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[saharaedulive]

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[starrycassi]

The reason why Movie Ambrosius doesn't have long hair is that the institute made ambrosius cut his hair some months before the knighting ceremony to make him look more "dynamic" and shit. He said yeah and laughed while they chopped years and years of well cared hair, and then cried for HOURS when he managed to get time alone with Ballister.

So many figths he almost lost to make sure a sword didn't cut through it. So many hours obsessing over it because Gloreth had long, pretty, golden and shiny hair, and he wanted to imitate her as much as possible, so many days as a kid just researching the best haircare methods, so many times he asked someone to untangle it after training and SUFFERED because some knots were just. really hard to pull apart. The only one who never tugged too much on it was bal, who had some pretty unkempt hair when he was a kid and knew some good techniques.

All of that, gone. Gone in some minutes. He looked good, of course, but a part of his sould and life had been taken away.

But it was for the best. Wasn't it?

[paper-gold-theories]

pediatrician! Flug has relations with Miss heed due to managing to convince her to come down to the medical wing and spend some time with the kids so they can met with their idol and spend some time with her or just to make them feel better while in recovery

Heed agrees to this since it increases her popularity and makes her seem more likeable to the public

In the Pediatrician!Flug AU, Flug never went to Black Hat Institution to study evil science and instead follows his parents wishes to study at a science school run by P.E.A.C.E.

However, he decides not to build any of his inventions for P.E.A.C.E. because he does not completely trust the organisation not to screw him over and doesn't agree with everything that they do, so he decides to take up courses that he enjoys in the school but at the same time won't show his inventive genius.

Additionally, Flug also secretly sells his inventions on the Black Web to persue his passion for evil science and inventing. He is also extremely paranoid that he will be found out, so he only sells his inventions to people he has done a background check and sents a robot with a video call function he built when they have to do a face to face interactions.

He accepts payment in money or difficult to find materials for his inventions or in most cases airplanes. That's how he got the nickname on the Black Web as the mysterious Mr. Plane.

____

In this AU Miss Heed, was a evil science student at Black Hat Institution, since she never met Flug to steal his thesis and helped her become second best in class, she had no reason to stay in a class she was not good at, so she dropped out immediately afterwards to join P.E.A.C.E. to become hero after she saw how popular it can make her after seeing GoldHeart in magazines, news, tv ect and aldo developed an obsessive one sided parasocial relationship for him.

____

Flug met Miss Heed when they were both 17 when while was an intern at P.E.A.C.E. facility where Miss Heed was trying to get her powers.

Flug was incharge of monitoring and compiling reports the patients conditions and ensuring that they take their medication and proper dosage of P.E.A.C.E. formula. And one of the patients he assigned to was Miss Heed.

Through their visits and conversations Flug and Miss Heed struck a friendship bonding because they were both weirdos and their personalities click together well.

Flug became a source of comfort and for someone to talk to and vent out her promblems and frustrations as she looks forward to his visits everyday in between her life threatening experiments and medical procedures.

It hurt for Flug to see his friend in pain and he asked her why does she go through so much to get her powers even though it's hurting her and killing her.

Heed replied that she sees it as "progress to becoming a popular hero" and the world will finally see how special she is once she gets her powers.

Flug relates to her as he also wants to be seen through his genius and inventions. But he disagrees with her hurting herself to get what she wants and kept suggesting to her maybe she do something else to achieve her goals, but she ignores him and even got into a heated argument one time because of that.

Flug realised that there was no way to change her mind and instead tried his best to ensure that she gets the best food for her health and tries his best to file in her reports in a way to so that scientists and doctors don't make the procedures and training too strenuous on her mind, body, and psychological state.

____

One day Miss Heed was able to get her powers but was extremely disappointed, when her powers are only just to be able to evaporate liquids in small amounts despite everything she went through.

She demended the scientists there to give better powers but they said that her body is uncopatible with the other serums and that giving it to her will just do her more harm than good.

She started crying that she will never be a popular and beloved hero with such useless powers.

(She didn't have Flug's thesis to manipulate people's emotions in this AU and so she didn't insist to the scientists that her powers extremely useful to be used on Villains)

Flug genuinely felt sorry for her, after seeing everthing she went through, also hearing how difficult it is for heroes without strong super powers to get ahead so he decided to take a risk and help her...

Flug thought long and hard what is the best and most compatible invention he has that can be used with Cecilia's powers.

He didn't have one, but he can invent one based on a thesis he had on manipulating people's emotions he worked on a long time ago, but lost interest in it.

Flug presented Cecilia the next day with several different coloured liquid formulas in sealed flasks based on his thesis, to hide his secret as an inventor, he says that scientists handed it to him to be given to her so that she can use with her vaporisation powers.

He explains each of these formulas, once applied on someone can make the person feel different emotions such as anger, sadness, guilt, love, fear, and hatred. So for example she can use the fear formula to make Villains afraid in a confrontation or use guilt to get a confession out of them, and make them angry causing them to act irrationally in fight. But the effects of the formula are only temporary so its important to keep the subject at a constant state of emotion.

Miss Heed perked up when Flug said the word love and didn't hear much of what Flug said afterwards.

She asked him if the formula can make people fall in love with her.

Flug says that the formulas makes people feel the emotion in general but not toward a specific person, but it can be modified to do that if her seretonin from her body is added to the formula.

Miss Heed immediately grabs Flug by the collar asking him to request the scientist who created this to do that making up an excuse that it csn help her fight villains better.

Flug said that he will need to extract the seretonin from the cerebellum and "give it to the scientist" but he refused to do so beliving she has gone through enough medical procedures.

Plus he didn't like the crazed look in her eyes.

But Miss Heed was persistent and literally begged Flug while crying that this is the only way for her to be a real hero.

Flug caved in and agreed she immediately stoped crying and gave him an ecstatic hug, making Flug wonder if was all just an act.

He quickly put Miss Heed under sleeping gas and did the seretonin extraction while everyone was out for lunch and came back the next day with the modified seretonin formulas.

Miss Heed immediately grabbed the formula labeled "love" possessively, then clutched and held the flask close to her, her expression looking like Gollum from Lord of The Rings.

Flug ignores it thinking she's just excited, then tells her, to protect his secret, that as the formula is extremely powerful, she can only use this formula once her training is done and she leaves this facility, which she immediately agrees as she will do whatever it takes to achieve her dream of being popular.

He also gave her an instruction manual on how to create more of the formulas.

____

A week later Miss Heed completed her training and was discharged and Flug also completed her internship and they both went out to lunch at a restaurant to celebrate.

Both of them asked each other what they are going to do afterwards.

Miss Heed says her dad already got her an agent to help her become a popular and beloved hero and having the formula will definitely help.

Flug says he will go to P.E.A.C.E. University to become a pediatrician after he graduates from high school and get his pilot licence.

Before they parted, they exchanged numbers to keep in touch.

Miss Heed thanks Flug for everything he's done. Flug blushes and humbly says he's just doing his job.

Miss Heed leans in and whispers secretly in Flug's ear and says that she knows that he does a lot of things for her behind a scene than he has lead on.

She then suddenly grabs Flug's face and proceeds to smash their mouths together in a loud, open mouth kiss, much to Flug's surprise and shock.

Their lips seperated in a wet pop just Miss Heed's limo came around the coner to pick her up.

She blew an air kiss at him and flirtily she hoped they can catch up again soon before entering the limo.

Flug was left in a flustered dazed wondering what just happened...

____

Over the last six years, Flug continued with his studies deligently to become a pediatrist and secretly continue Black Web market deals.

His genius and deligent work enabled him to skip a few grades in university to and instsntly able to get him a job as a pediatrist in Marín City.

Although he and Miss Heed promised to meet up with each other, they never did as life became too busy for the both of them.

They called and texted back and forth for awhile but it dwindled down for after awhile, and became one sided from Flug's side.

Flug has seen her on the news though mentioning her fast rise rise to fame and popularity as a successful hero. Flug was happy for her, until he notices something off...about too many Villains getting redeemed by her after deciding to swear their loyalty to her.

Flug knows that she would use her formula to help her fight crime but she didn't think she would use it like this and decided to do some furthur research on what she has done with it.

He can't ask her directly because it might reaveal he knows too much and expose him for being the formula's inventor.

So he hacked into the P.E.A.C.E. system file on heroes and found Miss Heed's profile. It turned out that Miss Heed only used the love formula he created and not the others, but not just that, she has been using the formula heroes, villains, ans citizens to make her love her, basically zombifing the whole city of Cosmopolis under her control.

Additionally it was mentioned in the file that she clamied was the one who created the formula.

Flug was frustrated of what Cecilia has done this was the exact reason why didn't want to give any of his inventions to P.E.A.C.E.

They have always been power hungry in controlling Villains, so he will definitely be a target for them if there is a worst case scenario they find out about his Black Web activities.

He made an exception for her because she was his was friend and didn't think she would do such a thing, but looking back there a few red flags he refused to believe because he was thinking with his heart instead of his head.

Plus it's also a kinda of a dick move taking credit for an invention she never built. But in hindsight, it's better then letting people know he was the one who created it.

A storm is brewing and he can feel it, the best thing he can do for know is to monitor the situation of his formula to prepare for what will come.

____

Over the last six years, Miss Heed focused on using her formula to make people: heroes, villains, and citizens love her leading to her rise in fame. Cosmopolis, her home city was her main target as and she basically had the whole city under her control.

She demanded her dad to create a factory in Cosmopolis to mass produce the formula based on the instruction manual given to her by Flug.

After the effects were tested and effective, Miss Heed's agent managed to convince P.E.A.C.E. to let her join the Golden Rule as GoldHeart who was looking for someone with powers or something that can be used to mind-control Villains in order to end Villainy forever.

When GoldHeart first met her, he thought she was an obsessed fangirl who wanted to be his sidekick because of her creepy obssessed behaviour towards him and she was wearing a cheap pink knock off of his costume when she appeared.

He was about to call security when one of his assistants explained she was sent by P.E.A.C.E. and has the formula he needed to end Villainy forever.

She had a crazed looked in her eyes and her creepy obssessed fangirl behaviour is apparent as she asked him too many personal questions and tried making grabbing motions at him, only stopping when her agent told her to behave.

GoldHeart flat out told her he's not interested in her (making her scream in hysterical shock and outrage of GoldHeart’s rejection of her) and immediately moved onto the interview…

As the meeting went on he had suspicions that she might not be the brains behind the formula as she looks confused and not sure how to reply when he asked her questions like extensive details how it works, the process, of making it, and how it can be used on Villains and its effects. And alot of times her agent has to step in answer for her. So he assumed that she has a scientist working for her to develop it.

GoldHeart really didn't care if she is ripping someone of just like she did when copying his uniform and style. He sees how effective the formula is in eradicating crime in her city. However her cringy and creepy obsessive behaviour towards him is extremely off putting and is really making him not want to put her in her club and instead call security to get her far away from him as possible.

GoldHeart sighed, eventhough he really dosent want to, beggers can't be choosers and sacrifices needed to be made for the fight against Villainy. But he will definitely avoid interacting with her as much as necessary.

GoldHeart skimmed to the manual handed to him about the formula and says he will agree to let her into his club if she can develop and modify to his specifications such as making the effects permanent and gave her a timeline to do so.

Miss Heed was nervous at the condition as the scietists she mind controlled had no idea how to improve and develop the formula she had but she agreed to GoldHeart's condition so that she can get into the Golden Rule.

Surely things can work out one way or another...

____

A months later, the results were the same, the scientists and the new villain scientists she mind controlled could not figure out how to improve or develop the fomula into what GoldHeart wanted causing him to become extremely angry at her for consistently, delays, pushing the deadline and not even making any progress on the formula.

She had to do something soon or he will never fall in love with her, so she got some people from P.E.A.C.E. that she mind controlled to find out who was the scientist in that created the formula Flug gave to her.

However all the mind control informants came back with the same results... there is no record of anyone at P.E.A.C.E. who created such a formula.

Miss Heed slams her streaming computer to wall and swipes all the items on her table at her biggest monitor to the floor in anger and frustration as she came to a dead end.

HOW!? HOW COULD THIS BE!? IF NONE OF THE SCIENTISTS IN THE FACILITY THEN --

the realisation hit her like a ton of bricks.

Then it must be Flug.

Yes, he was the one who gave her the formula because he loves her... So it should be easy to get her old friend to make the formula for her or maybe with a little bit of persuasion...

Miss Heed got her assistants to find out where Flug was and book her the fastest flight there...

Afterwards get her most prestine heroine uniform, book her a spa and finnally get her stylists do her make up.

She needed to look her best before she can see her old friend...

____

Flug was about to a lunch after doing his usually rounds of check ups when he heard a large cowd gathering in the front desk of the pediatric wing. Curious, he went to check it out only to see the one person he didn't didn't want to see - Miss Heed.

Flug tried to slowly walk away, hopefully she won't notice his prescence.

"Fluggy! Is that you? I haven't seen you in forever!"

'Of course she noticed,' Flug thought.

Heed quickly approched him, gave him a hug that presses way too close to his body.

"Whoa you know Miss Heed, Dr Flug?" one Flug's patients a little boy with brunette hair hair asks.

"Yes Fluggy and I are friends that go way back, " Miss Heed answers for him.

"Are you two dating?" a blone girl giggled as she ask the question.

"Oh no, as charming as Fluggy is. I am too busy fighting crime and saving people to be thinking of dating," Miss Heed answers coyly, definitely entertaining the idea of her and Flug dating.

Several more kids came forward to asks Miss Heed questions making her smile more strained as she had to answer them.

"As much as I love answering your wonderful questions children, I need to take your doctor to help me on something important, Adios and rember Love always wins" Heed dragged Flug away into her limo and drove of.

"Ugh! Nosey snot nose brats. How do you deal with them everyday?" Miss Heed complains dropping her public facade.

"Cecilia what -" Flug began.

"Its Miss Heed now!" she snapped.

"Miss Heed why are you doing here?" Flug began, he suspects the reason but carefully waits for her response.

Miss Heed went back to her persona, remembering she was supposed to seduce Flug into giving her the formula.

"My my your so impatient, Fluggy. But I believe such matters can be discussed over lunch, and I know just the place. Oh,chuffer, take us to the Amora Restaurant."

____

The Amora Restaurant was the most romantic restaurant in Marín City, known for its romatic themed decor and fancy aprodisiac foods on their menu.

When they got there, host immediately took Miss Heed to a private table at the balcony with an ocean view, making Flug believe that she planned this before she approaced him.

The waiter arrived, and Flug ordered an oyster pasta and Miss Heed ordered the most Instagram photogenic dish she can post online but won't eat.

"So what are you doing here?" Flug began, after the waiter left.

"Obviously to see you ~" Miss Heed purred, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You haven't returned my texted and calls in years. And now you just expect me to believe suddenly just show up out of nowhere for no reason?" Flug countered.

Miss Heed's seductive expression dropped as it turned to un ugly sneer, not happy this was not going as planned.

"Oh Fluggy, I'm so sorry for ignoring you for all those years, " Miss Heed changed tactics putting on her kicked kitten expression.

"But your right I need your help. Do you remember the formula you gave me?"

"Yes," Flug replies, he can see where this conversation is going.

"I know you're the one who actually made it for me," Miss Heed smiked, thinking that she caught Flug off guard.

"...No, I didn't. It was the scientists in the facility. I'm a doctor not an advance chemist," Flug replies, thinking the best strategy was to play dumb

Oh don't play dumb with me Flug! I know it was you!" Miss Heed snapped "My informants did a background search and interviewed all the scientists there and they had no idea of the formula given to me!"

"Let's say I was the one who made the formula? What do you want from me?" Flug asks, so much for pretending not to know anything.

Miss Heed's mood changes again and she smirks at Flug's admittance.

"If you have not already heard, that formula has helped me eradicated Villainy in my city and helped me become a successful acclaimed millionaire influencer, super model, empowering philanthropist, entrepreneur, literally gorgeous, charismatic, noble, talented, sensitive, fashion icon, and superheroine. ~ " Miss Heed says dreamily.

"But there is so much more that can be done... for getting rid of Villainy I mean, ahahaha" Miss Heed adds the last part hurriedly.

'Yes, to get rid of Villains like me will definitely boost your popularity," Flug thought.

"That's just need you to make some teensy weensy adjustments to improve my -I mean your formula," Miss Heed teasingly carasses Flug's hand on the table, "And I will happily reward you in return, in any way you want~"

Flug pulls his hand away. "Thank you for the proposition Miss Heed, but my answer is no."

"WHAT?!" Miss Heed stands and yells so loudly it caused some of the restaurant guests and stsff to look at their direction.

"My answer is no. I'm sorry but not interested in anything you have to offer," Flug replies firmly.

Miss Heed's sits back down and stares at Flug with a darken expression from across the table before smirking, "I'm sorry too Fluggy~" she chuckled. "I like you and thought we could come to an agreement but you forced me to take some drastic measures." A blast of perfume came out of Miss Heed's wrists and was sprayed onto Flug's face.

Flug coughed, as he inhaled the intoxicating smell.

"So, what do you say to helping me now Fluggy?" Miss Heed grins deviously as if the cat got the cream.

"Like I said, my answer is no," Flug replies in the same tone.

"WHAT?! WHY AREN'T YOU OBSESSED WITH ME?!" Miss Heed yells in shock, not understanding how the formula didn't work on Flug.

Flug refuses to answer her question and instead took out some money and put it on the able to cover his part of meal he didn't get to eat, refusing to owe her anything.

"Well will you look at the time, my lunch break is almost over," Flug began, "It's been nice catching up with you Heed, but I gotta get back to the hospital." Flug quickly stands up and rushes out of the restaurant.

"WHAT!? FLUGGY GET BACK HERE!! FLUGGY!!" He heard Miss Heed yell at him and the footsteps of her heels run after him as he ran as fast as he can in the busy street.

Fortunately Miss Heed was famous and it was not long before a crowd of people recognised and gathered around her.

This enabled Flug to turn around a coner and into a cab near by. Flug, quickly checked thst he was not being tailed instructed the driver to take him back to his home.

He paid the driver and looked around and saw the coast is clear before going into building, pass the front desk, up the elevator, and into his penthouse.

Flug was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and catch his breath.

Miss Heed would definitely go back to the hospital to find him, so that's where he can't go back. He called the hospital saying he had to take a half day off for today and asked the pediatricians to help cover for him.

Afterwards sat down and prepared himself a cup of coffee processing what just happened in the restaurant. Miss Heed, the person he thought in the past was his closest friend had tried to mind control him.

Fortunately Flug had prepared for the worst months ago and created an antidote to the serum that he already injected into his body. So even if Miss Heed tosses him into a vat of his formula, he will still be immune to its effects.

He thought of the possibility of Miss Heed mind controlling him, but he was still hurt that she had actually done it because part of him had still thought of her as a friend that wouldn't do go that far into hurting him, but he guess he was wrong.

Flug needed to strategize he knows that Miss Heed won't back off so easily and he needs to prepare...

----

Flug came back the hospital the next day and Miss Heed also came back during lunch time in a civilian disguise this time.

Flug refused to go into the limo this time and instead setted for a nearby cafe he frequents to talk.

Miss Heed pretended to cry as she apologized for mind controlling Flug and buy her fake apology one bit.

Flug told her he was still not interested in helping her, causing her to go into another rant.

Flug sighs, he knows Miss Heed will definitely go away so he made a deal with her.

The children in the hospital all love Miss Heed. He has seen many them watching her reaction and Tik Tok videos and even some of them wearing her merch and cosplaying as her.

So Flug told her, (since she won't leave him alone, even after he said no) for every hour she comes down to the medical wing and spend some time with the kids so they can met with their idol, spend some time with her or just to make them feel better while in recovery, ect.

He will spend the exact amount of time listening to her trying to her arguments and persuasions on why he should help her with the formula. Whether he agrees thats another thing. (That way it can also buy him time to come up with a plan in case she does som thing drastic)

Heed, being an impatient person didn't agree to Flug's deal. And right off the bat she threatened spread rumours so horrible of him on social media that it will not only get him him fired but not be able to work as a pediatrician or medical field ever again.

Flug shrugs and says that getting him fired still would not convince him make the formula for her. Making Miss Heed shocked at the unexpected response.

Truthfully getting fired would be extremely upsetting for him. But he still had his secret business in the black web so he didn't need the money and there are many capable pediatricians in the hospital. But he knows that the best strategy in dealing with Miss Heed was indifference.

Miss Heed then threatens to close down the peditrician wing or give them a extremely large donation from her father and Flug couters both points saying that P.E.A.C.E. prioritizes their hospitals, so they won't take too kindly if anyone, even a hero tries to close it down and has also one of their most funded subsidiaries, so her donation is not necessary.

Miss Heed was utterly stuntlock, on how to respond to Flug.

He looks at his watch and says that he has spent around the same amount of time Miss Heed spent with the kids yesterday and was about to stand up leave before Miss Heed stopped him.

Miss Heed grits her teeth before agreeing to Flug's earlier terms. At least, spending time with those snot nose brats also increases her popularity and likeability to the public.

____

As a result of this Miss Heed spent time in between her busy schedule of public events to go to the hospital to cheer up kids and while trying to convince Flug to make the formula.

However no amount of threats and bribes could convince Flug to change his mind making Heed more and more frustrated at their visits.

