’s hold on her. “I w-will.”

Pamela closed the distance between them in an instant, claiming Monica’s mouth in a heated kiss that stole Monica’s breath. A ring of flowered vines wound it’s way around her ring finger even as Ivy kept possession of her mouth, and the beckoning Garden at Monica’s back would be where the women would spend their first night as fiances, together--alone. The wall of vines parted to allow Pamela and her beloved blossom entry and then wound tightly back together, obscuring them from the outside world. Monica wouldn’t be leaving the Gardens until daylight, and she would never be leaving Pamela’s side again.

“...I hope that was the right call.” Superman slowly glided to rest beside Batman, who was still eying the vines nestled against the door of the Gardens like guard dogs.

“It wasn’t our call to make.” Batman replied simply.

Diana was the only one of the trio actually smiling. She could recognize the love between women, and she knew and respected it was the purest form of love there was to be had.

“I wonder if we will be invited to the ceremony,” she mused aloud, causing her teammates to turn to look at her. She blinked in surprise. “What?”

“...Now that you mention it, I...do have to wonder if we’ll get an invitation.” Superman wondered aloud.

Batman turned on his large boots, starting toward his infamous Batmobile. “If we do, I’m getting them a houseplant.”

[prettykittykyle-blog]

people tag dump