#CLIFFHANGERRRRRR

[starneko123]

Moon Bringer

OC Characters Involved

Selene ♔ Tethys

(Tethys belongs to @ren-meteor! Selene belongs to me)

Something was wrong.

Tethys wouldn't be able to describe it even if you asked her. But she could say one thing everything felt new. She can't remember much of her childhood if she thought about it for too long things became more blurry.

She tried to focus on the things she knew. The things she was well aware of. Tethys huffed as she walked the streets of her village everything had gotten boring lately. She felt antsy. She wasn't meant to be in one place for too long or her whole life for that matter.

If she started her journey now in the early morning she would arrive in Outworld at least by midday. She knew she would have to stop at the neighboring villages for supplies and she didn't mind that. She was counting on it actually.

She had heard many rumors lately such as the princesses of Outworld were soon to be crowned and betrothed, and there were gods roaming around some seeking vengeance and others seeking solace. One rumor that stuck out to her was that there was a woman roaming from village to village wandering around looking for something.

They described her as having platinum blonde hair in a bun wrapped with intricate braids as if to protect something within it. She wore robes of deep colors such as blue and purple and she wore them short to fit the blistering sun of Outworld. Everyone never failed to mention how she had to be blessed by the elder gods for her eyes represent the heavens. Galaxies upon Galaxies some would say.

As Tethys rearranged her sling she realized she was reaching the edges of the village because everything had begun to look sparse. Except for grass, there were miles and miles of field to walk through Tethys sighed and began her so-called journey.

She commended her earlier thoughts on wearing something lighter. Her robes were a cream white overlapping with brown and ropes of gold on each side of her. Even though she was kicking dirt and sand out of her sandals earlier they were a good decision as well but she was still considering stopping and slipping on her signature boots. The only jewelry she sported at the moment was a black rope necklace with a sapphire gem in the middle.

As she started passing through the last patch of fields she entered another village and she was greeted with people dancing up and down the dirt roads and music making its own melodies and singing accompanying said melodies with their sonatas.

She went to a fruit stand and purchased a purple fruit with a green leaf on top and it fit well into her hand it also had a bit of weight to it. The seller said it was packed with juices and quite sweet so she was anticipating it as she perched herself on a rock. There were people everywhere it was quite crowded honestly but it didn't bother her.

As she began to peel the fruit back she didn't notice immediately that someone sat a few bodies from her which again wasn't a problem. Out of her peripheral she watched as the woman took her hood off and waves of pearls flowed down her back. She watched her bathe in the sun, her hands folded in her lap and legs crossed.

Now Tethys was staring taking in her appearance and her outfit. A mix of black and blue her heels were knee-high with a silver crescent design on top with a matching crescent necklace. She had on a blue corset with a short black overcoat that was connected to her hood.

Then her head snapped in her direction to meet Tethys and like the timid person she never was, she focused back on her fruit, stuffing piece to piece in her mouth with purple juices drizzling from her lips.

A smile now graced the woman's lips and she couldn't stifle the giggle that came out if she tried.

"Hello."

"Sorry."

A greeting and an apology met each other. Tethys looked at the woman and kept her mouth a bit embarrassed to open it once again and get bumbled with words she shouldn't.

The woman then held out her gloved hand, "Hello, I'm Selene."

Tethys found her smile warm and comforting but also familiar. Tethys looked at her and then at hers and her mind stuttered a bit. "I'm sorry I would love to greet you but I wouldn't want to ruin your gloves with nectar. I heard it gets sticky when dried." Tethys rushed and then Selene handed her a white cloth. "Best not to let it settle."

"Thank you." She stuffed the last bit of fruit in her mouth and plucked the cloth from Selene's fingers. "I am Tethys." Selene nodded her smile never leaving.

"Who are you?"

"A friend if you accept me as one."

Well, this would have to be the fastest friend she has ever made. The village elders would be impressed not really though. Selene sat closer to Tethys and their faces were awfully close. Tethys had to be sweating Outworld weather was something no one could be prepared.