It went on for a few months and Flug predicts sooner or later something will happen that will change this routine and he was right... on one fateful day, he was rescued by GoldHeart.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Joseph Figliolia and Leor Sapir

Published: May 14, 2024

Ted Hudacko’s fate was sealed when his son’s court-appointed counsel, Daniel Harkins, wrote in his notes, “[t]hese parents have a choice, they can either continue to believe that they should be in total control of their child’s life or they can come to an understanding that those days are past . . . and give their children some independence and the ability to make some of their own decisions.”

The decisions in question? Whether to start Hudacko’s trans-identified 16-year-old son on a puberty-blocker regimen, followed by a course of estrogen.

As Abigail Shrier recounted in a 2022 City Journal investigative report, shortly after returning from a trip to New York with their two sons, Hudacko’s wife, Christine, told him that she wanted a divorce—and that their oldest son identified as transgender. During divorce proceedings, the presiding judge, Joni Hiramoto, granted Hudacko shared legal and physical custody of his youngest, but stripped him of all custody of his trans-identified son. Hudacko was concerned about administering experimental drugs and preferred to wait and see if his son’s gender issues might resolve on their own, as usually happens in such cases. To the California judge, this confirmed his unfitness as a father.

Hiramoto’s view is shared by a growing social movement bent on deeming parents “abusive” for declining to “affirm” their child’s “gender identity.” The idea that failing to endorse a child’s identity constitutes psychological abuse has spread across major American institutions and power centers and is reflected in recent court precedent, school “social transition” policies, journal publications, and several proposed state laws. Illinois’s House Bill 4876, for example, would redefine child abuse to include denying minors “necessary medical . . . gender-affirming services,” meaning parents who take a more cautious approach to their child’s dysphoria—an approach endorsed by a growing number of European countries—could become targets of investigation by the Illinois Department of Children and Families, with some even losing custody.

The Biden administration is seeking to entrench this redefinition of “abuse” with its recently published foster-care regulations. Guided by misleading characterizations and omissions of existing research, the new rules from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) enshrine activist talking points about what constitutes a child’s “best interest,” with dire implications for foster children and parents alike.

Under the new rules, state agencies must follow specific protocols when placing “LGBTQI+” foster children in residential settings. Given what the ACF describes as the “specific needs” of these children, the agency requires federally funded providers to qualify as “Designated Placements” to serve such youth. To obtain this designation, providers must undergo specialized gender-identity and sexual-orientation training, facilitate access to “age- or developmentally appropriate resources, services, and activities that support the [child’s] health and well-being,” and “commit to establishing an environment that supports the child’s LGBTQI+ status or identity.” State foster agencies, to get federal funds, must develop and submit to the ACF case plans that ensure each child is placed in the most “appropriate setting available.”

Repeating popular activist talking points, the ACF claims that refusing to use a child’s chosen name and pronouns is linked with poor mental-health outcomes. The agency then follows a familiar pattern of citing self-reported survey data to show a supposed connection between “gender affirmation” and positive mental-health outcomes in trans-identifying kids. Surveys of this kind, however, cannot support the ACF’s conclusion that “significant mental health disparities” facing “LGBTQI+” youth “result from experiences of stigma and discrimination.”

One of the ACF’s sources, a research brief from the Trevor Project, claims that “LGBTQ youth” who say they have been in foster care had nearly three times greater odds than non-foster youth of reporting a past-year suicide attempt (notably, the final rules incorrectly cite the wrong Trevor Project survey for this claim instead of the correct survey cited in the proposed rules). The agency’s purpose in citing this study is to imply that youth suicidality is driven by how foster parents deal with the “gender identity” of those in their care. But the correlation has an alternative explanation: Youth who enter the foster system have more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than do non-foster children, a fact linked to increased suicidality. It’s possible that foster youth with more ACEs and higher suicidality are also more likely to adopt a transgender identity as a maladaptive coping mechanism. This makes sense, given the weakness of the “minority stress” hypothesis and the mounting evidence of elevated rates of co-occurring, suicidality-linked conditions in trans-identified populations that predate their trans-identification.

The U.K.’s recent Cass report bolsters this view. In that review, foster youth were overrepresented in the first clinical cohort seen at the nation’s gender-identity clinic, with nearly a quarter of referrals having spent time in foster care. A systematic review cited in the report found that among children referred to gender clinics, maternal mental illness (53 percent) and substance abuse (49 percent), paternal mental illness (38 percent) and substance use (38 percent), and combined neglect and abuse (11 percent to 67 percent), were very common—meaning that kids at the clinic likely had a higher-than-average number of ACEs, and may have identified as transgender as a coping mechanism.

A different survey question in the same ACF-cited brief tries to establish that trans-identified foster youth are “kicked out, abandoned, or run away” at disproportionate rates because of their “gender identity.” The survey question, though, conflates running away with being kicked out or abandoned; the actual reason for running away is not specified, and the results are not reported separately for each item. The group even disclaimed that its “data isn’t [sic] able to establish whether youth were kicked out, abandoned, or ran away prior to, during, or after being in foster care.” All we can conclude from this survey is that youth in foster care, who, for whatever reason, experience dissociation from their bodies or their sex are more likely to report negative family experiences compared with their peers.

Apparently unphased by these issues, the ACF used another Trevor Project survey to justify the agency’s claim that living in supportive homes results in fewer suicide attempts among trans-identified youth. Significantly, though, the Trevor Project report does not define the term “support,” effectively leaving it up to the child respondents to define it for themselves. Based on the most common ways youth in a separate item self-reported feeling supported—having parents use the correct names and pronouns, and supporting their gender expression—however, it seems reasonable to conclude that the respondents often conceive of “support” as affirming their identity. “Un-supportive” parents could therefore refer to anything—parents who are actually neglectful, or those who refuse to use their children’s preferred pronouns, or even those who do something as banal as not letting their children buy cell phones. Given the muddled inputs, the data are unpersuasive. Elsewhere in the document, the authors disclose that the self-reported suicide-attempt rate didn’t change much between youth who reported living in an a “gender-affirming” home (14 percent) compared to those who lived in a “not gender-affirming” home (20 percent).

Further, a child’s perceptions of “support” may be conditioned by his mental-health history, independent of his trans-identification status. A study by the Family Acceptance Project, for example, concedes that, “Independent of levels of family acceptance, transgender young adults reported lower social support and general health.” This is one weakness of the “minority stress” theory and the associated research, as noted by J. Michael Bailey: it never empirically tests for the possibility that the group in question has greater sensitivity to stressors to begin with, trading on the classic correlation/causation confusion. It is possible, therefore, that youth with more severe psychiatric issues are both more likely to identify as trans and to perceive and report familial situations as unsupportive.

The ACF later asserts that “research consistently shows that when LGBTQI+ youth experience supportive environments and services, they experience the same positive mental health outcomes as other youth.” It cites a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) report to justify this claim.

The citations SAMHSA uses to support its view that “access to gender affirmation can reduce gender dysphoria and improve mental and physical health outcomes among transgender and gender diverse people,” however, are two “conceptual framework” papers, not rigorous empirical studies. These documents cannot possibly provide the required evidence. Meantime, so-called social transition—publicly recognizing a trans-identifying child’s chosen identity, a practice the SAMSHA report endorses—has not been shown to be necessary in improving mental health in high-quality research. A 2023 study from the U.K., for example, found “no significant effects of social transition or name change on mental health status.” That finding is corroborated by a new systematic assessment published as part of the final Cass Review, which found no credible evidence that social transition is either helpful or harmful. Other emerging evidence suggests that “social transition” may interfere with the natural resolution of gender dysphoria and greatly increase the chances that a passing phase becomes the basis for lifelong and potentially harmful medical interventions.

The Cass Review alludes to this possibility, emphasizing that social transition is “an active intervention because it may have significant effects on the child or young person in terms of their psychological functioning and longer-term outcomes.” The Review recommends consulting a clinician when deciding whether or how to facilitate social transition for children. The Biden administration’s ACF, in contrast, instructs state recipients to ensure social transition on demand, no clinical input required.

The SAMHSA report—which, as mentioned, also endorses social transition—claims that “[e]xtensive research indicates that even just one supportive adult, such as a family member, teacher, or mental health provider, can have a positive impact on the mental health of youth of diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identity; such support can reduce adverse mental health impacts including suicide.” However, the research SAMHSA cites in support of this claim looked only at acceptance of sexual orientation, not of “gender identity.”

This points to another concern about social transition: the most common outcome of dysphoria is not a transgender identity, but homosexuality. As the DSM-5 observes, among childhood “desisters”—people who once identified as transgender or experienced dysphoria but later revert to identifying as their biological sex or cease having dysphoria—63 percent to 100 percent of natal males and 32 percent to 50 percent of natal females turn out to be gay.

The ACF guidance compares objections to child gender transition with “conversion practices” and claims that multiple professional organizations agree that gender-identity conversion efforts have been “rejected as harmful.” This comparison is spurious, however, and has been addressed by psychologist James Cantor in response to an American Academy of Pediatrics’ policy statement on “gender-affirming care,” which made the same argument. Cantor said that the AAP’s claim about “conversion” practices “struck me as odd because there are no studies of conversion therapy for gender identity. Studies of conversion therapy have been limited to sexual orientation, and, moreover, to the sexual orientation of adults, not to gender identity and not of children in any case.” He added, “it simply makes no sense to refer to externally induced conversion. The majority of children ‘convert’ to cisgender or ‘desist’ from transgender regardless of any attempt to change them.”

The ACF’s rules treat “LGBTQI+” youth as a monolith. They assume that research done on gay and lesbian youth applies seamlessly to youth who identify as transgender. This is a well-known strategy of transgender activism: to exploit the ignorance of well-meaning Americans about the differences between sexual orientation and gender dysphoria. 

The finalized rules also fail to address the actual problems in the U.S. foster system. Data on foster-care capacity show a critical shortage of available homes. State foster systems remain generally underfunded, and the average annual turnover rate at U.S. child welfare agencies is almost 30 percent. The ACF could have endeavored to solve these problems.

Instead, the Biden administration seeks to use federal policy to cajole foster families and agencies into affirming a child’s mistaken gender identity, entrenching the idea that failing to do so constitutes abuse. The policy will compound the challenges facing some of the nation’s most vulnerable children.

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

Hi! I am fond of your fics, ty for blessing the fandom with such content :D /pos

As for the request... How about a short&sweet movie!goldenheart thingy with precanon transgender Ballister being a bit self-conscious abt his body and Ambrosius reassuring him (goes perfect with your body worship hc tbh)

Might be T, might be E, it's all up to you XD

(Should have I really turned the anonymous option on? I feel like it's really obvious who I am atp)

Anyway I hope you're having a great day and you get paid a lot of money B)

Hi hi yes finally finished this one, stranger!!! I am so glad you enjoy my work and I hope you enjoy this one!!! Ambrosius loves his man so much stg

Cw: referenced sex, some gender dysphoria (obviously) and minor internalized transphobia

Ballister admired his facial hair in the mirror. He'd been terribly proud ever since it had started growing in, and he'd cut his hair. He was grateful for the resources available to him that he never before would have been able to access as a kid on the street. Yes, his face was finally molding into a shape he liked to see.

His body was a bit of a different story. He was elated, of course, when he got approved for top surgery, but the scars were still very visible against his skin, they hadn't faded yet. He hoped that his chest hair would make them harder to see. And all that's not even mentioning that he'd not been able to get bottom surgery yet. The damn Institution said it would interrupt his training too long because of the recovery time.

It's not like it would matter. Ballister could avoid mirrors for the rest of his life if he needed. He'd never had to deal with his own body much. He was very good at distancing himself from it. That is, until, his best friend turned into his boyfriend and that relationship turned from innocent to sexual very fast.

It was hot, and fun, but honestly a bit awkward and miserable at first. Ballister thought Ambrosius was straight at one point. If a straight man liked him, what did that mean? Did the person he trusted most in the world see him as something other than who he really was? Then he found out that Ambrosius was gay and that was somehow just as stressful because what if he wasn't enough? What if his partner was biding his time until Ballister got surgery? What if he didn't like him as he was? What if he never did?

Ballister startled when Ambrosius entered the room, his lover's eyes immediately widened and he bit his lip. “Hey, sexy.” He slinked his way over and nibbled Ballister's neck, slinking his arms around his waist. “How lucky do I have to be to come home to the hottest man in the world topless in my dorm?”

Ballister snorted, as if it wasn't practically their dorm. He slept here and half his stuff was here, because this dorm was much nicer than his. They used his dorm as storage and a hangout to play video games in. They actually lived here.

“I'm happy I can be topless in your dorm, finally.” Ballister chuckled with awkward intonation, and Ambrosius kissed his shoulder. “I'm happy too, that you feel comfortable doing so. But you always could if you'd wanted, your body was never and could never be a problem for me. I just want you to be happy!”

Ballister smiled. “Really? Even if– Even without– I don't know. I'm masculine enough for you? I mean, you're gay, and you've known me since we were kids.”

Ambrosius gave him a look and caressed the stubble on his cheek. “I’ve always liked you. Gave me a whole crisis about my sexuality before you came out, because I exclusively liked men except for, I thought, you. Turns out my gay ass knew something about you before you told me.” He chuckled. “You've only gotten hotter, but you've always been perfect, and you'll always be more than man enough for me. Plus, no offense, Bal, I don't think you've got quite enough in the way of feminine wiles to drive my man-loving ass away.”

Ballister glanced at the mirror and burst out laughing at the sight of his muscular, bulky, hairy body contrasted with the phrase "feminine wiles". It wasn't that those things couldn't be feminine, but they certainly weren't in his case, and the idea of anyone seeing, let alone being attracted to him as a straight woman seemed a bit ridiculous upon reflection. “Alright, alright. Thanks.”

Ambrosius grinned and kissed him, fingers fiddling with the waistband of his shorts. “Now that that's settled, would you be interested in me sucking your dick and fingering you? I've got a couple hours before my next class.”

Ballister smirked, “Only if I can suck your dick and finger you.”

Ambrosius pretended to be contemplative for a moment despite the excitement that flashed behind his eyes. “Hm, yeah, I suppose I'd be amenable to that.” He grinned and in another instant, their bodies were melded together, just two young men in love.

[withthewerewolves]

I have to cut a ton of the second chapter of my time travel fix-it fic because it resolves the emotional issues too soon but I'm mad about it so I'm gonna post most of the cut stuff here

Bal is quiet for a long moment. Then he says, “In that case, do you think you can tell me what happened? In your version?” 

A part of Ambrosius knew he was going to have to do this. If this is some sort of chance to atone, an opportunity for redemption, like in the novel series that was popular when his parents were kids and that Ballister had found battered copies of one harsh winter, it has to include acknowledging what he did wrong, telling Ballister the whole sorry tale and doing whatever penance he decides is necessary. Maybe that’s what he was doing wrong before. They haven’t talked about any of it, Ballister doesn’t seem to want to, but maybe what he’d told himself was respecting boundaries was actually cowardice. And Ambrosius Goldenloin isn’t a coward. 

So he tells Bal all of it. Every detail he can remember. Everything he did or didn’t do. He doesn’t linger on his mistakes, but neither does he leave them out. They were trained in mission reports, so that’s how he formats it, a neat outline of actions, reactions, and consequences. It isn’t enough, he knows, but it’s a start. Bal doesn’t interrupt, doesn’t ask for clarification. He barely seems surprised, though of course Ambrosius babbled out the worst parts this morning. 

When it’s over, Ambrosius watches Bal carefully for the anger he’s been waiting for since he and Bal fell through that arena floor. Or maybe since the first day they met all those years ago. For Bal to look at what he’s done, look him in the eye, and tell him he isn’t enough. 

Bal doesn’t do that. He’s still holding Ambrosius’s hand in his. He lifts it to his lips. Then he says, lips still pressed against his knuckles, “Why did you think I would have killed the Queen?” He shakes his head quickly. “Not in the moment, you were just reacting to a threat. But afterwards.” 

Ambrosius says, quiet. “I don’t think that was the right way to react to a threat.” It’s not what Bal is asking. He’s asking the big question, the one that goes to the heart of the problems between them, and Ambrosius is going to have to come up with an answer for it. But he’s had a lot of time to think, lying awake in his lonely bed, and he thinks this is maybe a deeper question, the rot at the heart of the Institute. Maybe the heart of the whole kingdom. 

This Bal has only just heard the whole story. He didn’t watch the damage the knights did to the city trying to stop Nimona. He didn’t hold Nimona on the tip of that giant golden sword only to see her die to defend that same city from the woman who was sworn to protect it. He hasn’t been beyond the Wall. And, to be fair, that isn’t a good answer to the question he’d asked. So he says, a little hurt in his voice, “Ambrosius. You know me. Why would you think I would do that?” 

And Ambrosius, despite having known this was coming for months, doesn’t have a good answer. So he says, shame hot in his veins and thick in his throat, “I shouldn’t have. I should have known you wouldn’t. You were the best of all of us - all the knights - not just at the stuff we studied but at being a knight. We were supposed to be brave and honorable because it’s in our blood, but I knew that was bullshit! I’ve met Todd! And you were brave and honorable - you still are. Even after everything. And I - I knew that. I knew that,” he says again, quieter. 

They aren’t facing each other. They’re between a tree and the boulder, looking out over what used to be the clearing around the tower, before the forest started creeping back in. Ambrosius doesn’t think he could say any of this if he had to look Ballister in the eye. 

Ballister still hasn’t let go of his hand, though he’s let their joined hands fall into his lap. The hurt is gone from his voice, but it’s been replaced by steel when he says, “If you knew that, then why didn’t you believe me?” 

“Because I saw it!” His voice has gotten too loud again, but there’s nothing nearby to startle. “I saw you kill her, or I thought I did. And then you ran off, and everyone was acting like they’d known all along you were a traitor. Like they were justified for treating you the way they did,” he spits out. There’s a prickle behind his eyes but he isn’t going to cry, not this time. This is what the earlier hysteria was for. “And I’d always thought I was the only one who got to see the real you, but what if that wasn’t true at all? What if you’d just created a different persona, designed just to draw me in?” He has to swallow around a lump, but he isn’t going to cry. “I’d thought I was so lucky, to get to be with you, for you to put up with all my - my shit. Doesn’t it make more sense? For you to have some other agenda? For me to just be - be duped.” He pauses to take a couple of long, slow breaths, but when Ballister opens his mouth Ambrosius shakes his head. “I couldn’t trust myself. I couldn’t trust my own judgment. I couldn’t be sure that loving you hadn’t made me blind. So I trusted the Director and - and fucking Todd - instead, and I’m so - so - sorry for that.” 

Ballister’s grip has been tightening around his hand, as if he thinks Ambrosius is going to run off, unable to face the consequences of his actions. But his voice is calm when he asks, “Have you told the other me - the future me - that?” 

Ambrosius swallows another lump and shakes his head. “I knew I’d have to at some point, but you never brought it up and -” he huffs a laugh that isn’t a laugh, “- I guess my blood really doesn’t mean I’m brave.” 

Ballister scoffs, then uses his bandaged hand to tilt Ambrosius’s head so he can meet his eyes. They’re not hard and cold, like he’d been expecting. They’re sad, which is maybe worse. “You are brave,” he says, then, “Thank you for telling me. If - when you get back to where you came from, you should say all that to the other me. I think it will help.”

[aggimaginary]

The Moon Shines In Friendship (Nimona fanfic) - chapter 2

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Hello everyone! I am so sorry that it took me a month to update my story! I mean, I loved what I had planned for my first Nimona fanfic, but I was busy in college school, and I had more personal things to deal like fanart and other fanfic. So, here's chapter 2, It took me a while too because this chapter is really long. This chapter is a flashback chapter that took place before and during the events of the film! I hope you have fun reading this!

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22 YEARS AGO

At the Academy, young knights-in-training were working very hard to achieve their goals and dreams of becoming real knights. Some used wooden swords to defeat their individual monster dummies, some pushed themselves through an obstacle course, and some practiced duels. Particularly young Ballister Boldheart and Ambrosius Goldenloin. They were assigned together as partners for dual practice. They didn't mind, they were excited. They were always a duo and bow, they had to battle each other. They would try not to play around with the Director's presence. They have to be serious and play as if they are enemies.

At that moment, Ballister poked Ambrosius' hip with his wooden sword.

"Whoops! Careful there," Ambrosius chuckled quietly.

"Sorry," Ballister whispered. Knights never apologize, so he lowered his voice when he said that word.

As the children kept on training, the Director had been observing each and every child in the Academy. Most of them did so well. Ballister had always been the best student she ever had, but she also wanted Ambrosius to be as best as the former, just to maintain the status of his bloodline.

"Cadets, may I please have your attention?" The Director announced, having all the students' attention as they all left their station and placed themselves in line, and stood straight, "We have a very special guest today, and she brought us an unexpected surprise. Students, welcome, Queen Valerin."

As the Director stepped aside, Queen Valerin walked calmly in front of the students as they all bowed respectfully before their queen.

"Please, don't be too formal. I know you are all very busy and well-focused on being knights, but I have a very special announcement to all of you," Queen Valerin announced as the students all stood up straight from their bowing, "We have a new student today, and she's very new, she doesn't come from a noble bloodline."

Todd snicked quietly, "Oh great, another street rat, a girl street rat."

The other kids chuckled quietly as Ballister and Ambrosius heard Todd's insult for the new student, not to mention they also thought about Ballister being the only commoner knight-in-training. Now that there were going to be two, there will be double punching bags in this Institute. Ambrosius just wanted to march right at Todd and punch him, but Ballister extended his arm to stop him, shaking his head and gesturing not to continue what he was doing, especially not in front of the queen.