"You seem awfully familiar have we met before?" Selene's voice was soft with a deep tilt. "If we have I don't remember but I feel like...I would remember someone like you. You look hard to forget." Selene placed a hand on her thigh and patted it.

"That's quite the compliment."

"Yes well, I don't know where-" Tethys next set of words died on her tongue as both Selene and Tethys looked towards to sky to see it consumed with red and splattered with orange. "What's happening?!" Tethys looked towards Selene and she meets and mirrors her look. Tethys eyes travel down to Selene's necklace. Selene's glowing necklace. Before Tethys could back away Selene grabbed her wrist and started dragging her through the crowd that was going half frantic.

"It's not what you think I swear it." Selene's voice cracked and Tethys could see whatever facade she had earlier was slowly crumbling down.

"Nothing is anything...nothing is what we think. Nothing is no longer accurate. You will help me make it better."

[citrusreadstoa]

Reading The Dark Prophecy: Chapter 25 (SPOILERS)

"Big birds are evil / They charge me with razor legs" Are the ostriches back? :D?

"Frenzied young women threw their strophiae at me." Holy fuck, that's an ancient type of bra. This is still a kids' book?

"six combat ostriches" The big birds.

"The demigods of Commodus's Imperial Household" They're like Meg, basically? I wonder if any effort will be made to free them or turn them to their side. "And, predictably, an entire section of the stands was filled with wild centaurs." Fifteen bucks they're not even working for or with the Triumvirate. They're just here for the show. Are they Party Ponies or just centaurs? "They blew their vuvuzelas" VUVUZELA (n.): a long horn blown by fans at soccer matches in South Africa Google also notes that the name is trademarked in the UK. I think they are Party Ponies due to the party supplies mentioned. Guess they're chaotic neutral. They'll go anywhere a bloodbath is promised, no matter if it's the good or bad side. I can get behind that lifestyle.

"glimpse of a golden-brown racing suit." Again, what kind of race is this going to be? I see no cars or chariots or horses. Best I can guess is they're going to race on the ostriches, but idk if they can handle the weight of a person and still run. Wasn't there a war fought against them once in Australia? No, that was emus. Are ostriches just as vicious?

"This was exactly the sort of welcome I'd been longing for." Yayyyyy. Clap clap clap. Meg. What have you led yourself and Apollo into? You did not need to check this out. You could've just left! Wait a minute, was the audience just sitting there hoping these two would show up? What was their plan B if they didn't? Nah, Commodus doesn't strike me as the type to have a plan B.

"I wondered if she might have betrayed me once again" Yeah, I thought that for a second too, but it would've been ridiculous to stage all those fights with Lit and the sea serpent just to get them here. She didn't do this on purpose.

"This is just the dress rehearsal" This is the dress rehearsal??? If this is the rehearsal, then the real event is going to be a waking nightmare! Does Commodus... does he have eyes? Can he SEE the monstrosity that is before him? I guess his advisors were too scared to tell him to tone it down a notch. Or maybe they did and they're six feet under now.

"You're next. But Meg couldn't have known about that... could she?" Yeah, no. That's a coincidence.

"My throat made the sound of a vuvuzela." Sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face at that. Anyway, I bet the Dark Oracle told him something vague and he immediately interpreted that as I should rename the city and set up the worlds biggest eyesore. "Not me personally." Whoever he sent definitely just told him what he wanted to hear 'cause if they said anything else, they'd be beheaded.

"revealing a one-piece racing suit of Nemean Lion hide" Hey, it respawned! "Indy-Colt-500-Double-A Gladiatorial Championship" Four words or less. Any respectable sporting event should be named with four words or less. The only comprehensible words in that title were "Gladiatorial Championship." Try "Commodianapolis Gladiatorial Championship" or "National Gladiatorial Championship" or even "Ultimate Gladiatorial Championship" instead. Literally anything else.