"Everyone, I like you to meet Chasina," The queen lowered her hand, and pointed below her, but there was no one there, "It's okay, Chasina, you can come out."

Behind the queen's dress, a female child timidly and shyly crept out to show herself. She was very afraid and very shy to show her face, but, as a young commoner, she loved to obey the queen. She then slowly stepped out, fully showing herself. A little girl, probably a year younger than Ballister and Ambrosius' age, with short brown hair that covered half of her right eye, wearing a sky-blue blouse, a cerulean skirt, and a cyan hairclip bow. She was also holding a gray mouse plushie in her arms, and she was covered with a little amount of dirt as if she hadn't showered for a while. It made sense because she had been living in the streets all her life.

Ambrosius gasped in delight as he nudged at Ballister, making him think he was lucky that he wouldn't be the only commoner in the Institute.

Queen Valerin bent down to reach the little girl's level as she placed a hand on her head, "I saw this little girl sneaking into the headquarters, and I saw in her eyes when she held a sword. It inspired me that we should have another lower-class child in the Institute. And I hope you should make her feel welcome."

The other young knights-in-training quietly snorted as if they wanted to welcome this young commoner into the Academy. They already have one. They didn't want to deal with another one.

Ballister just stared pitifully that the new student would have to deal with the same prejudice from the other cadets as he had, while Ambrosius glared spitefully. This was like how Ballister got into the Institute, but since this was a very young female commoner, the young Goldenloin knew those bullies would do something worse to her.

"Well, I should leave you all to carry on with your training," Queen Valerin reported before turning at the young girl, "Chasina, you're going to be alright here, and you'll be the hero that I see in you."

While looking up at the queen, Chasina was scared. She wanted to be a knight, but her lack of self-confidence made her doubt herself. But since the queen herself was the one who brought her here, Chasina just nodded at her, hoping the queen was right with her words. She had no idea what she put herself into when she snuck into the Institute's castle and held a sword from one of the display cases of the deceased knights.

Queen Valerin stood up straight once again and walked out to leave the students back to their training. Chasina quickly tried to follow the queen as she was too scared to be left alone without her supervision, but the door was already closed. The queen left. Chasina was on her own now. She was really scared. She didn't know if she could survive here… Alone.

The Director approached her closer from behind, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Alright, Chasina, why don't stand over there next to your classmate, Ballister, over there?" she pointed her staff to where Ballister was standing. Chasina looked up and saw a young commoner boy waving at her. Chasina wasn't so excited about this. She was very new, so she didn't know how the system worked here. When Chasina, still holding her toy, walked slowly towards the line, one cadet beside Ballister moved aside, not because he would give her space, it was because he was disgusted by a dirty new commoner. The other cadets laughed while covering their mouths as they watched Chasina stand in line beside Ballister.

Ballister extended a hand to Chasina, but she just stared at him and looked away. She was too scared to meet another kid at her age…, or older. She wasn't ready to socialize yet. Ballister understood that. On his first day here, it was hard to socialize with other cadets. Nobody liked him here… except for just one kid. Chasina just needed time to find trust in other kids. Ballister put his hand back behind his back, giving Chasina some space for herself.

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At recess, Chasina was sitting on the dining table alone, eating a grilled cheese sandwich. This was the only thing she could afford to get at the cafeteria. She wasn't comfortable eating different food since she only ate leftovers and food from trash when she was still living on the streets.

There were so many things in her mind today. It was her first day, and things were getting hard. It was because she started late. Unlike Ballister, Chasina started training a little later than the rest of the cadets. She couldn't keep up with the classes. She needed to read more textbooks and observe demos of how to hold the sword, dodge attacks, etc. She was too slow and even scared that she wouldn't reach her dreams too soon. There was so much pressure already. Her training was too advanced for her to catch up. It was a stressful first day already.

Recess was the only thing she could rest herself from all that training. She hoped she got her head straight once she finished eating her food.

Just then, a group of kids approached her with smirky faces.

"Look what we have here, guys. Another kid from the streets!" Todd laughed as he raised his hands for his fellow cadets to give him high-fives. Chasina remembered Todd from earlier. The guy who would made fun of her already. Chasina decided to ignore him and proceeded to eat.

"Wha- what are you eating? A grilled cheese sandwich?! What are you? A street mouse?" Todd laughed loudly as so did the rest of the knights-in-training. It wasn't her fault that she liked cheese. Chasina loved cheese. The only food she could eat when she tried to survive.

"Look, she is a mouse!" One of the students pointed out.

Chasina tried not to cry when the other cadets called her that as her hair covered half of her face and took another bite.

Shockingly, her mouse plushie got snatched away from beside her. Todd held the toy by its tail.

"Hey!" Chasina yelped, witnessing her favorite toy got taken away.

"She has a stuffed mouse as a pet, too!" Todd showed the stuffed mouse to his fellow cadets.

"Give it back!" Chasina demanded, throwing her unfinished sandwich on the table, and stood up to get her mouse back.

"Awww, you want this?" Todd cooed before throwing the mouse at another student.

It became a Hot Potato Game for the other students as they passed the mouse plushie to each other and prevented Chasina from catching her beloved toy.

"No! Cherry!" Chasina cried, trying to catch her mouse, "Please, I want Cherry! Give her back to me!"

Todd then caught the mouse back into his arms and held it by the tail again. He handed the mouse to Chasina, but he raised it up to prevent Chasina from retrieving it as she was too short to reach her toy, "If you want it, you have to catch it!" He threw the mouse again to another cadet.

"No! Please! Give her back!" Chasina sobbed, still trying to catch her mouse, and extending her arms to reach for it.

"Hey!" Ballister's voice was heard behind the other cadets. They all turned around, and Chasina was surprised to see the same boy she stood next to earlier, "Why don't you give her that mouse back? She did nothing to you!" Ballister bravely marched up to Todd.

"Aww, isn't this sweet? Ballister here thought he was a real knight already!" Todd teased with a chuckle with other cadets chuckled along with him. He grabbed Ballister by his shirt collar, and pulled him closer to his face, "By protecting a very weak princess!" Todd threw Ballister in front of Chasina, who scooted backward slightly, "You know, you're lucky the queen sent in another commoner because if neither of you would become a knight, then you'd both be losers together. High-five on that!" Todd raised both his hands, letting other cadets high-five him again, and they all laughed at Ballister and Chasina.

Surprisingly, the mouse plushie around Todd's arm got snatched from behind. It was Ambrosius as he held the mouse gently in his arms, "Leave them alone, Todd. It's none of your business to tell them what they'll be in the future, especially her," he eyed Chasina, who was shocked to see a noble student would stand up to commoners like her and Ballister.

"Pfft! Whatever, Goldenloin, have fun with your servant and your new toy, and I'm not talking about the mouse," Todd scoffed as he walked away before bumping his shoulder at Ambrosius', and the other cadets followed him.

As those bullies already left, Ambrosius turned, and offered a hand to Ballister, "Bal, are you okay?"

Ballister accepted Ambrosius' hand, and stood back up on his feet again, "Yeah, I was supposed to get that mouse… for her," he tilted his head at Chasina. She was still on the ground, feeling scared to come forward towards the two boys.

Ambrosius looked down at the mouse plush he held, and handed it over to the little girl, "Here. I think this belongs to you."

Chasina almost hesitated to come close and retrieve her mouse because it was held by another noble child. She was afraid to be bullied again. But that was her toy. She needed her mouse. If this child was handing it over to her, then now was her chance to get it back, "Ch-Cherry!" Chasina rushed to her mouse, and snatched it back, hugging it so tightly like she never wanted to let it go again. Small tears flowed down on her cheek. She really loved her toy.

"I'm sorry about Todd. He's always been like that," Ambrosius explained as he stepped forward, causing Chasina to back away a little while holding her adorable little mouse, "Hey, don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you."

But Chasina remained distant while still hugging her mouse. It was hard for her to make new friends, especially when she had already been bullied. She still stayed still while staring at the two boys at the corner of her eyes. Her left eye was covered by her hair as she was too shy to even look directly.

Ballister and Ambrosius glanced at each other, knowing the girl was too scared to come closer. They understood her, so she needed more time and space to socialize.

"Anyway, I'm Ambrosius," the young noble kid introduced himself.

"And I'm Ballister," the young commoner boy took a step closer to the young girl, and kneeled to her level, "Um, what's your name again?"

Chasina was too nervous to talk, but it was rude of her if she didn't speak at all when she was asked. She responded quietly, "Um... I'm Chasina."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ballister asked, leaning the side of his head a little closer to hear her.

"Um... My name is Chasina," Chasina answered even quieter.

"A little louder," Ambrosius requested.

"It's Chasina," the young commoner girl whispered quickly.

"I think I almost hear 'Chasina'. It's that your name?" Ballister tried to clarify what the little girl was saying.

But Chasina only let out a small squeak.

Seeing that the commoner girl felt so pressured and nervous, Ambrosius told her calmly, "Okay, you don't have to say it again. So, you dream of becoming a knight one day?"

Without saying a word, Chasina just nodded. "So do we! Your parents must be really proud," Ballister exclaimed while approaching closer to Chasina, "Where are your parents, by the way?"

That was it. Chasina only lived in a street with no memory of her parents. Yet, she grew up without parents or a family either. She lived alone, all by herself with her toy, "Umm… I don't have parents," she answered, still quiet but clear to hear.

Ballister felt pity for Chasina. He had the same life as she had. All alone in the street, "Aww, it's okay. I don't have parents either. I came from the streets, like you."

"It's true. Ballister here snuck up into the training course and attacked a monster dummy. It's pretty funny," Ambrosius recalled the day Ballister snuck into the obstacle course, and the knights tackled him down. Ballister wasn't so proud of himself that day, but he was glad he was brave enough to sneak in like that.

Chasina let out a little giggle. It was funny.

"Hey, why don't you hang out with us?" Ambrosius suggested.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother," Chasina said, feeling like a burden already.

"It's nothing. We want you to stick with us. We'll help you along the way since you missed a couple of sessions. You didn't catch up when our training started. We'll help you out with make-up sessions," Ballister suggested.

Chasina wasn't sure if this was a good idea. She just met these boys. Why were they so nice to her? Why didn't they like those other cadets? But hearing their voices sounded like they were serious about accompanying her. Chasina slightly turned her head to show both her eyes from her hair, "Well… alright. Thank you."

Ballister offered Chasina's hand as she accepted, and he helped her get up on her feet. She then approached Ambrosius, trying to be brave to face a noble child. He responded by just rubbing Chasina's hair, and she giggled like she was tickled.

It was a good start to a beautiful friendship.

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At the Glorodome, there was the knighting ceremony, and senior cadets were going to be knights tonight. Ambrosius, Ballister, and Chasina snuck out of their dorms just to see the ceremony. They found the right spot for them to watch the whole view. Ambrosius climbed up on the stadium rafters first before Ballister and Chasina tried to catch up with him, "Come on, come on!"

Ballister came up next, then offered Chasina's hand, who was still trying to climb up while holding her mouse toy.

"Careful, Chasina," Ballister grabbed her hand and lifted her up.

Once the children were up on their feet, they continued to walk a little farther to find a better view while Chasina felt hesitant but followed the two boys anyway.

"Are you sure this is safe? I don't think we're allowed here," Chasina said.

"Don't worry. No one will know we're here. We've been here before," Ambrosius reassured her, sitting at the edge of the rafter.

"This is also the place where we hang out sometimes," Ballister added, also sitting down.

"Wow, that's really great," Chasina still felt hesitant about this idea, but she didn't want to feel left out of the fun, so she sat down beside Ballister.

As the knighting ceremony started, new knights rode their horses into the arena, and the whole crowd cheered for their new knights. The knights headed towards the middle of the arena.

"Wow, that's a lot of knights," Chasina commented, couldn't take her eyes off the scene.

"Here's the best part," Ambrosius whispered excitedly.

The three children proceeded to watch the scene. A knight stepped forward before the queen, and she used the sword to announce his knighthood to the public. The crowd cheered loudly.

Chasina was puzzled at first about what was happening, until she figured it out for herself, "Oh, so that's how they would become knights? The Queen officially made them knights?"

"That's right. And someday, it's gonna be us down there," Ambrosius said proudly.

"Do you think we'll be able to do it?" Chasina asked in doubt. Seeing the other knights reach their dream tonight, she couldn't imagine herself being down there with the queen who would knight her one day. She wasn't sure what the future held for her as Chasina doubted if she would ever be a knight, "Do you think I can do it?"

Ballister placed an arm around her shoulder, "Of course. We saw how you worked hard back at the Academy. First make-up sessions, you're already learning."

"I can be a fast learner sometimes." Chasina chuckled proudly, trying to remove Ballister's arm from her, "I'm just afraid that… I might not be able to do it."

"What makes you say that?" Ballister asked with him and Ambrosius glanced at her worryingly.

"I mean, come on. Look at me! I'm no noble, I'm from the streets, and I'm a girl…. A weak little girl," Chasina curled herself and hugged her knees.

"You're not. Did you already know that Gloreth is a girl herself?" Ballister reminded, still seeing Gloreth's statue (its backside) from up here.

"Yeah, but she's brave and determined. I'm just scared and timid. Knights are not like that," Chasina was filled with self-doubt. She even stared at Gloreth's statue from afar, comparing herself to the legendary hero.

"Hey, I was like that too," Ambrosius admitted.

"You are?" Chasina refused to believe that.

"You just didn't know you were talking to the direct descendant of Gloreth," Ambrosius rubbed his thumb and index fingers together while staring at his nails, before glancing back at Chasina with a smug look.

Chasina was confused by Ambrosius' words. She didn't know what he was talking about. It was confusing, until… She stared at Gloreth's statue then back at Ambrosius. She looked back and forth at the giant statue and her friend a couple of times before she realized a shocking revelation.

Ambrosius is Gloreth's descendant that she never ever knew before!

"I didn't know that!" Chasina exclaimed, making the two boys laugh. They couldn't believe Chasina was still clueless about that fact. She should've gotten out more.

"I thought you'd figured it out yourself!" Ambrosius laughed really hard.

"I didn't know!" Chasina admitted. She was completely unaware. She knew Ambrosius came from a noble family since all cadets were born noble with Ballister being the only commoner before her arrival, but she couldn't tell which ancestry belonged to every student in the academy, "But I do know now," Then, she remembered Ballister being a commoner like her. He was so brave and hardworking, while Chasina had a little lack of self-confidence. That made them so different, "How do you get so confident, Ballister?"

"I wasn't so confident, but I did work very hard in class, and it's my dream. And if it's your dream to be a knight too, then I know you'll be able to be one," Ballister advised, making Chasina nod in agreement. It was her dream to be a knight and to protect the kingdom. It was merely impossible for her until the queen decided to let a commoner boy like Ballister train into the Institute. Now, Chasina was brought in as well.

But there was another thing Chasina was thinking in her head, much more important than her dream, "I'm more worried about another thing."

"What would it be?" Ballister asked, but Chasina was hesitant to answer, "Come on. You can tell us."

Chasina sighed in embarrassment. It would be too cheesy or sappy to tell them what was on her mind right now. She held her toy again, and confessed, "It's just that… you guys are my friends. You guys were the only ones who welcomed me here. And what would happen to us if we became knights? Would we ever be friends? Would we… still be friends? What if… we won't be?"

"That's not true. We'll always be friends," Ambrosius assured her.

"But, friendship isn't part of a knight's oath. Our oath is to protect the kingdom, which means taking the risk… even giving up our friendship…" Chasina's voice trembled and nearly cried. She sat back and looked down, proceeding to watch the ceremony. She would imagine that all three of them were down there but wouldn't be friends like how they were today anymore, "We go alone."

With Ballister feeling pity for Chasina and trying to comfort her, Ambrosius looked down at the ceremony. He had the same idea as Chasina's. She was right. For now, they are just children, being happy together while training to be the best knights. But, in the future, as they grew, they would risk losing their friendship when they fulfill their duties. Friendship couldn't last forever sometimes. It depended on how adults would see when they grew up.

Then, Ambrosius had an idea. It would be a risky idea, but it was the only option. He stood up and announced to the two commoners, "You know what? Why don't we make our own oath?"

"Our own oath?" Ballister asked.

"Yes! It might not be a knight's oath, but this is our oath together, knights or not."

"I'm pretty sure you will be a knight, Ambrosius."

"Even if I do, we still have to make a promising oath."

When Ambrosius took a knee down, Ballister and Chasina moved away from the edge and gathered into a huddle.

"From here on out, we swear to each other that we always be best friends. Even if we become knights, nothing and absolutely nothing would stand between our friendship. Not even the Institute would break us apart. We'll always stay close together, and be knights together at the very end," Ambrosius just made an unbreakable and sworn promise. As a noble-born knight-to-be, it was in his honor to make a promise that would never be made to be broken…, ever. To prove it, he put his hand in the middle, to be the first out of the three to swear that promise, "That's a promise I'm willing to keep. I swear," he was now waiting for any of the two to join him. He wanted to make sure that Ballister and Chasina would swear the same promise he was keeping.

"I swear," Ballister was the next one to put his hand on the middle, over Ambrosius' hand. He wanted to make this friendship last forever like Ambrosius and Chasina.

Once Ballister touched Ambrosius' hand, there was a feeling between them that they hadn't felt before. In his defense, Ambrosius already had an interest in Ballister, but they were still children. It might be just a normal liking, nothing more.

Ballister didn't mean to make things awkward between him and Ambrosius when the former touched his hand. The way Ambrosius stared at him made Ballister blush a little while his hair covered one of his eyes, and tried to look away from him.

Seeing the two boys staring so strangely at each other, Chasina didn't know what was happening as she interrupted them, "Um… you guys know I'm here right? Eyes on me," The kids just chuckled hysterically while Chasina still stayed with the same topic they were talking about just now, "But… I swear," she put her hand over Ballister and Ambrosius' hand, she also agreed with this promise. She wanted to stay best friends with the boys who had been so nice to her ever since she first stepped at the Academy. Even if they would reach their dreams as knights, she wished that they would stay like this for a long time.

"Trust me, we'll always be best friends… no matter what," Ambrosius declared as the three had their hands lifted in the air.

Throughout the years, Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina grew close together as a trio. To lock up their promise forever, Ambrosius made his own "Decree of Friendship" with just a piece of paper and crayons. He put his signature under the text with a yellow crayon. He passed the paper to Ballister, signing his own signature with a black crayon. He passed the paper to Chasina, who signed her signature with a blue crayon. With the "decree" being signed up, Ambrosius rolled the paper into a scroll and kept it in a small chest.

Ballister and Ambrosius then acted like older brothers to Chasina. Ambrosius gave one of his family's swords to Chasina, just like he gave one to Ballister. He gave her a blue one and modified the G initial of the sword to a C.

When the three were stargazing together in Ambrosius' dorm, Chasina was fascinated by the crescent moon. This gave Ballister the idea of giving her a last name; Moonlight. Chasina loved that name and decided to keep it.

One day, Chasina lost her favorite toy mouse, which was hidden in the corner under her bed. Ballister and Ambrosius found it until Chasina declared she didn't need her toy now that she had two amazing big brothers to look after her. Secretly, Ambrosius kept her toy mouse, just in case she would need it again one day. When the three were stargazing together outside their dorms and laid down under the stars, Ballister surprised Chasina with a new hairpin by removing her old hairclip bow and replacing it with the one he made. When Ambrosius gave Chasina a mirror, she saw the new hairpin Ballister made for her. It was a blue circular hairpin with a navy blue crescent moon surrounded by tiny silver gems. She loved it! She totally loved her new hairpin. She had been wearing that pin ever since and never took it off.

There was also that day when Ballister and Ambrosius helped Chasina dye a streak of her hair with blue and white.

As they grew, Ballister and Ambrosius continued protecting Chasina from being severely bullied until she was a bit old enough to defend herself, and gained confidence.

Years later, Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina were now teenagers. Possibly 16 or 17. They did great at the academy together. All three, fight together, side-by-side. No solo, no letting each other down. Even though there were classes that the three had to train alone, most of the time, they were studying, learning, training, and fighting together. They always had each other's backs.

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Another day in training, the three took a hard level at the obstacle course. The three were working together to pass this training test. It was the mid-terms, and they must have to survive this test together. No one should be left behind.

Queen Valerin and the Director were watching them impressively from the side. The queen was delighted by the sight of three knight-in-training fighting together while the Director showed a worried expression.

"Look at them, my queen," the Director said calmly, trying not to express such emotion about her concern.

"I know. Three brave future knights, fighting together to protect our kingdom," Queen Valerin sighed proudly. She loved how three cadets trained together.

"But this isn't the will of Gloreth, Your Majesty. Friendship is a distraction to the duty of knights. Not even friendship helped Gloreth to be a hero," the Director confessed her opinion about the students' friendship.

The queen turned to her, and explained with confidence, "Director, you might not see it, but the way I see it, these three would make a better future for our kingdom. You may think their friendship won't fulfill their duties, but to me, they would do very well, even better than one knight alone," the queen and the Director returned their gaze to the three students as Ballister, Ambrosius, and Chasina finished the whole obstacle. Nothing but debris and messes around them. They defeated dummies and traps together, and they celebrated with cheers and group hugs for their success. Their laughter was still heard by the two women, "I think Gloreth would've done the same, having friends to fight with her for the kingdom."

But the Director thought of it otherwise when she was observing the trio, "Would you even think that friendship would bring threat to the kingdom, Your Majesty?"