"Three Formula One race cars" Oh, this is a car race. Huh. I was kinda hoping for superstrength ostriches.

Exotic animals, gladiators, race cars, reverb country music, and monstrous audience members in a football stadium... This is the sporting event equivalent of a crackfic. Even the name of the event... Commodus, you've made a real-life crackfic. What do you have to say for yourself? No, I don't want to hear it.

"I raced after her, the Throne of Mnemosyne" NO, he still has the chair on his back! "a new death haiku" Ayo the title! "Basketballs ex machina." Literally.

"[Meg] grabbed one's neck and swung onto its back" Hey, so they can at least hold a small human. "her plan: kill Commodus." Can they still be killed? Idk how far along the Triumviratees have come with the god-emperor thing. I'd hate for them to get so close to taking down 1/3 only to find out they don't have the necessary whatever-it-is-you-need-to-kill-a-god-emperor.

"Southbound Pachyderm." PACHYDERM (n.): a very large mammal with thick skin, especially an elephant, rhinoceros, or hippopotamus

"I smashed him in the face with my combat ukulele." So that's what the combat part is. It doubles as a club. Nice.

"a late-night road trip in search of vindaloo" VINDALOO (n.): a highly spiced hot Indian curry You could probably find that at a restaurant, but I guess regular old mortal vindaloo isn't going to do it for you gods, huh? Istg Apollo goes on journeys in search of the most ridiculous things you could probably get to with a fifteen-minute car ride.

"Can you save him before he bursts into flames?" So we know it's not Leo.

"the karpos Peaches." NOOOO PEACHES IS GOING TO BURST INTO FLAMESSSSSSSS pls save him

[aerialsquid]

FFXIV Write 2024 Day 17: Sally

(Continuation of this scene.)

Author Note: This fragment has a content warning for nonconsensual aether feeding that might tangentially resemble an assault. Idk how to tag this besides 'fantastical violation metaphorically resembling real world ones' but like. Make your reading choices accordingly.

--------

It didn't hurt, was the problem. Even with his chronic anxiety Martyn took far too long to realize something had gone terribly wrong. Dollmaker had put the weird mouth embedded halfway down its neck on Martyn before, after all. No reason to not assume this was more of its wet kisses. Whatever strange stilling of the aether that Dollmaker did to disassemble and reassemble its dolls meant there was no pain when the teeth sank into Martyn's shoulder and the vast, dark maw began to feed. 

There was an odd tugging, a sense of dizziness, a feeling of cold creeping along his arm and then a feeling of emptiness that even someone who'd touched every magical discipline Eorzea would allow had no vocabulary to describe - not just emptiness, but an active, sucking void, a whirlpool that he was being pulled into.

His weary mind frantically battered the pieces of his thoughts together with the strange sensation until finally, by a mercy, the answer snapped into place.

The voidsent was devouring his aether, bite by slow bite.

This wasn't – I didn't agree to this, stop this–

"My doll, precious doll, sweet doll," Dollmaker moaned. "And how delicious your essence. Sweet and potent, fluttering with purest life. Just a taste, doll, just a taste, you owe me that much, you owe me…"

The oddly comforting locks around his limbs now revealed themselves for the chains they had always been. Martyn couldn't move, couldn't scream as the teeth dug into his flesh. The massive tongue laved at his arm, drawing his essence in deeper down the voidsent's throat.

Nonononono

His cane was across the room, as useless as if it were in remote Thavnair. Nothing to channel with. No focus. Incredibly unsafe, incredibly ineffective, but good gods he couldn't even cry for help. With that monstrous mouth across his vision, all Martyn could think of was the rotting undead goobue wandering the ruins of Amdapor, its hunger so vast that its own stomach had opened a maw of its own. The Gourmand, they'd called it. 

Spectral teeth bared in the dim light of the tunnel and snapped down on Dollmaker's gluttonous neck. The monster jerked, body wriggling at the impact. "What is this? What–" It slapped the teeth away. The slow drawing in of aether continued, but it had broken Dollmaker's focus just long enough.