"I think not. Knights are stronger when they work together, especially in the name of friendship, so there's nothing to be worried about, Director. The future remains bright in their hands together," Queen Valerin added proudly before deciding to leave to get back to her duties.

As the queen left, the Director completely disagreed with applying this "circumstance" to a future incredible knight like Ambrosius since he was Gloreth's direct descendant and he had to fulfill his duties just like his family and his ancestor had ever done. She believed Ballister and Chasina were a distraction to Ambrosius' future in knighthood and the kingdom would fall apart because of their friendship, as she had always feared when she was young. At her last glance at the three students, a broken robot was still functioning, and about to shoot Ambrosius, but Chasina pushed him out of the way, and deflected the ammo back onto the robot, breaking it down in the process. The three friends laughed at this moment.

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The trio reached the age of 25 or 26. They completely reached adulthood. 4 years left before their dreams would come true.

One night, Chasina went to Ambrosius' dorm to talk to him. She was standing in front of Ambrosius' door room very nervously. She took a deep breath as she wasn't sure she was ready to do this, but she couldn't do anything until she wanted to say something to her "big brother", "Okay, here we go,"

She knocked on the door, and the door was already opened by the Goldenloin, "Chasina, my baby sister!"

Chasina giggled when he called her that as she playfully smacked his shoulder, "Stop calling me that. Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure," Ambrosius stepped aside for Chasina to come into his room. When she was finally inside, Ambrosius closed the door, and turned to his "little sister", "Do you need something, Chas?"

"Oh, I just wanna talk to you," Chasina answered as she sat on Ambrosius' bed.

"Alright. What is this all about?" Ambrosius asked, sitting next to her.

"Well, umm…" Chasina was too scared and too nervous to tell Ambrosius what she wanted to tell him. She didn't want to say anything literally, but it would be something like it was a goodbye message. She has to be specific, but, at the same time, metaphorically. She exhaled for a moment before confessing, "I just wanted to tell you that you're the best big brother I could ever ask for. You're always there for me when I need you."

Ambrosius was touched by Chasina's words as he scoffed in laughter, "Aww, it sounded like this would be your last words to me. Don't scare me like that!" He threw his arm around her back, making Chasina chuckle with him.

"No, it's true, Ambrosius. I just… I realized how important you are to me. I looked up to you since we were kids, and… I could never forget that," Chasina smiled before leaning herself into a hug.

Ambrosius hugged her back like a big brother protecting his little sister with just his arms, "Me too, Chas. You're the little sister I never thought I had," he planted a kiss on Chasina's head before pulling himself from the hug to look down at her, "Hey, what's really going on?"

"Nothing, nothing, I just…" Chasina didn't want to tell Ambrosius what was happening lately. He let out a little yawn, and her eyes were half-closed.

Ambrosius observed the look on Chasina's face. He helped her up and guided her out of his room. He opened the door for Chasina, and led her out, "Maybe you're just tired. You need to get back to your room. I'll take you there."

"No, no!" Chasina quickly answered. She wasn't ready to head to her room yet. There was something else she wanted to do next, "I-I want to go to Ballister, just to say goodnight to him."

"Alright, Chasina, just be careful on your way. Okay, sis?"

"Yes, Bro, I will."

"Great. Goodnight," Ambrosius smiled at Chasina before he closed the door.

Now that Chasina was alone with her thoughts with Ambrosius closing the door, she turned around, dropping her face to sadness. She had to act fast before she could do what she wanted to do tonight.

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Chasina made it to Ballister's dorm room as she knocked on the door.

Right away, the door opened and Ballister was surprised to see Chasina, "Hey, Chasina!"

"Hi, Ballister," Chasina greeted him with a normal expression.

"What are you doing this late? You must get back to your room before the Director finds out," Ballister instructed, concerning for his "little sister."

"Can I just at least talk to you, just one last time?" Chasina requested as if it would be her last request.

"Umm, okay, come on in," Ballister was a little confused at the last part, but he moved aside to let Chasina in. Ballister then closed the door, and turned to Chasina, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Umm," Chasina fiddled with her fingers while sitting on the stool. She couldn't bring herself to say what she wanted to tell Ballister. She loved him so much like a big brother, and she didn't want to hurt him. She had to compromise, "Bal, I want to say thank you for… staying with me this whole time. I thought I would be alone, but you and Ambrosius were always there for me, mostly you. You know what it's like to be an orphan commoner, and you made me feel that I'm not alone."

Chasina's speech made Ballister wonder why she would say something like this like it would be the last thing she would ever do. He took another chair, and sat down in front of her, "Okay, where does this come from?"

"Nowhere! Just from me," Chasina lied, making a sheepish smile.

Ballister rolled his eyes and cupped Chasina's face with one hand to make her look at him, "Chasina, you know that I'm always here for you. You know we commoners must stick together," the look on his face made Chasina smile and nod at him. Both of them are commoners, and they still stuck by each other's side every step of the way, "And Ambrosius was there for us as well!"

Chasina chuckled, remembering the protective one of the trio, "Yeah. He's a very nice guy."

"But I was worried. What's gotten into you for saying these things to me?"

"Nothing. I just… I just love you."

"I love you too, sis," Ballister smiled as he kissed Chsina's forehead, and helped her get up from the chair to guide her out of her room. It was already late, and Chasina needed to be in her room, "Let's just talk about it tomorrow, okay? You need to go back to your room." When Chasina was out of the door, Ballister couldn't close the door without telling Chasina, "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

As soon as Ballister closed the door, Chasina's face dropped to sadness as she turned around, whispering, "There's not gonna be a tomorrow," she let out a sniff before walking back to the direction of her room.

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In her room, Chasina already packed the stuff she needed in her suitcase. Before she left, she turned around just to look at her dorm room one last time. On her bed was the sword Ambrosius gave to her with a carved C behind the G.

Chasina let out a few tears in her eyes. She would regret what she would be doing, but it was for the best of her and her two best friends, "I'm sorry, guys. I don't think I can do this," she slowly closed the door as the light that shined onto the sword got narrower and narrower until it was gone. The sword was just door on her bed, waiting for anyone to hold it.

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Sneaking out of the Academy wasn't easy. Chasina had to improvise her plan to escape with other knights seeing her. She used everything she learned from her training with a couple of new techniques to be sneaky and get out of the fence. She threw her suitcase first over the large fence. Then, it was her turn to jump over, but she lowered herself a little bit to avoid being spotted by a light beam from one of the towers. When the light passed by her, Chasina quickly climbed up the fence and threw herself down to the other side.

Chasina ran as far as she could from the Institute's palace. She just hoped no knights would see her leave, not even her adoptive brothers. When she was already gone so far, she looked back at the palace. She remembered that day she snuck into that place, only to be discovered by Queen Valerin and let her train to be a knight at the Academy. Now, she was sneaking out. She thought she could do this. She thought she could be a knight like she always dreamed of. She thought her two best friends' encouragement would help her, but she was wrong. She had been staying at the Academy for years, and only to this day, she had a lot of thought about going down this path, and it wasn't worth it. Chasina just lost her confidence in continuing her dreams, and had some self-doubt about herself; a female commoner being a knight was highly impossible. All her training was a waste of time if she couldn't reach her dreams for real. She wouldn't know that, but she was sure that she couldn't be a knight… like her friends. Most of all, she didn't want to let her friends down. She didn't want to be a burden on them. She wanted them to succeed… without her. She was only doing them a favor, that's what best friends do… what a friend would do. Even if far away, Chasina wanted to keep her promise to her friends that they made when they were still children. She had to stick by it.

Chasina took out a photo of her, Ambrosius, and Ballister together. They were so happy when they took a selfie. But deep down inside, Chasina had a lot of doubts about herself. She wouldn't know if their friendship last forever if she didn't succeed in what she was trained to be. And she couldn't let her friends go down with her… for her. She had to do what's best for all three of them

Chasina first glanced at one brother whom she looked up to, "Ambrosius," and then the other brother whom she grew close to "Ballister," she wiped a tear with her hand before sobbing softly, "Maybe you're better off without me," she put the photo back on her pocket before walking off even further, "I'm so sorry."

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2 years later after her departure, Chasina tried to survive on her own. She went through a couple of jobs and tried to stay hidden from the Institute. During her free time, she had been self-trained with a lot of new hand-to-hand combat and self-defense moves. Now that she was on her own, she had to protect herself. Without her sword, she was defenseless. She had to fight in a different way this time.

There came a time when she was caught in the middle of a gang that would attack her. Thanks to her self-defense training, she defeated a lot of goons many times, and even had to kick them in the nuts! Unfortunately, she was intruded in an abandoned warehouse, and the structure was unstable. Who knew how long this warehouse was standing?

When she was punching and kicking goons, her moves sent them crashing into walls and structures making the warehouse stand still. Seeing that the whole place would fall down, all of the surviving goons moved out and Chasina tried to flee as well, but the whole building collapsed on her.

Chasina was out cold for a few hours until she woke up, looking unharmed, but she felt her left leg get stuck by heavy debris from what was supposed to be a warehouse. Chasina tried to pull her leg out from under the debris, but she was stuck real tight. She even tried lifting with her hands, but the debris was too heavy. She then tried kicking the debris with her spare leg, but it was no use. She tried kicking it again, causing a broken roof to tremble and close to dropping onto her.

While shielding herself with her arms when the broken roof startled her, Chasina noticed the photo slid out from her pocket. She examined the photo of her, Ambrosius, and Ballister. Oh, how she missed them so badly. She even wondered how they were doing when she was gone. Were they worried for her. Were they thinking of her everyday? Or did they just move on and concentrate on their training with her? Either way, she never stopped thinking about them everyday for the past 2 years. She just hoped that one day, if Ambrosius and Ballister would become knights, they would see each other again.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the broken roof was about to crash down on her, so close to her face. Chasina was horrified and tried kicking the debris off her stuck leg, but still no effect. She then gave an angry and frustrated look.

"Good Gloreth. Just great."

Two months later, Chasina found herself a temporary hideout where she was working on something. Other than her training both from the Institute and her self-training, she also learned gadgetry. What she had been made was not easy. It took her two months to figure out her new and only invention. After fixing a couple of things, she attached it to where her left leg was supposed to be, replacing her old flesh leg with a mechanical one.

In order to free herself from the heavy debris that got her leg stuck two months ago, Chasina had no choice but to chop off her own leg when she found a saw nearby. It was painful and a lot of blood bled out from her body, but she managed to survive as long as she could. She always looked at the photo of her and her friends, which motivated her to keep going, and in hopes of seeing them again when she was ready.

It took her two months to build her a new leg, but it was worth it. She wanted it to be as functional as possible in order to live and survive alone.

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These past two more years, Chasina was still living on her own, still trying to get used to her prosthetic leg, and continued her self-defense and hand-to-hand combat training. If not a sword, then she customized her own weapon of defense and attack; her own hairpin that Ballister gave to her when they were younger. She even made copies of her favorite pin as she used them as shuriken.

She remembered that tonight was the night of her friends' knighting ceremony… when she would have been a knight if she had stayed four years ago.

Even if she won't be a knight tonight, not if anyone would remember her, she can't miss her friends becoming knights they had dreamed of since they were all still children.

A male reporter was currently delivering a report for the whole kingdom, "Good evening, folks. We are coming to you live from the Glorodome. I'm Nate Knight."

His female co-worker introduced herself next, "I'm Alamzapam Davis."

"And tonight's the night we knight the knights! Ain't that right, Pam?" Nate declared as a spotlight shined over one of the helicopter lights, bringing to light the shiny statue that is of the great Gloreth herself.

"It sure is, Nate," Pam replied before pointing out as the two reporters could be seen doing their report in front of the stadium, "But this is also the most controversial knighting ceremony in a thousand years."

"You can feel the excitement and the tension," Nate added on, explaining as crowds of people started to pour into the city, gazing at the giant screens around them to watch the report live. "Tonight, tradition will be cast aside, and the kingdom will change forever because of one man."

Chasina was walking on the streets quietly, blending in with the crowd with her blue cloak on. She removed her hood that covered her face to watch the news on a nearby screen.

"Ballister," Pam identified before a video clip showed of Ballister, when he was younger, eagerly going through a training course, "The street kid with the impossible dream of being a knight."

"I'm here to slay monsters and protect our kingdom," young Ballister declared before getting tackled by a bunch of men in armor.

While watching that clip, Chasina let out a little giggle. She never knew what happened to her adoptive older brother when he got into the academy. Chasina hadn't been there yet, so she didn't remember that time.

A new video then showed young Ballister with the queen and the Director, who gave him a shiny sword with Nate explained, "Impossible, that is until the queen herself made a shocking decision."

The little boy was amazed by how mighty the sword looked while the queen explained to the reporters, "No, he doesn't come from a noble bloodline... but he might just have the heart of a hero."

A new video clip then showed Ballister, who was now all grown up as an adult, duked in silvery black knight armor, and easily defeating all the obstacles that stood in his way while Pam elaborated, "And Ballister made the most of that chance, graduating top of his institute class. A class that includes none other than…"

A new clip showed a video imagery of the handsome, charming man in gold armor, while Nate declared his name, "Ambrosius Goldenloin."

"Hey," Ambrosius said with a shiny smile.

Nate explained a little about Ambrosius, "Direct descendant of Gloreth herself, and the most anticipated knight of a generation."

A new video clip showed Ambrosius shouting "Whoo," which prompted the crowd to respond with the same cheer before he knelt down and posed for a picture with a little boy.

While watching, Chasina rolled her eyes, remembering her other older brother with that ego.

She was waiting for her introduction in the news, but she wasn't mentioned nor shown in the video footage. It was possibly the fact that she had gone for 4 years, and no one knew she had gone missing or left the Institute. Guess she was already forgotten. It was already 4 years, and time flew so fast.

Pam the reporter then mentioned, "With Ballister joining the ranks, for the first time in history, our safety will be put in the hands of a commoner."

"I don't feel safe," a female resident mentioned when asked for an interview.

"It's not what Gloreth wanted," another female resident replied, not liking the idea one bit.

Back with the news reporters, Nate then stated, "So tonight, only one question remains. Will the kingdom accept this knight who might not be right?"

Hearing negative comments from other citizens of the kingdom, Chasina knew both she and Ballister wouldn't be accepted to be knights because they were both commoners. Now that she left, and Ballister was back to be the only commoner left in the Institution, all hates went to him now. She just wished she would be there for Ballister, reminding him he wasn't alone in this… but she wasn't there for him… not at this time since things got complicated for Chasina. All she would do now is wish her luck from afar.

"Good luck out there, Bal. I wish you the best," Chasina sighed as she put her hood back on and walked off.

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In the stadium, everyone far and wide had gathered, excitedly anticipating the knighting ceremony to begin. This year was to be a historic ceremony, and whether the outcome was good or bad, all that mattered at the current moment was the sea of new knights that were to be honored by the queen herself.

Meanwhile, Chasine successfully snuck into the Glorodome and found herself an empty seat where she could see the whole arena. With her self-trained skills, she was stealthy, making it impossible to be noticed when she snuck into the stadium. She still covered herself with her cloak, hoping no one would recognize her. Of course, nobody would recognize her because nobody knew her. She was unrecognizable, probably ever since before she left and disappeared. The knighting ceremony just started just in time when Chasina took a seat. She could now relax and watch.

Lights flickered, spotlights brimming brightly, and the announcer declared, "And now the newest heroes of the realm!"

All of the knights rode into the stadium horseback, decked in armor and swords in hand, with the crowd cheering loud and proud for their arrival.

As Ballister entered the arena on his horse, the bright lights and the loud cheering amazed him; sure, it was always thrilling to watch the ceremony, but it was a whole new surreal feeling to BE the one receiving the cheers and applause, having the lights shine down on him, seeing the excitement and intrigue on everyone's faces. He almost wanted to pinch himself and see if he was dreaming, but now was not the time to be distracted.

Ballister rode up to Ambrosisus, who was soaking in the chanting, but turned his head and offered a warm smile to Ballister, as partial sharing of his excitement, and partial reassurance, letting him know that things were going alright so far.

Within the audience, Chasina clearly noticed Ballister and Ambrosius. She was so excited for them, but nervous for only Ballister and sad for herself that she wasn't there with her brothers. She has regrets about leaving, but it was for the best of her two best friends. She knew they did great without her around, and it was fine with her. She wanted her friends' dreams to come true.

As the knights rode their horses up to the white stage, blue carpet decorating its floor and the stairs, the announcer proclaimed as the lights dimmed, shining a spotlight down on a single throne that stood on the stage, "My lords and ladies; her Majesty. the Queen."

The queen, with the director standing next to her, rose up from her throne and approached the edge of the stairs.

On cue, the knights, in unison, lept down from their horses and approached the queen, standing straight by their horses, as orderly as any army would appear.

Ambrosius was the first to come forward and greet the queen. Before he did, he whispered to Ballister, "Here come the whoo," He turned back to the audience, and shouted very loudly, "Whoo." He earned a large round of cheers for him, many responding back with the same cheer.

Ballister couldn't help but smile, and Chasina, from the bleachers, rolled her eyes, chuckling; Sure, they both knew that Ambrosius would be receiving a lot of praise and cheer for becoming a knight; after all, he was a descendant of Gloreth, who was a legendary knight in the kingdom; any knight would be more than honored to follow in the footsteps of such a legacy, and be very well-known for it.

Ambrosius climbed up the steps and dropped to one knee, bowing in front of the queen and giving her his sword.

The queen accepted the sword and declared while tapping his shoulders ever so lightly with the tip of the sword, "I hereby pronounce you Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, hero of the realm."

The crowd went absolutely bonkers with applause as the queen then told Ambrosius, "Stand, Sir Knight."

Ambrosius stood up on command and went to stand off to the side, near where the queen was.

Chasina let out a small squeal with happiness. She was happy for Ambrosius. He was destined to be a knight because of his ancestry. But Chasina never focused on that. All that mattered to her was Ambrosius was her friend. And he still is. She should be happy for her friend. Now, it was her other friend's turn; she started to be very nervous for him.

Ballister watched this and knew that he was up next to be knighted; this was it, everything he had worked for had led him to this moment. It was time….to fulfill his goal and be named a hero of the realm. He was excited, nervous, determined, and even slightly scared, but history was gonna be made tonight, and now was his time to make it happen. So, with a breath of air he released slowly, Ballister whispered to himself and made his way up the stairs, "Here we go."

While walking up, he saw the proud smile that the queen had; it was a smile resembling that of a proud mother watching their son. Although the Ballister was but merely a commoner, being handpicked by the queen herself to proceed with training at the institute and succeeding, making it this far, well, that qualified as an accomplishment to be very proud of.

Albeit, the closer he got, the more nervous Ballister began to feel, but seeing the reassuring smile Ambrosius had helped his nerves, although the stoic stance of the Director did not do much to calm his nerves. At the bleachers, Chasina was biting a finger real hard, praying that everything would be alright.

When Ballister was soon standing face-to-face with the queen, she spoke to him, "I've been looking forward to this moment."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ballister responded as he bowed down to one knee, feeling gratefulness and sincerity in his tone of voice.

Then, the queen made a surprising announcement, "My people, starting today, any of you should be able to hold the sword if you want it; if you earn it."

This announcement made the entire audience murmur in curiosity, confusion, excitement, and so many other emotions! While yes, the idea of even simple folks like themselves becoming knights did seem fairly exaggerated, and perhaps an improbable task, would this be something that COULD become a viable option for their future?

While the audience had their own doubts and questions, Chasina sighed sadly. She held a sword once and got into training, but she had self-doubt and a lack of confidence during her time at the academy. She doubted herself if she could ever earn a sword like both her brothers. She just wished she could continue, but there was a part of her that made her think she couldn't do it. She snapped out of her thoughts to continue watching.

"I've watched this young man earn it many times over," Before questions could arise, the queen then looked back at Ballister, asking him for his sword, which he easily took out and presented. The queen picked up the sword and gently tapped the tip of it on his shoulder, "I hereby pronounce you Sir Ballister Boldheart, hero of the realm!"

There was an eerie wave of silence in the beginning; did no one want to cheer for him? Did many people still not think Ballister would be a formidable knight because he was a commoner? Was this silence gonna break part to a loud ringing of boos or worse?

Both Ambrosius and Chasina couldn't help but feel a little concerned when the two separately saw the small frown Ballister had when he received no praise after being knighted by the queen herself.

Just then, there was a cla- then another, followed by a loud cheer, and then more cheers. Soon, to Ballister's surprise, the entire stadium was cheering loudly in applause, chanting his name at the top of their lungs, "Boldheart! Boldheart!"

"Boldheart! Yeah," Ambrosius cheered with a laugh also escaping his throat as he felt very happy for Ballister; he knew that if anyone deserved to have a moment like this as much as any other knight, it was him.

"Yes! That's my brother!" Chasina shouted happily as if anyone could hear her. She was happy for Ballister. She believed from the very beginning she met him that he could make a difference for young commoners like both of them.

Ballister himself could hardly believe it; the people finally saw him as a knight. He defied the impossible and made it possible; becoming a knight from common background! He didn't know what to think, other than…It truly is…a dream come true.

As the crowd continued to chant his name, the queen told the knight while giving him back his sword, "Congratulations, Sir Boldheart. Let a new era of heroes begin with you."

However, when Ballister had got his sword back, something strange happened; the end tip of the handle which the queen was holding earlier had…turned on? And it not only turned on, but a green light was emitted, and pointed directly at the queen herself.