By force Martyn ordered his body to flinch away, his neck to turn inch by agonizing inch. He pulled in what precious aether Dollmaker hadn't already devoured, coiling it, sharpening it.

Don't touch me don't touch me you can't touch me

Protection to harm his enemies, to make any hand that touched him suffer. The sharp edges of a thousand sabotender needles exploded from Martyn's body. Dollmaker screeched, dropping Martyn's body from its arms as it clawed at the tiny spines embedded in its dark flesh. Another burst and spikes of ice slammed into its mask, leaving a crack along it. Glowing blue seeped through the crack and the eyeholes of the mask, shimmering in tune with the rising rage in its voice.

"Fiend, how dare–how–!"

Later, Martyn would realize the moment the rage turned to horror and regret in the voidsent's glowing gaze. Right now, he just wanted the vile thing to burn. 

Martyn shook himself, rolling up to curl on his side. His clumsy arms folded around himself, a protective gesture for the blue mage's last resort. When you couldn't win a fight, you made it a draw. Fire aether channeled between his palms. The dripping voidsent reached out for him again, its voice high and piteous.

"Wait–doll, please, Martyn–"

There was the reek of sulfur, the crack and roar of flame, and then nothing at all.

--------

Credited as the source of the “bomb” voidsent family's name, Self-destruct, when used by blue mages, converts the entirety of its caster's energy into fire-aspected aether to cause an explosion. The application of oil has been observed to make it more effective─though likely also more painful.

[solarsturniolo]

Texts with FWB!Matt

Tags: @flowerxbunnie @sturniolosreads @simplysturn @megamett44-lover

Warnings: Suggestive content / cursing / toxic!Matt

a/n: cliffhangerrrrrr 😜

[kiaerinnn]

MAJOR NINJAGO DR SEASON 2 SPOILERS BELOW❗️❗️ DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED ALL 10 EPISODES. (unless you want major spoilers, I guess??)

Just some notes and commentary about the new season!! (I will die because of this season.)

V V V V

When the group was in the cave facing their fears in the darkness, we were showed everyone's fears EXCEPT Kai's (and Wyldfyre's and Riyu's but Wyldfyre said something about, 'the wasting'??) Lloyd's was not being good enough to be a master, Sora's was being controlled by Imperium again, Arins was being afraid of not finding his parents and if they even still loved him, and lastly Nya's was Jay not knowing who she was. I was SO sad when she said "I know the real Jay could never forget me." BECAUSE HE DID, BUT NOT PURPOSEFULLY AAAAA I WILL PERISH.

But I really wanna know what Kai saw, he was the only one who's wasn't shown or even talked about, but after it happened he seemed to still be thinking about it, like, he was looking down into space or smth.

Also, that flashback Geo had when Cole was gone?? Kinda gay man ngl.. (but I live them so much)😂

I LOVED THE COLE AND ZANE DUO RECOGNITIONNN!!! I LOVE THAT DUOOO

When Jay was trying to capture Bonzle, Sprite (the weird yellow orb) showed him himself, what he was supposed to be, a ninja. And it revealed his lightning powers and he said something like "Thats MY secret that I have lightning powers!" I LOVED THAT BUT ALSO YOU DUMBASS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER😡😡

BRO. KAI IS IN THE FUCKING PORTAL. IT LOOKS LIKE A FUCKING BACKROOMS LEVEL😭😭 I think we know what Doc Wyatt meant about Kai now..😢 I NEED HIM BACK BRO. THE CLIFFHANGERRRRRR KMS RN. (/j)

IT WAS SO GOOD BUT.. AAAAAAA WHYYY *violent sobbing*

Honestly, it kinda felt like a whole different show! The lore seems pretty different. (Also what happened to Kai's hair in episode 9??? It looked a little wonky-)

I love how Kai was the first one to achieve the rising dragon form, then Nya, then Lloyd. Kai's encouragement was Nya, Nya's encouragement was Kai being taken, and Lloyd's encouragement was the visions and realizing he needed to connect with the motion. (And because their fate kinda depended on him to do it sooo.. pressure lol!!)