The handle of the sword turned into a sort of high-gadget ray, and before Ballister could even know what was happening, the ray blasted a green beam of light that hit the queen square in the chest and sent her flying.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion; the ray being blasted, the queen getting hit, her crown falling, the shocked look on everyone's faces, and even the disbelief on Balister's face. Everyone in the stadium, the Director and even Ambrosius and Chasina, who let out a horrific gasp, could not believe what was happening!

Without thinking, and acting in quick defense to save the queen, Ambrosius pulled out his sword and sliced it right through the arm that was holding the sword ray, sending the ray's blast upward at the sky, just narrowly avoiding the screens above the stage. Everyone in the audience looked up in shock, not only for what the blast from the ray was doing but also for what had been done; the queen was shot right in front of them, by how they saw it, none other than Ballister!

As much as she was shocked that the queen was killed by a green ray, Chasina just couldn't help but keep her eye on both Ballister and Ambrosius. She saw the whole scene, the way Ambrosius indeliberately sliced Ballister's arm with a sword. It was horrifying. One of her best friends who was her brother at heart got his arm chopped by her other friend and brother at heart. She never ever expected it would come to this. None of the three would think this would happen.

Ballister reeled in pain after his arm had gotten chopped off, but looking away from his arm, he saw the sword/ray drop and shatter upon impact hitting the floor. Broken light shards fell down from the ceiling, but all were oblivious to it for the shock of the events that have transpired were of much more importance.

Ballister looked up and saw the look of disbelief on Ambrosius' face, as well as the surprised expressions everyone else had, but none of their looks shook Ballister's more than Ambrosius'. From afar, Chasina still stared at her now shocked brothers as she covered her mouth in disbelief with her hands and little tears came out of her eyes. She felt that her worst expectation might come true… this might be the start of a faded friendship.

However, no words could be spoken from the three, with one being distant from the two; all that lay between them were the remains of the actions done.

Before that thought could come through, the chandelier from above broke off and fell down, damaging a hole through the stage floor between Ballister and Ambrosius. Chasina helplessly closed her eyes, not wanting to see more of them. She couldn't handle this anymore so she quickly rushed through the crowd to find an exit.

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She didn't know how long it was; hours, days, or weeks. Chasina still couldn't get over what just happened at the Glorodome. It was a nightmare back there. She was still in disbelief at what her brothers had done. On a rainy day, all Chasina had was a cloak, and wet, the rain couldn't stop her from thinking. She wasn't even running from the rain. Just letting it all in. Chasina didn't like to believe, didn't want to believe it. But something in her mind made her ask questions. Did Ballister really kill the queen? Did Ambrosius do the right thing? Her head got messed up with sadness, anger, and confusion. She couldn't tell anymore.

As she passed by, Chasina got a chance to stop at nearby screens of the news.

"The queen killer is still out there."

"Everyone is scared."

"Not since Gloreth's monster has anything been so hated."

"He never should've been a knight."

"He wasn't one of us and hated us for it."

"A commoner."

"He's vile."

"He's got no place in this kingdom."

"He's a murderer."

"He's a monster."

Looking at the news, Chasina shed a tear. She realized that this whole thing started 4 years after she left. It made her wonder if this was the consequence of her disappearance from her two best friends… that they changed without her presence. She didn't only think about herself or her two friends, she thought about how it came to this for all three of them.

Deep down, despite how she and everyone witnessed, Chasina refused to believe Ballister killed the queen. She had known him for a long time. He wasn't the kind of person to murder someone, especially the one who believed in him and Chasina as well. But would it be because she left without telling either of her two friends? Chasina hoped that wasn't the reason. If it did, then it might be her fault, and she wished she would've been there to prevent it from happening.

"Oh, Ballister, what just happened?! What did you do?" Chasina squeaked while holding her tears, and holding the picture of her and the two boys together. She stared at Ballister, having mixed feelings if she would believe he would do such a vile thing. Then, her eyes shifted to Ambrosius, and she let out more tears from her eyes, "Ambrosius, what have you done?!"

She couldn't get over the fact that Ambrosius would do that to Ballister. She wanted to believe it was an accident, but even if it was, it didn't change what she saw. Her brother hurt her other brother.

Chasina turned around, and started sobbing while hugging herself, "What is happening to my brothers?" She really hoped that she would've been there for Ballister and Ambrosius, and maybe protected them from hurting each other in any way.

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When a month passed by, while trying to get her mind off of things, Chasina went to the marketplace to get some food. Living alone in her temporary apartment was so lonely and scary sometimes. She had to survive by herself ever since she left the Institution. Because of taking multiple jobs and getting fired for 4 years, she earned her paycheck every now and then.

While getting some vegetables she needed, she heard electronic wanted signs from a newspaper stand, and it alerted her. She turned around to notice Ballister bumping into a few folks, who looked at him weirdly before walking away. The nearby window of a newspaper stand he passed kept showing electronic "WANTED" signs with his face on it, making him desperately cling to the hood he had on to try and cover his head and face. He almost crashed into a man who was reading a newspaper that had a "WANTED" poster of him on it. Ballister quickly, and desperately tried to hide his face so NO ONE could see him, but it was getting harder to have his identity concealed safely without someone spotting him. And low and behold.

"Wait, Bal?" Chasina said with a very low voice, curious about what her so-called criminal bestie doing out in the open, "What is he doing here?"

"I know he's here! Find him," she heard Ambrosius' voice order out, making Ballister hide behind a car to stay out of any line of sight.

"Ambrosius!" Chasina quickly hid behind a tower of crates with vegetables in them. She took a peak to see Ambrosius leading other knights to search for Ballister.

Then, a woman noticed Ambrosius and smiled, saying, "Look, it's Goldenloin!"

This stirred a crowd to come over and gather around Ambrosius in excitement, which turned out to be the perfect distraction for Ballister. With everyone looking at Sir Goldenloin, no one would even think to turn and spot him!

While Ambrosius tried to tell the crowd that they had to move because he was looking for Ballister, a kid then asked him hopefully, "Can I get your autograph?"

Mentally just biting his tongue, he figured one autograph couldn't hurt, replying while holding out a pen, "Just one signature. Who am I signing?"

While hiding and watching, Chasina remembered that night… the night of the knighting ceremony. How could she forget? It was unnecessarily graphic. She didn't want to think of how Ambrosius would hurt Ballister so badly. But what concerned her the most was that Ambrosius was the one who led the other knights to find Ballister! Despite not having the right information as to why Ambrosius was doing this to their best friend, Chasina could see, hear or even feel with her guts that he was serious with his duties as a knight, even putting his friendship at risk.

"Is he serious right now?" Chasina whispered angrily.

Ambrosius signing the autograph gave Ballister the perfect chance to sneak out and enter the car, hiding out inside of it.

A minute later, loud music was heard from the car Ballister was holding in. It started to get Ambrosius and Chasina's attention, with the golden-armored knight and a blue-cloaked figure turning their heads and seeing the car blasting the music the roof down, and some sort of figure, though Ambrosius couldn't tell who it was, inside with the saleslady while Chasina already knew who. But Ambrosius had a hunch that it could possibly be Ballister hiding in the car, and, after finishing with the autographs, he tried to get the crowd to move so he could take a closer look. This feared Chasina that her "wanted" brother would get caught for sure by her other "heroic" brother. She wanted to just step out of hiding, and help Ballister, but she couldn't show herself yet, and wasn't the right time yet.

But something else caught Chasina's attention. While still hiding behind a tower of crates, she noticed the squire was running for his life, asking the people around him,

"Please help me, help me, please! A little demon baby is after me! Please help me!"

Curious about what was going on, Chasina followed the commotion.

When Squire ran under a bridge pass, he stopped and screamed in fright when the "Demon Baby" appeared in front of him. Frantically wanting to get away, he threw a meek punch, which led to the "demon baby" biting his hand and making Squire shriek in pain.

While witnessing from behind a few people who were helplessly watching the squire get beaten by a "Demon Baby", Chasina let out a little chuckle. She found this scene a little funny. She sometimes liked to watch people get hurt in a comedic way, one thing she wasn't proud of.

Then, Chasina moved aside when the "Demon Baby" tossed Squire around like a beach ball, making the blue-cloaked woman laugh, but she tried to cover her mouth as she was supposed to ignore the commotion as other people in the market did.

The Squire was being dragged against his will by the "Demon Baby", who had him by his ankle, all while the crowd of people watching did nothing but view the current situation, as merely they had no idea what to do, while Chasina just couldn't do anything but watch this hilarious moment. You couldn't see this kind of shenanigans every day.

The Squire kept throwing whatever he could get his hands on at the "Demon Baby" to get it to let him go, but nothing worked, until he threw a piece of pizza at it, making the "Demon Baby" pull it away from "his" face, "Pineapple on pizza? Bleah!"

"There," a knight's voice rang out, making the "Demon Baby" look over her shoulder.

It caught Chasina's attention as well as she looked behind her.

Scrambling to come down the escalator was Ambrosius, who told the people he passed by, "Excuse me; I need to get through; move!"

Adding onto the predicament as the "Demon Baby" accidentally let go of Squire's ankle to get the pizza off gave Squire the chance to get his foot out of the shoe and start to run, freedom in his sight! Nothing could stop him now-

CRASH!

Nothing except getting hit by a car that rams him into a box of pots and pans, making the pans spill over him.

Chasina was a little surprised there, but she couldn't help but find this funny than horrifying. She still kept herself hidden behind the crates but kept her eye on the "Demon Baby" and Ballister, who came out of the car.

"Aw, why did you get to kill him?" The "Demon Baby" asked, pouting.

"He's not dead, I hope," Ballister frantically responded as he and Nimona picked up the unconscious squire while Ballister desperately hoped that running the car into him REALLY did not kill the guy.

"Is that Ballister?" a male passerby commented after seeing Ballister.

"It's the queen killer!" a female passerby exclaimed in shock.

"He's working with a demon baby!" another male passerby stated as Nimona and Ballister placed Squire's unconscious body into the car trunk.

Chasina started to wonder if this "Demon Baby" was associated with Ballister. It made her wonder how did this happened. Chasina even remembered on the news that Ballister was partnered with a pink-haired girl. The "Demon Baby" wasn't that girl. Something felt different for Chasina because of the way she observed her best friend in the shadows.

"Ballister, stop," Ambrosius, holding a crossbow, shouted as he and the other knights headed right towards him.

Chasina was alerted by Ambrosius' presence, and about to catch Ballister for sure. She stayed hidden, but she sat down and took three hairpins as her shuriken out from her pocket, just to prepare for what was going to happen.

Ballister and the "Demon Baby" tried to put Squire's body in the trunk, but the door was not closing.

When Ambrosius got a clear shot at Ballister with his crossbow, Chasina was ready to throw her hair pins at Ambrosius. They won't knock him down or anything. Chasina only wanted to distract Ambrosius to let Ballister and his new companion escape.

When Ballister looked up and saw the concerned/stunned look on Ambrosius' face. Chasina was observing this and got curious as to why Ambrosius suddenly lowered his crossbow. She waited for Ambrosius to get ready to shoot so she could take some action, but it didn't turn out what she was expecting.

As Ambrosius couldn't take the shot, but the other knights did, it was all the more motivation for Ballister to get into the driver's seat and get as far as he could as fast as he could.

The saleslady was kicked out of the car, the "Demon Baby" hopped in, and Ballister immediately drove off, flying the car up into the sky before any more arrows could be shot at the car by the knights below.

While Ambrosius was still trying to process what was going on and why Ballister was doing all of this, the other knights were frustrated, and the people around them were in a panic.

Meanwhile, Chasina went back into hiding behind the crates, and kept herself from laughing as she enjoyed the shenanigans in this market. She rolled her eyes and sighed in relief, but from enjoyment and knowing Ballister was safe for now. She couldn't stay any longer or the other knights and Ambrosius might notice her. Chasina picked up her grocery paper bag and left her hiding spot without being noticed by the people around her. She just hoped she'd see Ballister again, and she would help him in the shadows. She hoped he'd be safe. She began to wonder why Ambrosius lowered his weapon when he got the chance to capture Ballister. It made her think there might be hope between them. Might be hope that their friendship remained intact.

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Early in the morning of the next day, Chasina went out for a little stroll while reading a newspaper. She was already mad when the newspaper was about "the queen killer" and a girl with pink hair. Chasina angrily crumbled the newspaper and threw it into the nearby trash can.

"Ugh! Why do people think of this?!" Chasina mumbled as if she wanted to shout, "My best friend is not a killer."

Just then, at the corner of her eyes, she saw two mysterious figures heading into the Institute headquarters. Chasina turned in that direction just to make sure if she noticed what she thought she knew. Yep, it was Ballister, along with a girl with pink hair.

"Ballister?" Chasina muttered quietly, "What is he doing?"

When Ballister and his companion snuck into the headquarters, Chasina had to follow them, wanting to know what they were up to. But it would be difficult if someone or Ballister himself would see her. Chasina wasn't ready to show up to one of her friends yet. Things got complicated lately.

When she found another way into the Institute headquarters without guards around, Chasina just had to get in from the outside. It might be tough since she might be out of the open, but she was stealthier than being inside the building. The walls of the building were smoother than she remembered. She used to climb these walls as a kid, and now, it felt different when she touched the walls and she had a prosthetic leg. Remembering her self-training when climbing walls without proper tools, she had to improvise by using the building's structure. It'll take her a lot of time, but he had to try. She wanted to know what Ballister was doing here, even if it put him at risk of being arrested. Chasina started to climb by jumping sideways in a narrow gap in the building.

It took her maybe 15 minutes and she got tired, probably because her robotic leg added extra weight to her body, but Chasina made it just in time when Ballister and his "sidekick" faced Ambrosius and the Director. Chasina had to remain low so no one could see her. She remained holding tight at the edge and kept her face hidden. She hoped no one would see her on this side of the building or she'd get caught for sure. She could see and hear everything that was going on.

Ambrosius was standing in front of the Director in defense, set to protect her if needed, while Ballister walked down the stairs, meeting up with Nimona. Both sides at a standstill, he then spoke up, "Ambrosius, the Director killed the queen."

"What?" Ambrosius, surprised to hear this, responded.

Chasina gasped softly with her fist covering her mouth while her other hand still held onto the edge. The person she depended on killed the queen? How? And why? As a little girl, Chasina was always dependent on her teacher, and the Director had always given her advises and wisdom that she needed for her training. She never thought her "favorite teacher" was evil all the time!

The Director snidely responded quietly to try and lure Ambrosius away from thinking she was the suspect, "Another desperate lie,"

"He's not a liar," Nimona quickly remarked, defending Ballister.

The Director let out a laugh, "Says the miscreant, whispering in his ear."

Nimoan took no offense to the tease, answering back, "Aw, thank you."

Ballister then spoke up, saying, "I'm innocent, and I have proof," and reached into his pocket to grab the evidence he and Nimona had gotten.

The Director, noticing this, became a little worried; if Ballister had proof, then it'd mean she'd instantly be exposed and her plans would fall apart! To try and stir Ambrosius to stop Ballister, she told him, "He's got a weapon."

Just before Ballister could show the picture on the phone, a light beam was shot and it destroyed the phone, and the evidence, along with it.

Up in the sky, the knights were on large, white helmet-based hoverbikes, flashlights shining on the duo below, and holding ray guns in their hands, with Todd exclaiming, "Not anymore! Todd rules!"

Then, a lot more knights came in and surrounded Ballister and Nimona, set to shoot in defense if need to be.

Seeing so many knights riding on their hoverbikes and light beams pointed at Ballister and Nimona, Chasina lowered herself a little bit, trying to be as stealthier as possible, but she didn't want to miss what would happen next… though she was hoping for the most important thing.

Surrounded on the roof and up in the sky, with possibly no spot of escaping, Ballister was not gonna run, not at least before he had the chance to try and clear things up with the truth, telling Ambrosius, "It doesn't matter, you shouldn't need proof. you know I'm not a murderer."

Ambrosius stood there, still, and while not verbally responding, emotionally, he was at a standstill; he's known Ballister the longest out of anyone, but still….did he know him enough to know if Ballister…would even do something so…dark?

Then Director, growing more impatient by the minute, told him, "What are you waiting for, Captain?"

"Hurry before the whale gets here," Todd added.

While Ambrosius was still standing there, thinking what meant to be done, Chasina was still hoping that another one of her best friends/adoptive brothers would believe Ballister. In her heart, Chasina believed that he was not a murderer. She was hoping Ambrosius would believe him too. All three of them knew each other very well. Nothing could ever change what they had between them… could it? They made a promise those years ago. Chasina expected Ambrosius to stick by that promise if he remembered.

Nimona tried to encourage Ambrosius to make the right choice, telling him, "Come on, man. Do the right thing."

Ambrosius got a good look at Nimona and asked Ballister, "Who is she, Bal," Then, something in her eyes made him rephrase his question, "What is she?"

Chasina had the same question in her mind ever since she learned about Nimona's presence with Ballister. She squinted her eyes to see a little closer and clearer while keeping herself hidden.

Worried that Ambrosius would do something to hurt her, Ballister tries to calmly, though worryingly, tell him, " Ambrosius, I am begging you to trust me."

But without a clear answer, and the safety of his people at hand, Ambrosius held the sword up high, pointing it right at Ballister.

Both Ballister and Chasina, who just witnessed this, were shocked and in disbelief. Ambrosius, the guy they thought was their friend. Their best friend. A lover, a brother, an only noble who believed to be different from others. Yet, they were wrong.

Ballister thought Ambrosius would believe him. They had known each other when they were still children. They shared each other's dreams. They shared each other's lives. They shared everything together. The only crime they ever committed to each other was they stole each other's hearts. They had been in a romantic relationship for 14 years, though it felt like at the beginning they first met. It was a childhood crush at first sight. They always had each other. Ballister trusted Ambrosius all his life and heart, even when Nimona warned the former about the latter. Ambrosius would've been the only person Ballister had to ask for help because he was the only one in the institute he could ever trust. He loved him. He won't use him to clear his name because of their relationship. It was about that. It was about how the years went by, and they stayed close together and promised to love each other in every single way.

And yet, here they were now. Ballister was heartbroken and Ambrosius made him think their relationship wasn't worth his duty and his legacy as a knight and Gloreth's descendant respectively. Ballister thought there was hope with Ambrosius, but he chose his family's legacy over his heart, over the man he loved.

Chasina couldn't believe what she just witnessed. In all her life, she thought nothing would get in the way of her and the two boys' friendship. She still remembered that day, the day the boys brought her to the stadium where they sat on the rafters, and they all made a solemn promise that she, Ballister, and Ambrosius would stay best friends forever, no matter what. Not even their duties would tear their friendship apart. Chasina wanted to believe it would be true, but it wasn't. It was a lie. Ambrosius' promise was a lie this whole time. He was the one who made the promise first. It was his idea to make it their own oath. Chasina hesitated that day because she believed this promise would break someday. And it happened anyway. Chasina was heartbroken for the same reason that Ballister thought. She even believed that Ambrosius wouldn't let his family's legacy and his duty as a knight stand in the way of their friendship. But she saw it in her own eyes. Her adoptive older brother pointed a sword at her other adoptive older brother. Arm chopping might be an accident, but pointing a sword at a friend was a choice, and he made this choice without having second thoughts at all. He broke his promise. The promise that was sacred to all three of them. And she thought she was the one who broke the promise first, but at least she wasn't a backstabber like Ambrosius.

"Ambrosius… why?" Chasina whimpered as tears streaming down her face. She kept holding on to the edge, but she couldn't stop her tears from forming and shedding because one of her friends made an unfair decision. She looked up to Ambrosius when they were kids. And then, the person she looked up to betrayed their friendship. It made her wonder if he would do the same for her if she were in Ballister's shoes. Would he still be choosing his legacy then their friendship? Then, he might though, "You promise."

He then declared, in possibly the coldest voice that Ballister had heard him talk in, "Arrest them."

Seeing that talking no longer was an option, it left to do one other thing, one Ballister was more than welcome to. He stood firm, telling Ambrosius, "You wanna know who the kid is?"

Nimona seemed to catch what Ballister was planning, commenting in determination, "Oh, I like where this is going."

"You wanna show 'em," Ballister asked Nimona.

"I'd love to," she eagerly responded.

"Let's break stuff," Ballister declared.

"Metal," Nimona replied, her eyes glowing red and her teeth baring fangs as she leaped up.

Ambrosius, the Director, the other knights, and Chasina gasped in surprise as they witnessed Nimona shapeshifting into her mighty gorilla form again. As she landed, she bellowed a very loud roar towards Ambrosius, one that shook him, not a lot, but to a great degree that it stunned him before she ceremoniously booped him in the nose and started to help Ballister fight the knights off.

The Director, seeing that things were now gonna go poorly for them, asked Ambrosius to, "Give me a sword."

However, Ambrosius was more concerned about the Dirextor's safety, blocking her while replying, "We need to get you to safety."

Meanwhile, the fight continued, with Ballister using his sword to block the strikes of the knight while Nimona shapeshifted from gorilla to cat, clawing away at a defenseless knight.

Ambrosius had gotten the director into their aircraft, telling the pilot, "Get this thing in the air now!"

As the aircraft took over, taking the Director to a safe place, Ballister and Nimona continued to defend themselves from the knights that were attacking them.

Wanting to help Ballister and Nimona without showing herself, Chasina remained hidden at the edge as she took out 5 hairpins from her pocket with a spare hand, and threw them at some of the knights that charged at Ballister, knocking them down while the pins made clanking sounds at the metal armors. The hairpins spun back at Chasina, grabbing them immediately when they flew back to her. Chasina hid below before anyone noticed what she did. Helping out without revealing herself was so much fun for her. It made her feel alive.

Just then, two light beams shined in front of her, thus blowing Chasina's cover, and were discovered by a couple of knights on their hoverbikes.

"Halt!" One of the knights shouted, "Who goes there?! Who are you?!"

Instead of fear and doubts that she had been piling up in her head forever, Chasina smirked sinisterly, and answered, "Your worst nightmare!" She had been waiting years to get back at the other knights who wronged her and Ballister as she had 6 shurikens in her hands and quickly leaped from the wall.

Chasina punched a knight off the hoverbike. It was her hoverbike now. Two other knights shot at her, but she managed to dodge them and three her hairpins at them, knocking them off their vehicles. Another three knights approached her when her hairpins didn't hit them. Chasina clung over the hoverbike and swung the knights off.

Even not directly, she was actually helping Ballister and Nimona, giving them fewer knights to fight than more, and it'll be easy for them.

Meanwhile, Ballister blocked his sword at the incoming strikes while Nimona continued to use shapeshifting to knock the knights away. She changed into a wolf to pounce at a knight that came from behind before shapeshifting into an ostrich and running on the knights' heads, knocking them out with heavy foot strides.

While the fight was very serious, Nimona was laughing away, having a ball with getting to fight off these metallic knuckleheads.

Topping things off, she leaped into the air and shapeshifted into a rolled-up armadillo, which she got thrown by Ballister and nailed one knight in the ribs very hard.

"Sorry, no sorry!" Nimona commented as the knight fell over.

When a knight on the hovercraft was firing lasers at him, Ballister quickly pulled up an electronic shield to block before he headbutted the knight on the ground.

Deciding that it was time to get off this roof, he asked Nimona, "You see a way out of here?"

"Of horse I do," Nimona answered, trying to be funny as she shapeshifted into a big horse, getting Ballister onto her back and galloping away.

"Okay, that was terrible," Ballister commented but with a smile as he and Nimona made a grand escape.

Ambrosius chased after them, "Stop that… horse?"

Nimona galloped over to the edge, where two knights were already there, firing at them, Ballister asked Nimona, who showed no signs of slowing down, "We're going over, aren't we?"

"Yep," Nimona answered, adding before making a huge leap, "The only way out is down."

"Why are we always falling?!" Blister shouted as he and Nimona began to free fall from the roof of the Institute.

While Chasina was still standing on the hoverbike, banging two knights on each other's heads, and throwing a hairpin on the other knight behind her, she noticed Ballister and Nimona falling off the roof. She sighed when she realized the fight was moving back to the ground. She didn't want to climb down like how she climbed up earlier, so…

"Guess we're going down!" Chasina let herself fall freely.

Luckily for her, her free fall was safer when she used the knights on hoverbikes to break her falls as she punched and kicked every knight she encountered on the hoverbikes, lowering herself way down while trying to follow Ballister and Nimona, still keeping herself on a low profile.

Nimona easily shapeshifted a pair of dragon wings and caught Ballister, "Ha ha! Told you you'd want the wings. Whoo-hoo!"

Ballister was happy to be not free-falling anymore, and grateful that their fall was now gonna be a little smoother until he saw that company was trailing behind them.

Nimona shapeshifted into a gorilla again, sliding down the building's banister carefully while hugging Balister tightly, before she threw him onto a hoverbike.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo," Ballister shouted as he headbutted the knight riding on it, hopped on, and held on tight, riding it down.

Nimona, meanwhile, leaped up and ceremoniously shapeshifted into a whale, using her mouth to swallow the knights in the air. She landed belly-first on the ground and used her blowhole to shoot the knights out in a wet fashion.

As Ballister arrived and hopped off the hoverbike, he commented to Nimona, "Okay, that was super gross."

"Haha, I know!" Nimona cheered out loud as the group of knights fell down in a splashy glop.

Chasina made it down safely to the other side. When she saw a few more knights coming after Ballister and Nimona, Chasina jumped into their path, waving her index finger before giving one of them a punch in the face

Left alone to fight off a few of the remaining knights that were waiting for him on the ground, Ballister and Nimona fended them off before Ambrosius came charging in, riding on a hoverbike before he leaped down, sword in hand.

As Nimona quickly shapeshifted to fend off the other knights, Ballister and Ambrosius went toe to toe, sword and sword, with Ballister saying, "Well, if it isn't the golden boy."

While Chasina was still fighting incoming knights, she saw both Ballister and Ambrosius dueling with swords.

That was it! Her worst fears came true!

"Oh no," Not only she was worried about the two fighting each other, but also she was out of the open. She couldn't let her two best friends see her. She's not ready. Chasina grabbed an unconscious knight and used him as a puppet to fight approaching knights while keeping herself hidden.

She overheard Ballister and Ambrosius' argument while they kept dueling it out.

"Did I ever mean anything to you? Or was it all just a lie?" Ballister remarking angrily towards Ambrosius.

"A lie? Says the guy running around with a monster," Ambrosius harshly retorted back.

But he got him back with a snark from Ballister, who quickly came in defense of Nimona, telling the golden knight, "Don't call her that! She's smart, kind, and quite sophisticated."

On cue, as the two knights separated, one of the guards was running away in fear, with Nimona, still in otter form, pointing out in hilarity, "That guy just peed his armor! He peed his armor!" Not the most sophisticated comment, but a perfectly timed one, nonetheless.

And adding more to the pleasure, it only made Ballister's point stronger, especially when he mentioned to Ambrosius bitterly, "And she has my back, unlike you."

Ambrosius could feel his strikes becoming overpowered, valiantly trying to fight back while stating, "You lied to me about everything!"

"Only one lying to you is the Director," Ballister retorted back before knocking Ambrosius to the ground.

With the shift of power in play, Ambrosius felt like, now that he was defenseless, that this was gonna mean that he was gonna get "killed" and asked Ballister bitterly, "What? You're gonna kill me now too?"

Overhearing that part in disbelief, Chasina suddenly dropped the unconscious knight. For something in her life, she never heard of Ambrosius saying something heinous about Ballister before. This was the first time, and it hurt her that a friend would say that to her other friend.

Ballister almost felt incredulous by that comment; why would Ambrosius think that?! He was trying to save him, not kill him! He quickly responded in shock, "You believe that?" After stabbing his sword into the ground near Ambrosius's head, just to send the message straight to him, Ballister stated with anger in his voice, "Then you never knew me at all."

Just before Ballister could do anything else, Todd zoomed in on his hoverbike, grabbing Ballister and throwing him into a nearby cereal stand, the booth's theme song playing while the cereal boxes fell and littered the sidewalks.

Todd jumped off his bike and cracked his knuckles, approaching Ballister while telling him, "Yeah. Now I'm gonna punch you in the face."

Chasina gasped when Ballister got beaten up by Todd and the other knights. To save her friend, Chasina ran towards the wall of the gate, where she decided to take the other way around to prevent being seen by her friends by going over it. It was tough to climb onto the wall, but when it came to her friend, she had to take the risk. But when she made it outside and landed on her feet, a few knights piled her down. She didn't see that coming.

Meanwhile, otter Nimona was toying with a knight's arm, saying, "Now, I'm no doctor, but this cast looks delicious," she used her teeth to tear into the armor.

However, when she didn't catch sight of Ballister, she looked up, calling out, "Boss?" When she saw where the crowd of knights had gathered, she assumed that they possibly had him surrounded and were trying to hurt him.

Furious, her eyes glowed as she shapeshifted into a wolf and ran across the courtyard before turning into a rhino and barging through the doors.

Back at the stand, Ballister was trying to put up a fight, but got knocked in the back by Todd, who taunted, "You think this hurts? Wait till you see what we do to your pet monster."

On cue, before Rhino Nimona could reach him, she got shot at with waves of electricity that dragged her to the ground, and no matter what she tried to change into, the electricity kept pouring onto her.

Ballister tried to push his way toward her, but the knights surrounding him kept pushing him back, even his plea "No! Leave her alone," fell on deaf ears.

Hearing Ballister pleading for Nimona, Chasina turned to see how that pink rhino got electrified. She might not know Nimona completely, but the tone of Ballister's voice pleading for her made Chasina realize he cared for that girl. Chasina struggled to break free to help Nimona, but the other knights held her arms and shoulders, refusing to let her go and about to arrest her.

When Nimona caught what little sight of Ballister getting surrounded before her view was obscured, it made her rage go to defying levels, and in a puff of smoke, she shapeshifted into a gigantic dragon; the same dragon that was the mascot brand of the cereal at the booth.

The sight of dragon Nimona made Todd turn around and say happily at first, "Kwispy," before asking in confusion, "Wait, what?"

"Hope you brought milk," Nimona declared in response before shooting gigantic pebble-like cereal out of her mouth, which pounded all the knights away with ease and made them slip and fall to the floor.

While Chasina and the other knights who held her captive were distracted by Nimona's "Kwispy" form, Chasina realized the knights' eyes were on the dragon. It was her chance to escape as she shoved the knights with her shoulder, and punched them aside when they tried to hold her again.

She had that open window to escape now and tried to hide before anyone else saw her.

Ambrosius had noticed the sight of the dragon, asking himself a very confused, "What?"

Dragon Nimona let out a happy roar and shot her hands/claws up in the rock fashion sign.

Just then, a car that was on the road turned and flipped over, narrowly about to hit an innocent little girl who was hiding from the madness before Nimona stopped the car with her tail.

Nimona couldn't help but look up down at the girl and see how scared she was looking up at Nimona, who was possibly the most intimidating "monster" she had ever seen.

Ignoring the warning sirens and calls, Nimona quickly shapeshifted into a small girl and tried to approach her gently, "It's okay."

But the scared girl quickly held up a wooden sword, stepping back in fright because she was scared Nimona was gonna hurt her. It prompted her to nervously say in terror, "M-Monster" before her mom rushed in and picked the girl up, taking her to safety.

It left Nimona reeling in guilt, and at the same time, seeing how scared the girl was… it bothered her seeing how many still viewed her as a "monster" in their eyes.

Distracted by her thoughts, she didn't hear the knights approaching her, ready to capture her.

However, just before they could grab her, Ballister came riding in on a hoverbike, "I've got you, kid," he grabbed Nimona before they could, escaping into the dusty streets, with Ambrosius sadly watching on after being unable to have captured them.

Chasina was watching behind the damaged vehicles and saw what just happened. She saw what Nimona did when she saved that little girl, but she was feared instead. It concerned Chasina for Nimona about how she felt that way.

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4 days later, at the Antlered Serpent restaurant, Chasina was taking a drink… or more or less than 10 drinks already after what happened at the Institute castle today.

"Hey, another glass over here!" Chasina called while raising her glass, slightly drunk.

"Don't you think you had enough?" The cashier asked worryingly.

"Another glass! Something stronger!" Chasina yelled. The cashier rolled his eyes and went to the back to find a stronger drink for her

Everything was all messed up in her life. Ballister was framed by the Director, Ambrosius betrayed him, and both of her friends started to hate each other. It was like their friendship fell apart. Chasina refused to believe this was happening. Her worst nightmare had come true… for real. She still believed all of this happened because she left 4 years ago. It made her wonder what would happen if she stayed with her friends. She even believed their friendship was a worthless child promise that the trio made as… children. She was so mad. Mad about what was happening. Mad at the Director for killing the queen and framing Ballister. Mad at Ambrosius for choosing his duty and the legacy of their friendship. Things would never be the same again, until…

Chasina heard a buzz from her phone. She took her phone out and tapped the notification she received.

It was the news about the Director who revealed the shocking confession.

"I framed Ballister. I killed the queen."

Chasina snapped out of her drunk state and reviewed the number of views and comments in this video. She read all of the hate comments about the Director and the Institute. It was unbelievable! A lot of people believed in this video. They believed in Ballister now.

Chasina sighed in relief that the problem worked itself after all. She was so frustrated about what happened lately, but maybe things would get better soon. She took out the bills from her pocket and put them on the corner. She wore the hood, Bal. Well done." She was heading out of the exit, expecting something improving tonight.

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The next night, Chasina was strolling at the alley when she was watching an exclusive report on her phone about the Director's clarification about her confession. She didn't catch up with the live news, so she watched it on video.

"Citizens of the realm, that is not me in the recording. I know it looks like me and sounds like me, but it is not me. That was the monster working with the real queen killer, Ballister. They are trying to trick you. We are under attack by something that can take any form. It could be anyone. Your spouse, your child, your best friend, the person sitting next to you. None of us are safe so long as the villain and that monster are still out there."

Chasina gripped her phone so hard out of anger, it almost broke into half. She was so angry at the Director's lies that she still accused Ballister and had everyone believe his sidekick was a monster. Chasina couldn't take it. She was sick of having one of her best friends being called a villain when he had never been.

"Ugh! Can't believe this! That liar! That b-" Chasina cut off her words as she wasn't used to swear. She swallowed her words back and took deep breaths.

Hearing the news and the alarm about a "Monster Attack", Chasina was a little startled by one of the warning signs above her.

"What the heck? She rushed out of the alley and turned to the back of the streets. She squinted her eyes to see from afar. A giant black kaiju was crawling into the city and got attacked by firing missiles.

"Oh no," Chasina didn't want to think of who that monster was. She remembered Nimona was pink, and Chasina couldn't want to imagine if that was her. She covered herself more with her cloak, and backed away into the alley, where she would be safe for now. She could still watch live news on her phone when she changed windows.

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It might've been a while since Chasina was still hiding in the alleyway, but she could see live that the "monster" was heading to Gloreth's statue. Chasina was somewhere in that area when she noticed that the "monster" was passing by. Chasina was leaning back against the wall to avoid being spotted. When it was all clear for her, Chasina slowly leaned forward to take a little peak at what was happening in the streets.

Nimona was attacked several times and a lot of civilians ran away from her in fear. She got hit by another blow, knocking her down to a nearby building. Awaking from the impact, Nimona's dark form slowly came to it, but the sight she was greeted with was anything but pleasant. Destroyed buildings around, and all these people who either threw stuff at her or said hateful remarks of her being a monster.

She eyed the statue of Gloreth and, deep within the sadness of her glowing eyes, something… really dark came to mind. After so long of fighting off these people who just want to put a sword through her… why not just make it easier on them and… have it done herself?

Standing up, Nimona approached the statue, stopping just at the tip of the statue, with a minimum of a foot away from her. People watching far and wide, wondering what this creature was gonna do next. Chasina already come out of hiding and ran closer to the street to take a closer look at what was really going on.

Nimona's chest seemed to open up, revealing a white light shining from inside of it, most likely where her physical body was. She raised her head up, and with a scream loud enough to shatter glass, she was about to take the dread step forward that… ended everything.

Nimona thought that it was all gonna be over; all the pain of people seeing her and treating her as the monster they saw her as, the pain of being alone because no one understood who she truly was… one simple poke of the sword of Gloreth's statue through her heart…would end everything. She'd feel free… she'd feel the pain go away… she'd feel… alone?

Suddenly, in all the darkness that consumed her… there was a light….and it was coming from… outside… on her chest?

All of the people around gasped at what they had witnessed. Chasina had the biggest reaction of all as her eyes sparkled with worry and surprise.

Standing on the tip of Gloreth's sword, using his prosthetic hand to touch her, both metaphorically and physically, was Ballister, and the impact of his hand on her made a white light that shined very brightly.

Nimona did not appear to show any response to it, but something about Ballister being there, trying to reach out to her… it… it was like… a beacon of hope? No, a beacon of… empathy. He risked going up to a freak of monstrosity like her….to stop her from going through with this?

Ballister was breathing fast, but not once did his hand move away from her heart. He dropped his sword, which fell to the city of passersby below, who all looked on in shock. The sword literally landed in front of Chasina's feet, and she yanked herself away from the impact. She continued staring at Ballister's sword before looking up again Why was Ballister… trying to stop this monster…from hurting itself?

Everyone looked on in stunned silence; was this a way to defeat it? Or maybe…. was Ballister… trying to save it? But why? It surely did not show any emotions like humans do…. right?

But no one in that kingdom knew how Nimona felt more than Ballister, and he knew of Nimona's pain, anger, and sadness; he's witnessed first-hand how being viewed as someone bad can impact your relationship with others. He knew what it felt like to be cast aside and seen as someone who won't amount to anything just because of what you are, and he knew, what it felt like….to not be seen.

Back at where the incident occurred, Nimona finally showed a bodily response by looking down at Ballister.

Ballister could feel her eyes piercing through him as he looked up, but he did not run; he did not hide, he did not even want to fight; all he wanted to do…was help her.

With guilt and regret heavy in his heart, he told her, "I'm sorry."

She didn't respond, but listened, as Ballister spoke out, "I'm sorry. I see you, Nimona."

His words seemed to not only be impacting Nimona, but also everyone who watched. They were speechless; Ballister, who they saw as a criminal, a queen killer… he was defending them. Not only that, but he was risking his life… to help the life of this monster… who really wasn't a monster. Just a lost soul who wanted to be seen.

Ballister saw that his words seemed to go through to her, and he added, "And you're not alone."

Suddenly, the white light that had come from Ballister's touch began to absorb the darkness that had become of Nimona, making it all eradicated. Once the darkness was gone, all that remained, was the battered bruised, and bloodied, but alive, well, and standing, body of Nimona.

Nimona tearfully looked up at Ballister, and struggled to walk forward, only to wind up falling. But in the nick of time, Ballister caught her, and pulled her into a close hug, with Nimona, while not able to speak for the time being, showing her gratitude by wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging back.

All over the kingdom, everyone watched this interaction….and it was…..unbelievable. Ballister truly was….a knight unlike any other. After all, there'd never been a knight before who could even face a monster head-on and….touch them on such a strong emotional aspect. But Ballister did.

Seeing a beautiful friendship between her best friend and his friend, Chasina held a fist onto her left chest and cried with tears of joy. She never felt so proud of her friend for doing the right thing… the important thing for someone who needed a friend. This moment reminded Chasina so much of how Ballister and Ambrosius offered their friendship to her. Now, their friendship was shared with anyone who needed it.

Ballister and Nimona both separated from the hug, with Nimona shooting Ballister a thankful smile.

Suddenly, the sound of a loud explosion prompted the pair to turn their heads and look over beyond where the wall was, seeing a green light that sparked from where the explosion happened.

Even Chasian down below heard of the explosion as she turned her head and looked in the direction where the explosion was. She might know what was going on, but she could sense that something was wrong, very wrong.

From on top of the statue, Ballister and Nimona could see all of the people scrambling to get away, and Nimona even caught sight of the same little girl from before, who looked up at her in wonder, before her mother pulled her away. While everyone ran in panic to get somewhere safe, Chasina remained still while still wrapping her cloak around her and had her hood still covering her face. She still stood where Ballister's sword was still lying beside her. She couldn't move, she couldn't leave, not when her friend and his sidekick were still on the sword of the statue. She only kept her eyes on Ballister and Nimona, wondering what their plan was now.

Nimona couldn't help but feel bad for all of these people. That cannon, once shot, was gonna have a blast strong enough to hurt so many innocent lives who didn't even deserve such a fate.

Ballister was aware of this too, saying in disdain/concern, "That gun's gonna kill everyone."

Nimona saw the worried expression on Ballister's face, and she thought of a really crazy idea that she knew was gonna work, and it'd help save the day. Was it reckless? Yes! Was it dangerous? Yes! Was it gonna involve something getting broken? Yes….and this was where the idea was gonna be at its scariest.

With a grin of determination, Nimona told Ballister, "Hey, boss."

When Ballister turned his head to look at her, Nimona turned around and told him, fear not once present on her face or mind, "Be right back. I'm gonna go break some stuff."

Ballister had a bad idea about what Nimona was gonna do, starting to ask her, "Wait, Nimona. What are you…?"

"It's time to rewrite this story," Nimona simply answered as she turned around, about to make a leap of fate.

"Nimona! Nimona," Ballister quickly called out to her, but she was already into it, leaping down from the statue, and just before she hit the ground, shapeshifted into a beautiful, fiery phoenix.

The sight of phoenix Nimona wowed everyone in the city as they watched it fly right towards the cannon, which was all set to fire. Its light was bright, but Nimona's flames were even brighter, and it was time to put these flames to the test and rewrite the story.

Back by the cannon, Ambrosius was weakly trying to help the other knights escape when he saw the incoming fiery phoenix and was taken aback greatly.

Before the cannon could properly fire, Nimona crashed right through it, making it blow up with a fiery explosion. The light and impact of the explosion were so bright, that all the knights and citizens turned their heads and shielded their eyes so that they would not be blinded by the light and heatwave that followed.

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A year had passed, and the kingdom never forgot Nimona's heroic sacrifice to save them all. They held a memorial for Nimona as they held out flowers and drawings as their way of thanking her.

Still covering herself with her cloak, Chasina took out a red paper and put it with the rest of the kingdom's tribute for Nimona. The red paper contained a chrome colored "THANK YOU" note, showing gratitude for Nimona. If Nimona was still alive, Chasina wanted to meet her in person to thank her for taking care of Ballister for her. She felt bad for Ballister that he lost his new best friend. She wished she could do something for him… but she wasn't ready. Showing up to Ballister won't fix him just yet.

Chasina… needed more time than she thought.