I love how (I need to stop starting every sentence with this) the thing that was holding Kai back was his anger and emotions. They've held him back a lot especially in the pre – s8 seasons.

That's it for now, if you aren't already bored of reading this. I might add more if I realize more. (Jebus this is long)

[ofhismeow]

AWWUGHJGH I JUST FINISHED DEAD BOY DETECTIVES AND OH MY GOD THAT CLIFFHANGERRRRRR!!!!! IT MAKES ME WANT TO SCRATCH UP THE FURNITURE!!!!!!!

[facetsofthecloset]

Ok RWD season 4 finale rambling time:

Sooooooo that was the tensest I’ve been during a fight in a while!

I initially couldn’t catch what the name of the Inevitable was and thought it was the Arbiter, so I was like “Ace Attorney legal battle?” but no lol

I mean kind of at the end but y’know

The moment with Suvi was sweet though, many found family points lol

Also fucking love the bits about Vhas and VRLA’s warding rings 😂 I don’t ship it seriously but it is very funny

And then the season cliffhangerrrrrr ahhhhh

I’m less freaking out and more “extremely well executed, perfect no notes” but also I knewwww when they asked Cashmere (that’s not his name I know but I’m not looking up the spelling rn y’all know who I mean lol) if he’s been keeping his mouth shut and he was like “yeah totes!” that that was going to come back to bite them. I totally thought in the episode they’d follow that up a bit more but yeah no lol

When they said next season starts in January I was like “WHAT?! That’s a way longer break than before?!” But then I realized it’s mid September and no, it’s not really that far away it’s the same amount of break time my brain is just stuck in June asfdhdgwusjxnsk

But this was the perfect way to close out a day after I interviewed for a new job (which I got!) and I am very hype for the new season 🥰

[therealcocoshady]

i dont even care that All Of You was posted like an 1 hr ago i am in fucing love eith it (im also plus size) and am begging for a part 2 cause that was cliffhangerrrrrr‼️‼️

OMG thank you. 🥹❤️. I loved writing it, with Marshall being an absolute sweetheart. Let’s be honest, Marshall « Look at my girl omg she’s so sexy » Mathers is such a great character 😭❤️.

I know there’s a cliffhanger but I literally have no idea what to write for a part 2 ? That last part was mostly Reader being in disbelief, still not comprehending that this man is a simp for her 🥹.

But hey, if you have ideas of what could happen… drop it in my ask ❤️

[nightimecoyote]

Just watched our flag means death and I’m in love and so sad it ended on a cliffhangerrrrrr ahhhhhh

[1d1195]

WE HAVE TO WAIT MORE ON THE CLIFFHANGERRRRRR

I KNOW I'M SORRY

I wish I had more time to write because I would post it on Thursday if I could finish it but I simply don't have the time :(

It's already Wednesday though! So Monday will be here ASAP!

xoxo

[fruit-of-infidelity]

(TW stalking) Inspired by the Valentine’s Day prompt when Ryuuto gets rejected. Can you please write a scenario (or a headcanon) for stalking-yandere Ryuuto. If a scenario, could it end that Ryuuto takes what he wants (e.g., kidnap the girl and imprisons her in the manor or something similar…)

// Ohoho, sure thing!（ o ｀▽´ )oΨ It gets a little, uh, creepy + suggestive toward the end. So be warned!

Tap. Tap... Tap.

Ryuuto's nails pattered gently against his bedroom desk. There he sat brooding, waiting. Once his familiars reported back to him on where that girl was, her condition, he would go. Like a typical teenager, he planned on sneaking out through his bedroom window.

After all, if Richter caught him... If he told Cordelia, heーー

Furrowed brows lifted, a sheepish smile spreading across his face. How silly of him, he scolded. For him to still be worrying about that... He supposed paranoia had really eaten away at him since the last time he had been caught out. But what on earth could his Mother do now, to punish him? To shame him? To guilt him?

...His Father was what worried him more.

As quickly as his familiars had informed him of that human's departure from her house, he had disappeared into the night. Their own mistake, really, to be wandering at this hour. Someone would have snatched her if he hadn't... He was sure of it.

"Wh-What!?"

Shh, shh, shh..."

Ryuuto was quick to silence the girl, springing himself upon her. With as large a hand as his over her nose and mouth like this, she easily fell unconscious in his arms. As savage as it made him feel ー almost like those younger siblings of his ー it made transporting her far easier.

By the time she came to she was confined. Not physically, by chains to his bed she was upon, but by the walls of Ryuuto's room. Doors locked, curtains drawn. Naturally, she was confused.

Mind muddled, throat dry...

Vocalising this as much as she could, begging to nothing but ー seemingly ー darkness to tell her where she was... She felt the mattress dip, and a pair of chillingly familiar green eyes met hers.

"You poor thing," His own voice was unusually shaky. "Listen to that dryness in your voice. Drink..."

A glass was presented before her. It's contents were thick... red, or perhaps white? She couldn't tell. That was enough, though, for her to hesitantly deny his offer. Rejected by her, once again.

"...Drink."

This time, any uncertainty to his tone had disappeared. It was clearly an order. By the time she caught his gaze again, he had already brought the glass to he lips on her behalf. Then, he begun to tip it.

"R-Ryuu... W-Waiー"

That warm, thick liquid met with her lips... and trickled onto her tongue as she was silenced mid-sentence. As her hands thrusted out to knock the glass from his hands, and to keep some sort of distance between her and her capture, drowsiness suddenly took hold.

"Sleep for now, beloved... There are still some things I must tend to, before I can let you roam our house freely."

[the-kipsabian]

Some angst in your bffnate: October is supposed to be Kit's one down month between Sept and Nov. Kit thinks they'll have some decently stress-free time when Nate starts acting up and they just. Freak. Or try not to. They make a real thing out of Mads birthday and Halloween preps to distract themself, trying not to concern everyone by hiding the fact that they're bringing up feathers multiple times a week. Bonus: Nate doesn't know why Kit brings up feathers-maybe hes not even heard of it before?

Bonus #2 for your bffnate angst: he hasn't been properly filled in on why Sept and Nov are so distressing.

angst? in my bffnate? its more likely than you think

like kit and nate have been buddies for a while before this, just being two emo enjoying friendos together, and like. nate has been kinda worried when they havent been hanging even nearly as much with kit during september. so when october hits, and kit seems to light up a little bit again, nate is so on board when kit brings up that ‘hey mads’ birthday is in a few days i wanna prep something’

and like nate helps them arrange a party and everything, and on the night of the party, is the first time natemare hits in their presence. like this isnt really a stress related thing for nate, it just happens randomly during november, and its like really unpredictable and nobody knows why or when to expect it. but now its happening at the most inopportune time at the party and nate is just. kinda making a mess and giving everyone hard time and just turning things upside down and kit doesnt know what the hell he is doing or why hes doing this and nate doesnt listen to them and hes just raising some hell with making a mess with the food and popping the balloons and did you just try to steal mads’ presents what are yOU DOING

and at one point nate just disappears from the party and stuff calms down but it still like. leaves a mark and kit is so stressed even tho mads is trying to tell them its alright he didnt break anything or do more than just make everyone really confused and maybe upset with something he said and whatnot, but kit is like. why. why did he do this he was almost as excited about this as i was nate why

confronting him the following morning doesnt help. nate doesnt remember anything. nobody knows whats up. kit might suspect that he secretly got drunk last night cause nate is irresponsible little nerd. but nothing is confirmed. it kinda gives a little strain on their friendship but ultimately since nate seems to get back to normal from that point forward again, kit kinda. forgives. not forgets, but forgives, at least for now