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She didn't know how long it had been. 5? 6? 7 months? Chasina heard Nimona's return, alive, much to Ballister and the whole kingdom's joy. Everyone loved Nimona now. She wasn't the monster they heard of from their history. She lived a normal life now with Ballister. It was a good thing for her… but not with Chasina. She was still alone in her apartment. She was living under a rock while her friend got reinstated as a knight with his sidekick by his side. She bet Ambrosius was with them as well, not that Chasina' was interested in him anymore.

She and the boys used to be a trio! They worked hard together. They had always been together. But now, Chasina was all by herself. She was a coward, a weakling, a NOBODY.

She couldn't face her friends because she couldn't face her fear of confessing and showing up and couldn't face the past. She left because of self-doubt and never even got in touch with her friends. She felt ashamed that she erased herself from her friends' lives and thought that they didn't need her anymore.

But deep down, Chasina missed them all the time. She wanted to visit her friends all throughout 5 years and even tell them she was still alive, but she still had self-doubt about this decision. She kept wishing for years that she shouldn't leave. She shouldn't left her friends and made them think she was gone. She wished she could be with them and be known to the whole kingdom like them.

Then again, she got tired of hiding and being a nobody to the whole kingdom. Heck, she got tired of even hiding from her friends. She had been gone for too long. Now was the good time to fix her mistake of abandoning her friends and remaining hidden from them for years. Chasina marched towards the door while taking her cloak from the rack.

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Wow! This chapter was really long, but I love the results.

I had a lot of notes for this chapter.

It wasn't confirmed how old Ballister and Ambrosius were as adults, so I guess they were 30 years old, and, as children, they were 8 years old. So, since Chasina is a year younger than both Ballister and Ambrosius, I had her age as a kid was 8, and 29 as an adult. Since this fanfic took several months after Nimona's return, which probably took place a year after her "death", then the three were a year older than their ages in the film.

I do want to have my OC inserted in the film (that was a little lie), but the film was already amazing, so I had my OC appear after the events of the film. Instead, my OC is the character that was "hidden in the shadows" during the film's timeline.

The scene where Young Ballister and Young Ambrosius meet Young Chasina was referenced by My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and My Little Pony: Equestria Girls when Twilight Sparkle first met Fluttershy (both pony and human versions).

This flashback revealed that Chasina lost her left leg in an accident, and she built and designed her own prosthetic leg, similar to Ballister building his new arm. However, Chasina lost her leg 2 years prior, making her the first one to lose a limb. Her flashback was also referenced by Ducktales: Whatever Happened To Della Duck.

Special thanks to MasterClass60 for helping me with this chapter as she made half of the chapter while I was doing a couple of edits.

I hope you like my new chapter so far. Stay tuned for more! Hope I'll update sooner than last month.

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[alexanderlightweight]

Hello—first, I’m so glad you’re back to writing omg I missed you!

Second, a prompt for Wednesday—something with Saeth’s dominion magic? If they’re okay with it and you would like to, of course.

Yes okay so this took a bit because @saeths decided to weigh in and utterly ruin my timeline by giving me an even more in depth view.

Uh basically Magnus is a dragon (still Asmodeus kid and has been living in Edom and enjoying traumatizing his father and Lilith and Brooklyn gs a nice pool and cache of domino magic just looking to find someone worthy).

The rest of it is on ao3 because it gets nsfw

—

Alec isn’t sure what’s worse, the part where the entirety of New York’s dominion magic just surrendered him like an horderve.

Or the part where he’s apparently, dragon catnip.

“Oh.”

The dragon that should not exist says and Alec is nearly buffeted by sheer volume of the dragon's sudden delight.

Alec backs up warily, wondering the best way to try and salvage this meeting. Especially when the dragon makes a sound like a coo and Alec is suddenly incredibly vulnerable.

It started like every other day that angel forsaken week. What with the magical leylines practically bleeding out and the natural flow of dominion magic snarling and snapping like a dammed brook.

And Alec does as the clave expects him to. When he finds a possible answer to why the magic is so off, he follows it, because the risks taken are worth the claves reward.

Or at least that’s what the clave likes to say.

And so Alec slips into darkness of the rift, wondering what it says about the magic that it clings to him like a guide, rather than a lure.

And Alec still doesn’t understand, not until he’s in a vast, empty room with invisible pressure from each side and a reverberating voice that shakes him from the inside out.

And then he introduces himself, gasping out his name from his hands and knees as carefully releases his mental and physical grips on his weapons.

“We didn’t know the magic claimed a sovereign.” Alec admits and he tries to shuffle back, demanding that his legs obey him. “I would never have intruded otherwise. I can let the Institute and shadowworld leaders know you’ve—“

And Alec stops talking when a hot, nearly sizzling gust of breath warns him to stay quiet. It’s an immediate and dignified refusal and he has to stay kneeling, thighs trembling together as his body begs him to run and he wills it to stay.

The dragon’s claws are each as thick as Alec’s own thighs and some of them are as tall as he is. And Alec closes his eyes and remembers his training as his body stiffens the closer each deadly, giant claw gets.

“Mine.”

—

Magnus hasn’t been this close to something so small and humanoid in literal centuries and he can’t contain his curiosity.

When Magnus grew bored and ripped through the rift Lilith made, he hadn’t expected the deep well of magic that had been waiting, abandoned and unclaimed.

So Magnus followed the magic and found a lair and magic that declares his authority and now this.

It’s so incredibly soft and pretty and delicate.

It’s precious.

And Magnus wants to hold it.

He’s going to keep it.

Forever.

Possibly in his mouth so he can taste it at the same time he protects it.

The magic is easing him into it, letting him know that this boy, his Alexander, is a banquet already won.

So Magnus samples when he wants to devour and when he finally gets a taste, he wants to wrap his tongue and magic around Alexander and steal down to deep beneath the earth and keep him there.

Instead Magnus lets the magic sink deep into himself and he coils around his shadowhunter.

Alexander is pure temptation.

A beacon of pure angelic energy and he’s so stunning, such a glorious and hidden gem that Magnus has found.

Magnus manages one verbal claim and then he has to tuck the unprotesting treasure into his mouth.

And now, completely pleased with himself, Magnus carries him off to be secreted away. Somewhere they can’t be bothered by the pesky mortality and needs of other sentient beings.

“Alexander.” Magnus says again, because he likes the way the name sounds, only to frown at how garbled it sounds coming from around Alexander’s body.

Slowly he lowers Alexander to the ground and licks him gently, wondering when exactly human clothes became so flimsy. However he can't exactly complain because now Magnus has miles and miles of skin to decorate.

“You’re—“ his shadowhunter starts to ask but he pauses obediently when Magnus shifts forms and leans down to grab his jaw, tilting Alexander’s head up and admiring a gemstone next to his skin.

Magnus is several inches taller than his shadowhunter, even in one of his smaller forms, and he summons a handful of gems to hold up to Alexander's skin.

“Magnus Bane, your new sovereign, treasure.” Magnus says as he throws a ruby over his shoulder when it doesn’t meet his standards. He brings up a rather nice peridot and considers it before it too is lacking and then he pounces.

He rolls them; so his shadowhunter’s undoubtedly soft skin won’t bruise, and then he pins Alexander to the cold piles of metal and rocks and kisses him eagerly.

It’s been ages upon ages since Magnus kissed and it takes them both a moment to work out where teeth go.

[glowyjellyfish]

Narniapocalypse: Round One, Spring, DeBateau (part three)

I played through two days this time, although I'm still struggling to get the mods set up correctly. Mod Ur Dig still wouldn't work, and I THINK the trouble is that I only had the default version installed, not teaaddict's edit that I wanted for the purposes of finding seeds. I didn't realize because, again, I installed the whole thing and ha it working in ONE of my several game folders, an apparently had it partially installed in a couple other game folders, one of which I happened to choose to copy the Mo Ur Dig contents over. SHOULD work better now.

I also just could not stop the school bus from coming, and had to cheat everyone's grades up to remove the threat of an anachronistic social worker. In that case, I hunted around and found that I had two versions of the institution sign in, so hopefully removing the old one helped.

On the plus side, Sell From Inventory is showing up properly, although I didn't use it. I had the kids sell some rocks, bones, and old maps they dug up while looking for seeds, using their farm stand home business. Which earned them about $1000, so I'm debating the best plan here. The old maps are fine to sell, but Justin managed to dig up a treasure chest while hunting seeds, which is a tad OP at this stage and I wouldn't want to let them sell it either to the catalogue or at a normal business. I am considering only allowing them to sell it from inventory to the elf king directly, and have him buy it for no more than 50% of its worth? I'll have to experiment with that more. I don't object to windfalls and earning money, of course, but getting an inflated amount from dumb luck while I was trying to make a mod work is a bit much. They should be foraging and planting food, and selling extras to survive at this stage, not finding treasure.

Anyway. There was a lot of misery in this section, with toddlers miserable and refusing to be toilet trained despite wanting to, teens struggling to get enough sleep and accomplish anything during the day, and kids constantly trying to use the tub whenever I had it out, whether they had enough buckets for it or not. But I made it to the big birthday, and now Sofia's a teen (age 13) and Etsu and Marcus are both children (at age 6), so that should make life easier. I try to avoid frivolous catalogue purchasing at this stage of the game, but decided it wasn't really worth trying to force them to wait for the traveling merchant or something. So I sold the cribs and bought a pair of bunk beds, and now they finally have enough beds for everyone to make it through the night. I almost use Gussy Up to give the aged-up sims medieval rags, but then decided that was too cheaty. I adjusted things slightly with Plan Outfit, but that's it. They will have to meet with the traveling merchant to purchase new clothes (using the Sun&Moon single use sellable clothing pile, I think).

I calculated the Popularity aspiration for Sofia, and she's attracted to Fit and Supernatural sims. I'm going to check their memories next time I play, and anyone who grew up badly is going to get a random new trait, while sims who grew up okay will get a calculated new trait. I suspect Marcus and Etsu both grew up badly; I wasn't able to fulfill many of their wants, especially when they refused to potty train, and mainly was focused on keeping them fed, rested, and not smelly.

Also, I clearly need to edit a few more townies. The dude in a polo shirt bought two tattered maps and he isn't even in costume.

[saharaedulive]

https://www.saharaedulive.com/best-training-institute-for-kids-courses/

[xandriagreat]

Modern Nimona

Chapter 10: The Aunt

First chapter | Last chapter | Next chapter

Notice/warnings: uncomfortableness, drinks, sad past

▪▪▪

Ambrosius got an invitation to his family gathering.

It's been a while since he's been to one of his family gatherings.

He has a somewhat close relationship with some of the relatives but most of them do not but they are family. He had no choice but to attend their just place and his parents which he hadn't been in a while. He thought that he might be there for just a little bit before heading home.

'I hope it goes well…' he thought as he went over.

He arrives at a huge mansion, a lavish garden statue holding each member who has been the institution and business tycoons that completely looks like a palace or rather a big Palace with eight floors for each family member of each generation.

Though some relatives died to protect the city, some of the rooms would be extra space rooms or guest rooms.

Ambrosius sighed as he went to the door and knocked.

One of the other members, one of his cousins, came and opened the door. “Oh, Ambrosius. You’re here.” his cousin said, looking at him in surprise.

"Hey." Ambrosius said, smiling a bit. "I'm here for the gathering."

His cousin hummed and let him inside.

The inside was pretty huge then his apartment and the madison in comparison.

Of course, the relatives are quite a bit shorter with fewer relatives and a couple newcomers on the way they're mostly rich associates.

Ambrosius looked around as he talked with different relatives.

Some were happy to see him.

Others not so much.

Ambrosius started to have a good time until he saw his parents.

When he saw his parents, the most cruel people he ever knew out of all the relatives.

He felt like his good times happened non-existent not one wanting to get involved. He excused himself.

Ambrosius sighed as he went outside, wanting to be away from the party.

“You’re not enjoying the party?” a voice behind him called out.

He turned around to see Aunt Gloria.

Aunt Gloria looked almost like Glorth, but with wavy dirty blonde shoulder-length hair with half of her hair shaved on the right side with a scarlet red ombre hair dye, blue and green eyes. She had some piercings in her ears and a small red dragon tattoo on her left elbow. She was wearing a hot pink maxi jumpsuit with gold trimming, red flats, a silver necklace with a pendant of a blue diamond, and a black fake leather jacket.

“Oh, hey Aunt Gloria…” Ambrosius said, nodding to her.

"I wonder where you are." Gloria said as she went to him, "Did something get on your nerves recently, kid?"

"Yeah… a lot has been happening…" Ambrosius said, looking down as he remembered what happened in the past few weeks.

"Look, I've been watching the news recently and I did notice a few things including your lover and best friend." Gloria said, looking at him.

Ambrosius sighed and hugged himself. “Yeah…”

"And a pink headed teen?" Gloria said, looking out of the balcony and sighed. "They kind of remind me of my first girlfriend when I was young."

Ambrosius looked at her and asked, “Oh really?”

"I mean, I have been the type of person that didn't agree with that ancestor and wanted to be my own person." Gloria said, playing with her cup of her drink."I mean, at this point, when I hit my teens, I dated a girl that I offended secretly, the girl that can shape-shift."

“Wait… You dated a shapeshifter?” Ambrosius asked, his eyes wide.

“Oh, yeah. She was great” Gloria said, sighing happily as she remembered memories. "Before that, she was a friend, even though we're from different backgrounds. We began having our play dates in secret and even hung out most of the time, and we dated in secret around our teens… That is until..." Then she became silent, which confused Ambrosius.

“Aunt Gloria?” Ambrosius asked, waving a hand in front of her face, getting her attention to get her to look at him.

"Sorry, it's just a train of thought." Gloria said as she began taking a sip of her drink.

"So… What happened?" Ambrosius asked, getting curious.

Gloria almost choked on her drink but was able to swallow it before facing Ambrosius. "Well…" Gloria said, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's complicated."

Ambrosius nodded in understanding, knowing that it was different.

They begin looking at the night sky.

"Beautiful night, is it?" Gloria said, trying to change the subject.

Ambrosius nodded again. “Yeah…”

It was clear that something was on his mind.

Gloria looked at him and asked, "Hey… you ok?"

Ambrosius hugged himself, trying not to cry but failing to. “No…” he answered, crying. “I’m still in shock…”

Gloria started to comfort, her nephew being the more mother figure to him. "I know that it's never easy to move on or to stop reliving a traumatic experience. It’ll feel like you never forgive yourself too." Gloria said, holding him. “But you’ll learn to forgive.”

Those of the encouragement Ambrosius needed to hear. After all, she was the only one out of all of her family members to attend his graduations and other school events.

“Thanks, Aunt Gloria.” Ambrosius said, hugging her back.

When they headed back inside, the party was still going on. “I’m feeling a bit better now.” Ambrosius said, smiling softly. "I'm just glad to see you better." Gloria said, smiling softly at Ambrosius.

[themculibrary]

Phil Coulson/Melinda May Masterlist

A Daydream Away (ao3) - manquant G, 3k

Summary: Pre-Bahrain Coulson and May having a drinking session but it's more complicated than that.

Can You Love Me Again ? (ao3) - MelindaTheCavalryMay T, 4k

Summary: Written for Philinda Secret Santa for @philipthegirlnickel to the prompt : Can You Love Me Again ?

Come Hell or High Water (ao3) - sabinelagrande E, 2k

Summary: Getting stranded together is a great, as long as you don't pick the wrong weather.

Compartmentalized (ao3) - suallenparker E, 3k

Summary: When their relationship crosses a line, both fight hard to keep things compartmentalized …

Daddy and Miss May (ao3) - MelindaTheCavalryMay G, 3k

Summary: written for Philinda AU challenge. When Martial Arts teacher Melinda May is forced to hold a mommy and kids day at her training institute, something promising happens.

flyin' high (you know how i feel) (ao3) - agentmmayy T, 1k

Summary: "We do a lot of other stuff in bed," May said.

Jemma blanched.

Some Things You Can't Change (ao3) - Syfyfan T, 4k

Summary: Daisy shows up at Coulson Academy throwing wrenches into everyones lives.

The Coulson-May Accidental Bed and Breakfast Retirement Plan (Go Ahead Ask Melinda to Serve You Breakfast in Bed) (ao3) - anarchycox T, 36k

Summary: At the start of season 5 Melinda rescues Phil from outer space. Only after the rescue he admits that he is very tired and just wants...something else. Melinda lets him know the Australia option she had mentioned years ago was still open. They walk away from their lives and disappear to a homestead just outside Alice Springs Australia. But now it is just the two of them, no missions, no people, to run interference. And they have to face the feelings they've been hiding for so long. Or you know...just continue to bury them in remodeling the house and Phil trying to raise a sheep and a million other things that go wrong and eventually very very right.

The Framework (ao3) - daisyqiaolianmay (skinman) G, 17k

Summary: "What if The Framework really had fixed every regret to perfection? What if it had given them everything they ever wanted? With no catch."

_

It wasn’t real? Her life, the one she remembered so well, wasn’t real. Melinda May stared up at the ceiling in horror, lain back on a bed in the med bay, her fists clenching and unclenching.

“Honestly it’s miracle your brain’s handling the duplicity of your memories so well. Though I am worried about your stress levels, your blood pressure is pretty high.” Simmons nattered on, “I’m going to need regular scans, of course, and I’d suggest talking therapy. You need someone to help you piece through what was reality and what was fiction, we don’t want you developing a personality disorder.”

“It’s all real to me.” May muttered bitterly.

The last stand (ao3) - MelindaCoulson4 T, 5k

Summary: Phil & Melinda are alone and locked up by Talbot. They’re finally forced to face everything they’ve been pushing aside. Picks up right at the end of 5x20. Inspired by the promo pics for 5x21.

The Snow Keeps Falling (But I'll Keep You Safe Tonight) (ao3) - skyeicer (browneyedgenius) G, 6k

Summary: When Daisy builds a snowman with her friends Jemma and Fitz in her mother's front lawn, she wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it was definitely NOT her mom falling in love with a guy named Phil. Oh, and breaking a curse. Don't forget about the curse.

or

Vancouver is a pretty magical city after all, and so is Edmonton, apparently.

The Truth is Out There (ao3) - anarchycox G, 2k

Summary: A Philinda Secret Santa fic with the prompt: don't ask questions you don't want the answer to. I wrote a sweet and slightly crackish alternate for what happens after they are all cornered at the diner at the end of season 4.

Who’s the Cavalry? (ao3) - AgentTaro G, 3k

Summary: As Maria Hill covers for Melinda in class, Flint wonders who the hell is The Cavalry?

Work-Life Balance (ao3) - Oparu (USSJellyfish) M, 31k

Summary: Melinda May has done her best to settle in to her life at the Academy. She has a great apartment, she sees Yo-Yo and Mack as much as she can and Daisy and Ftizsimmons are just a phone call away. Her students are great. Her job is fulfilling.

Except, her apartment's way too quiet and she doesn't have any personal life to speak of and her weekends are empty. She has a plan to fill the void, but then Phil Coulson walks back into her life exactly as she remembers him from Tahiti.

Maybe it is pretty magical after all.

Youth (ao3) - Book_freak T, 10k

Summary: Daisy had always wondered what May was like when she was younger. She hadn't expected to find out like this.

[georgieluz]

JULIAN!! I need to know about all your ocs! So I’m probably gonna send a few of these 😂

📚 🎶 💯 🌈 🐶 ❤️ 💔 for all your ocs. I’ll find some more specific ones for each oc too 🩵 thanks

JESS! hello <3 thank you for always being so enthusiastic and excited about them 🥺 ilysm !!

okay, let's get started! gonna put a read more here because this is going to be pretty long since it's for all the ocs!!

📚 BOOKS — what level of education has your oc most recently completed/is currently in (GED, undergraduate, grad school, phd, etc)?

oliver hardwick has an undergraduate degree in classical literature and latin. he was lined up to do graduate level studies, but then the war broke out, so now he's an intelligence officer in easy company instead! he actually didn't want to pursue any more studies after undergraduate anyway, despite his parents pressuring him to do so. not that going to war was preferable though.

tommy monet graduated high school, just about. he has the smarts for more, but always claimed it wasn't for him, or people like him. he would laugh in the face of someone who suggested otherwise. his bad behaviour at school was less of a lack of enthusiasm for learning and more a way that he could easily blend in with the people he grew up with. he secretly would have loved to spend his time reading, expanding his knowledge and writing, but he couldn't stomach the idea of being seen as a "traitor" to his upbringing.

charlie scott also graduated high school, and he also wasn't interested in pursuing any higher education in an academic institution. instead, he basically started learning how to fix vehicles and different engines under the tutorship of a close family friend. so most of his knowledge and skills come from that training.

rhys llewyd was studying medicine before the war broke out and that's how when he joined up he was immediately chosen to be a corpsman. before the war, he was dead-set on becoming a doctor and was sure it was his passion in life. that changes during his time in the pacific and leaves him feeling pretty lost.

max jacobs does not want to be near any educational facility whatsoever lmao, but he did manage to graduate high school. the only form of "school" he enjoyed was the sniper training course he did in the marines. he actually really thrived in that environment, whereas in more traditional learning scenarios, he'd always found himself uninterested, distracted and frankly, just didn't really care. his fellow marines often make jokes about him "finishing top of class" and being the scout sniper "teacher's pet" despite almost being kicked out of every school he'd enrolled in before he joined up.

matty carter, my love, my baby boy, was very much in a similar situation as his best friend, ray person. they were both set to go to university after graduating high school, but then ray decides to fuck it and join the marines instead. naturally, he asks his best friend matty to join them with him too, and well, matty would rather be by ray's side than in a lecture hall, so that's exactly what he does. he joins the damn marines. he's very good at maths and all of the sciences, and was planning to study physics at university. he was a little bit obsessed with space as a kid, but always dismissed his love for it as being "the same as any other kid's".

caleb dawson, oh boy, here we go. pre-zombie outbreak, he's a final year architecture student, but that's not very descriptive of his educational background. his upbringing isn't quite as straight forward as how schooling usually goes, he travelled around a lot and was taken along on jobs with his father after turning ten. this meant he was in and out of schools most of the time and a lot of his education came from the group of criminals his father worked with. one of those taught him how to hack from an early age and he began joining them on jobs after a few years. his love of architecture and building design came from the earlier years when he was left in hotel rooms whilst they went out on robberies. he would sketch buildings from the window of those hotel rooms and eventually began to design his own. obviously to study architecture, you need good, and more importantly steady, grades and a high school diploma, so he always assumed it was out of the question for him. after a series of events that leave his father in prison and caleb having to find his way in life alone, he eventually does the work and gets onto a degree.

🎶  MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

oliver likes anything he can dance to. he's very much a fun of some uptempo jazz and loves nothing more than getting drunk and twirling around the room in a daze! he wants to listen to anything that will make him feel... no matter what emotion, he just wants to feel it all. mostly so he can forget what he actually feels inside!

tommy is very much a "i don't really care about music specifically" kinda guy. he'll appreciate and enjoy a lot of different styles but in a very passive kind of way.

charlie is pretty chill so generally he's into slower tempo more relaxing stuff, but if he can enjoy a bit of everything.

rhys trained in dance growing up so he's versed in a few different genres and styles of music, and even though he enjoys more gentle sounding music to listen to, he's absolutely down for the upbeat fun stuff too! he's pretty shy about his dancing, but if you get him out there then you'll be surprised by how free-spirited he really is!

max is your classic punk/pop-punk listening skater who has never played an instrument before but swears he would kill it in a band. but yeah, he's very into skateboarding culture and his music tastes reflect that pretty predictably. jesus of suburbia wasn't released until a year after the events of gen kill but that's very much the vibe.

matty also primarily listens to that kind of music.. y'know some soft rock, pop-punk, indie kinda stuff. but he probably consumes a bit of everything and is pretty versed in most music genres. he's also ray's best friend so yes, lots of singalongs.

caleb listens to film scores whilst he hacks. he can't bear to listen to anything with lyrics whilst he works but thinks purely classical music is a bit pretentious, so film scores are his go-to!

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

oliver:

he actively tries to bring shame to the family name

he hides his rage behind a carefree attitude very well

he dumbs himself down on purpose

tommy:

he cries reading poetry

he smokes but dislikes the smell of cigarettes

he talks to every cat he meets

charlie:

he's a really fast and strong swimmer

he grew up surrounded by mountain ranges

he hates hot weather

rhys:

he speaks fluent welsh

has a pretty big fear of heights

can play piano

max:

enjoys fighting in quite a masochistic way

ran away from home multiple times as a teen

definitely has an element of naivety when it comes to his own safety and wellbeing. he constantly provokes others and gets himself into fairly dangerous situations.

matty:

is a sweet baby boy who i love.

okay, no, i'll be serious, sorry i just love him so much.

has a smile that could power at least a whole county

is really really really good at playing tekken

he's also a maths whizz but is very lowkey about it

caleb:

constantly leaves cold mugs of coffee about the place, like literally all the time. especially if he's working on a hack

will NOT admit he's into speirs, despite the entire world, including every damn zombie out there, knowing about them

is secretly jealous of gwen's open and trusting nature, despite him constantly calling her out about being too naive

🌈 RAINBOW — what is your oc’s sexual orientation/gender identity? what pronouns do they use?

so all of these ocs use he/him and are queer, but i also have female ocs and nonbinary ocs that are a part of my hbo war f1 au! as well as my oc jess who uses she/her and is straight.

tommy is probably the character where sexuality is most relevant to his arc and inner conflicts. him being gay is quite a big factor in his family relations and past, so it does have a big impact on the way he carries himself and his sense of self.

oliver's sexuality is something he both clings to and tries to weaponise against his parents. he uses the disgust and prejudice of the era as a shield and there's a disconnect there between his sexual identity and who he really is. he would likely identify as gay but he's also slept with women if there's something to gain from the situation. he often jokes that he could never settle down with a woman though, as it would please his parents too much.

the other's queer identities are less clearly defined and the labels aren't really a big part of who they see themselves as. max is bi but tends to have a preference for men. matty isn't fully sure if he's bi or gay or not and he's kinda stuck in a situation where his romantic attentions are pulled toward one specific person, who happens to be a man, so he's very much still figuring things out. rhys and charlie are also in a similar place of figuring things out and likely won't find too many answers about that during the war either. rhys is closer to knowing what he wants in this regard though.

caleb is openly gay but he's out here fighting for his life against zombies so the topic of his sexuality isn't a massive part of his storyline other than y'know, speirs turning up and pinning him against a wall with his mouth just to shut him up. but yeah, he identifies as gay and doesn't really hide it from anyone either.

🐶 DOG FACE — does your oc have any pets?

tommy has a cat named badger and is basically a cat magnet wherever he goes!!

matty has an australian shepherd named polo who follows him around like a shadow. it's very cute.

oliver's parents never allowed him to have a pet growing up, it was one of their rules when they got married.

❤️ RED HEART — what are three of your oc’s positive traits?

oliver:

he's very open about his flaws and never tries to hide them or pretend that he's a better person than his actions prove him to be

he's actually a very smart and competent person when it comes to planning schemes or missions, and carrying them out, but he's often reluctant to show this as he despises being praised for his achievements due to the way his parents brought him up

whilst his charismatic nature is somewhat of a defence mechanism for him, he genuinely cares about his friends once they're in his life and will go to really far lengths to protect them

tommy:

he's genuinely caring and protective of his family and friends, even if he's not necessarily on amazing terms with all of them

he's very very observant of other people and can read them pretty well. this usually means others feel very seen by him and often appreciate the way he remembers and notices aspects of their personalities and lives. he struggles when he meets anyone similar to him though, as he's very in denial about himself

he's not afraid to stand up to people who deem themselves above him or others, even if he knows it will get him in trouble

charlie:

he's very patient with other people and is pretty calm when faced with criticism or other people's anger

has a pretty healthy way of expressing his emotions through his writing, especially his journals

he's very attentive to details, both with other people and in regard to their equipment and machinery

rhys:

he has a very soothing and gentle presence, even in the chaos of war, and marines often say they feel safer just having him around

knows exactly how to distract the guys and cheer them up, using small jokes and telling stories about his hometown. he also teaches the men welsh, even though they're all terrible at it, because he thinks it keeps their minds off the heavier stuff for a little while

would absolutely sacrifice himself for any of the k-company boys, but also knows his skills are needed to save them

max:

isn't afraid of bullies or bigots. will happily get his fists or face bloody just to stand up to them

in some ways he's very carefree and manages to truly live in the moment, even if it's mostly a response to "suburban fuckery" as he likes to call it. it's a bit of a challenge when he joins the marines and loses some of the anti-establishment non-conformity that he always claimed to live by, but he also gains a taste of camaraderie there that he starts to think is worth the trade off.

genuinely believes that failure is just a trial run and that he can accomplish anything that he wants if he tries hard enough (i'm putting this in positive traits, but it does have some mixed results and negative consequences as well, but it does get him through a lot of scrapes due to his sheer audacity to try)

matty:

have i mentioned he has a smile that can light up the whole world yet??? because yes... yes he does!!

is very graceful in defeat and enjoys watching his friends succeed and do well, he has so little jealously in that regard

he's pretty self-less honestly and can put aside something he wants if it goes against the majority's needs

he lives for making other people laugh or smile and other people's happiness genuinely brings him a lot of joy.

i'd also say he sees and appreciates the little things in life and usually knows what's important in a situation

caleb:

he very much subscribes to the "never leave a man behind" motto and will put himself in danger to make sure his friends are ok

would much rather get hurt than let the people he cares about suffer. this often leaves him in vulnerable situations where he leaves himself open to people who want him to suffer

despite all his trust issues and inability to let his guard down, he cares. he cares so damn much. and he's gentle really, he tries to hide it but it's there, pouring out from him as much as his rage

💔 BROKEN HEART — what are three of your oc’s negative traits?

oliver:

he's a hot mess, and before the war, he has little care for the consequences of his actions and how they affect the people around him, as long as he can say a fuck you to his parents

he's the textbook definition of self-destructive. he will intentionally fuck himself over, which inevitably fucks others over in the process

he knows exactly how to twist the knife with his words. he can and will snap at the people close to him if they try to look out for him or call him out on his self-destructive behaviour

tommy:

tries really really desperately to be someone he's not, and this constantly prevents him from reaching his full potential

can't decide if he hates himself or his father more, and in that confusion, decides that maybe it's just the world in general

does not know how to process emotions, whatsoever, and pushes away anyone who dares perceive him

charlie:

sometimes his calm nature can be mistaken or seen as a lack of care or concern for his relationships. this isn't necessarily negative by itself, but he does play into this and uses it to create a sense of detachment from having to show any vulnerability

tends to read people well enough to know a lot about their motivations but also closes them all off to his own. this tends to make people feel a bit locked out of his thoughts or emotions and he often needs to remind himself that he has to be vocal about how he feels in a lot of situations

whilst he writes a lot about his experiences and emotions, he doesn't always know how to actually share them with other people, especially when it comes to big important things

rhys:

he tends to hide behind his role of looking after the men instead of facing up to how the war is affecting him. this is pretty standard but he does heavily rely on this as a way of avoiding thinking about his own emotions. he feels like he's in a position where he's not allowed to feel any pain because the men rely on him to be the one who is there for them when they need it most. eddie's presence and their relationship is vital in this, due to eddie's position as an officer, and rhys viewing him in a different light to the others

actively tries to hide and diminish his light

uses his shyness as an excuse not to put himself out there

max:

gets into so many unnecessary situations because he can't accept that sometimes the fight isn't worth it. he truly doesn't know when to just shut up and keep his head down and it does often result in others having to take the hits alongside him

tends to avoid thinking too deeply about his own emotions and his method of always running and creating havoc to distract himself from the nothingness that surrounds his life is mentally exhausting in the longterm, not just for himself, but everyone else

really struggles when the higher ups fuck up during his time in the marines and gets real close to suffering the consequences of speaking up a number of times. this isn't a negative trait necessarily, but again, his mouth gets others in the shit with him and he actively needs to be held back and told to stand down, so it's pretty tiring for other people to deal with

matty:

his selflessness can make him too passive sometimes, he doesn't always stand up for himself when he should

he tends to settle for what he's given in life, with little fight when he has to sacrifice or give something he's worked for up

he's also very flippant about his life and future too. for instance, when ray asks him to join the marines with him, he doesn't need much convincing to change his plans of going to university to study physics, which realistically, could have offered him a path to a well paid career. instead, his best friend wants him to join the military and stay by his side, and regardless of whether this decision is right in the long run, he doesn't think very hard or long in the moment about how it will effect his life and future

caleb:

this boy is STUBBORN. like, really really really stubborn. he won't give up when he's arguing a point and it's extremely hard to get him to admit that he's wrong about something (when i say extremely hard i mean pretty much impossible)

he can also be kind of hypocritical too. he constantly calls gwen out on being too trusting and naive, but when someone who he feels he has loyalties to walks into their lives and is acting noticeably sketchy, he buries those suspicions deep, and chooses to put that loyalty first instead. despite this fucking everyone over, he doesn't tend to see it as naivety because he's too pre-occupied with the glaring trust issues and suspicions he has toward everyone else around him. he seems to think that protects him from displaying any qualities of naivety anywhere else

he's argumentative af and tends to bicker with people and fight about petty things to hide his anxiety and panic. he can't bear the idea of people seeing that side of him, even those closest to him

omg jess i think that's the longest response i've ever written to any ask lmaoooo but it was also so much fun to answer so thank you for asking them and if you (or anyone else) has read this far then well, damn, well done, you deserve quite literally the stars in the sky!

[talenlee]

Magic, Eugenics, And How To Do Not That

Magic, Eugenics, And How To Do Not That

Do you have magic in your setting?

Does that magic have a genetic component?

Okay, bad news, you’ve justified eugenics.

It isn’t quite that absolute but you have to remember the gap between magically enabled humans and non magical humans is kind of categorically vast. There are ways around it, but in the default context, where magic is a thing that people can do that provides immense results compared to an individual human’s, a system of magic where a person’s genetics can influence it is a pretty easy to justify outlay for actual literal eugenics.

In the real world, setting aside eugenics’ moral or ethical framings, part of what helped to undermine it was the fact it just didn’t work. The people who believed in it weren’t receiving any inherent advantage due to their breeding, and it was kind of notable that no matter how well bred you were, it didn’t take many muddy peasants to pull you out of your castle by your feet and kill you. Eugenics is a fairy story in the real world, where a real true thing (we can change gene expressions in population through selective breeding) gets refined to a point of nonsense (we can lay out the genes of an individual like we’re picking out baby drapes). It’d be nice if eugenics failed just because of the moral reasons, but it turns out that there are lots of immoral things that get to persist despite that. Eugenics was, and is (hi there, Musk’s weirdoes) a fairy story privileged people tell themselves to justify the immense unfairness of the world.

The fact is, humans exist within such boundaries of capabilities that even the best of the best at things are not that far beyond what other humans can do, and often, the peaks of performance come at the expense of immense training regimes. Olympians live in food jail, pro wrestlers are extraordinarily good at performance and pain, and researchers specialise within their fields, and none of them mean that any one person is capable of just exceeding other people without infrastructural support. The best of the best are individually very intimidating but enough hands throwing enough bricks can make the differences disappear.

In the context of a magical setting, though, where you have individual mages capable of exerting immense force, force beyond a single human’s ability, or even a dozen human’s abilities, in first-order strategies like ‘can throw fireballs’ or ‘can fly,’ then suddenly the ability to breed that ability more commonly into a community represents a very meaningful incentive, and it seems like the kind of thing where, given enough time, the idea taking root and being acted on are kind of inevitable. This is obviously, a bad thing. Magical prowess being inborn and genetically predictable seems to directly represent a powerful incentive to begin mass producing People Of Mass Destruction.

Of course, this can be a bit of a bummer for settings to give up. After all, institutions and social structures give you a lot of stuff to work with for characters, and we have them in our world, so they can work as useful parallels. Magical colleges that pick up kids in their early tween years so you can have adventures learning magic in a school setting don’t necessarily have the same tools if there’s a hard rule that no, there’s no genetic bias or predisposition to magic, because at that point it can feel like there’s no institutional capture at work.

Alright, then what are some alternatives?

Internal Control, External Power: Sure, you can breed the best wizards possible, but they’re all only just drawing on the magic in an area. Two wizards having a duel are chucking the magical energy of an area at one another, and adding a third wizard to the mix reduces the amount of power they both have by about a third. Wizards aren’t something societies can marshall in opposition to one another because every army just fields a few dozen really crap wizards that suck up the bulk of the resources in the area.

Magic Alters Genetics: Wizards do have altered genes, but it’s the magic that they use that alters them. Kids of wizards wind up weird and all, but it’s not necessarily ‘magically weird’ as much as it is they’ve been subjected to a kind of radiation. Kids of wizards are therefore worth tracking and observing (in say, wizard colleges), but they aren’t necessarily going to do better magic than their parents, and they might just ber weird in other ways.

Magic As Unlock: In a setting where anyone can use magic, but you don’t want everyone using magic, consider the value of magic not as a sort of can-you-roll-your-tongue genetic quirk, but rather that magical access is something you can go your entire life without doing, and the longer you take to do it, the harder it gets to do. This lets you have a classical magic system where children learning magic at a ripe age is important, without completely shutting out any adults who want to get involved based on their ‘breeding.’

Culturally Genetic Magic: Okay, you have your magical colleges and dynasties and the importance of family names of wizards and they belief in breeding and all that, but also, they’re just wrong. There are lots of persistent beliefs in the world that are based on completely afactual nonsense, after all, and institutions are really good at justifying their continued existence. Plus, if magic is a cultural practice, then institutions like this will create more and better wizards, just not for the reasons they claim they are.

Personally, I favour the two ideas of Magic as an unlock and a dose in areas of culturally genetic magic. Not every kid has the concentration and focus to open that door, but there are lots of reasons you might.

One fun thing to consider, by the way, if you’re the kind of tumblr-centered author who wants the push, the population of wizards in a given city according to the old 3e DMG is about .5% The population of Australia, according to the carer surveys, that are autistic, is about .5%.

Just saying, if people want genetic magic.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Making

[sisterssafespace]

Salam Sister I'm a teenager and someday I'll become an adult and then I'll get married... *sigh* . I mean like I'm really a romantic person and I feel like I'll really love my partner the best way possible and we'll have a happy and peaceful life .

But sometimes it's sooo hard to think like broooo I'll get MARRIED!??? It makes me feel so scared😭 because you know what .. each and every married couples I see here makes me feel like I shouldn't everrrr get married I mean they're so unhappy and regretfull :(

And one hope I have is that love marriages are more healthy and happy but....sadly my parents had a love marriage and they're not happy :(( they always fight and say that they were so unlucky that they married each other.. so here again I get scared 😭 there are soo many unhealthy relationships here it feel like they just married each other for passing over the generation and nothing else... what about understanding each other?? , actually feeling happy and loved by each other? , making life romantic?? , writing letters for each other?? , cooking together? , going on vacations? , buying flowers? , softly and kindly talking to each other???? Where are theseee....

And arrange marriages here are super toxic ... and veryyyyyy sadlyyyy I feel like my parents will get Me arranged marriage. 😭 even tho my mom said to me and my siblings that tell me if you love someone..

But nah bro I can't... it's so shameful to say that as being a girl ;(

What do you think Are arrange marriages better or love ones?

Yet .... I STILL have 🤏 this much hope for love marriage

But zero hopes for arrange marriages .

Wa alaykum assalamu wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuhu beautiful!!

Can I just say you're so cute ? 🙈🙈🙈

Listen sweetie, your concerns are very valid, you're not the only one havine these thoughts and worrying about a love marriage turning catastrophic later. A lot of sisters have shared similar asks before and we did talk about this on here a lot. And yes you are right, the image that we have for marriage today is not a happy one, especially for girls who experience it first hand being raised in an unhappy marriage where the parents are constantly fighting, hurting each other and their kids.

Sübhanallah, marriage one of - if not - the core institutions in Islam. And Allah swt details in the Quran the rules and the principles of a happy healthy successful marriage, as does the sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. But the farther people stray from deen, the more this materialistic world gets between the couple, the worse the outcome. If people just went back to basics and understood what it really means to ve married in Islam, what are the rights and the duties of a husband and a wife in Islam, things would have been way better. However, this could also be due to lack of knowledge. I don't know about other cultures, but in mine for example, we don't get courses pre-marriage. I wish there was a type of training or a course at the masjid or with the local Imam, someone who knows fiqh and shaiaa and who is an expert in this field to teach us all about marriage in Islam, and how to have a healthy husband-wife relationship filled with affection and mercy, which will please Allah swt. Indeed, Islam places a paramount importance on marriage and family life to the point that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said " the best of you is the best to his family(/wife) ". He didn't say the best of you is the one who prays more or fasts more or goes to Hajj every year or something.. If you really look into Islam you will find that it has awarded romance, kindness and gentleness between a husband and a wife in a very special way! One of the simplest examples that comes to mind is that if a man feeds his wife with his hand that counts as an act of charity! Now that is a real happy healthy marriage that our religion promoted, and not what we see today, unfortunately.

So, my point is, everyone's marriage experience is different. And I know your parents' experience will have to affect you, but once you get older, more mature, more self-conscious, you need to take responsibility for your own vision and perspective on life and you need to distance yourself from the environment you grew up in, and build up your own hopes, plans, expectations.. I am not saying you as in you, but as in everyone.

And tbh, marriage is a lot of work, it is not luck, it is not love, it is not random, it is a job. You have to wake up everyday and do the work, it is that one lifelong job that offers you no breaks, no vacations, no sick leaves, and no retirements. But when you're working along side someone you love, when you feel appreciated, rewarded, validated and seen, then it would be the best job of your life! You'd wanna do it everyday, forever.

Now, as for your question, love marriage or arranged marriage, I would honestly say it really doesn't matter. There is no science that would say " love marriages are more successful" or " arranged marriages are doomed to failure". In fact, it is not the nature of the marriage that matters, it is the person you're marrying. And as long as the process of getting to know that person is kept halal, then in shaa Allah, Allah swt will put barakah in that union. Islam does acknowledge love marriage as Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said " I have not seen anything better for lovers than nikah ", and meanwhile, even in arranged marriages liking the other person " al qaboul " as in seeing them and accepting them, feeling okay and comfortable with them, is a must. If there is no qabool, if you didn't feel comfortable around that person then you shouldn't go through with it. So it is not about how you're getting married, it's about whom you're marrying.

BUT !!!!!! For now, I'd like you to not worry about these things, I think you have more important things to put your energy in, like studying hard and doing your best being a good Muslimah and a good daughter. Put your trust in Allah swt habibty and be sure that Allah swt has nothing but khayr stored for you 🥰🤍

I pray Allah swt keep you steadfast on His path and shower you and your loved ones with blessings.

Fi Aman Allah,

- A. Z. 🤍🍃