until he starts showing similar kind of behavior again the closer they get to halloween, and kit doesnt want to deal with this cause october is supposed to be a fun month between all this garbage and november is coming and they dont want to deal with it and now one of their best friends is making it really hard for them and they just. kind of break after natemare happens again at the halloween party

the following morning nate again claims not to know anything. kit is beyond frustrated. what is he doing. why is he doing this. and eventually after they have a heated enough argument about nate ruining the “only month around this time of the year they can feel happy and free” it all just. kind of comes out. with a pile of feathers that kit has been coughing out in secret all this time trying to deal with this boi and everything coming up in the following month. and so nate is brought in on these disaster months and kit having this whole stress feather problem and everything in between

and like nate is. a very understanding and loving friend but hes so fucking clueless and oblivious unless you straight up tell him these kind of things so he wasnt aware of kit’s struggles until now and he pulls them into a hug and apologizes so much for making things so much worse with everything..

..clearly implying that he knows at least something about this natemare thing, but hes not elaborating on that as kit doesnt ask

[lyrua]

ive spend my day - watching - for an ending - thats not there..

[stiltonbasket]

OMG I am loving qin su!wwx verse but I'm dying at the Burial Mounds cliffhangerrrrrr AHHHH but also all in your own time bc we respect boundaries =D

When Lan Qing and Lan Jueying left the Cloud Recesses earlier that morning, running away to Lanling to see their A-Die had seemed like a good idea.

“Something’s wrong, and no one will tell us what!” thirteen-year-old Jueying complained, packing an emergency qiankun bag. “Jiujiu never has time for us anymore, and A-Die and Father are being weird, and A-Die came back from the conference early, and then he came back, and then he left again! Where did he go? Jie, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. And we can’t even go to Gege for help,” Lan Qing muttered, because their xiongzhang left for a group hunt in Changlun just yesterday. “Hurry up, A-Ying. We need to get out of here before shugong comes back.”

Their journey to the Jinlintai went smoothly enough, since A-Qing and Jueying often travel there with their parents; but then they landed on Koi Tower’s main terrace, and that was where everything started to go wrong.

“You have to let us in,” Lan Jueying says haughtily, when the doorwardens try to make them turn back. “My parents are here, and I want to see them.”

The two Jin guards in front of them exchange uncomfortable looks. “Nie-zongzhu and Lan-zongzhu are not here,” one of them tries to say: because not even a Jin would dare cross a young mistress born to two major sect leaders, especially when one of them is Sect Leader Nie. “They have gone to the Burial Mounds.”

“Then where is Jin-zongzhu?” A-Qing asks, imitating the sharp tone her shugong always takes with misbehaving disciples. “He is our shushu, so now that we are here, we must not leave without paying our respects to him.”

“Jin-zongzhu is occupied.”

“Is he so busy that he would turn away his nieces?” Lan Jueying says, batting her eyelashes until the wardens glance at their feet. “We’re tired, you know! I wasn’t even strong enough to fly this far until last year!”

Eventually, the two Jin guards lead them inside, and Jueying asks to see Auntie Su.

“She’s--unavailable,” an attendant says through gritted teeth. “She was found to have been possessed by the Yiling Patriarch.”

A-Ying and A-Qing glance at each other. Their jiujiu brought a veiled woman home two months ago, and A-Ying originally mistook her for their Aunt Su: but the lady Jiujiu keeps spending time with is thinner than San-shushu’s wife, and sounds very different, and Jiujiu would have known immediately if someone within nine or ten feet of him was possessed or not.

But if that really was Aunt Su, then perhaps...

“Take us to Jin-zongzhu, please!” Jueying cries. “We think we know where she is!”

“Han-ge, she said--”

“But Jin-zongzhu--”

“He’d want to know about this!” the younger guard hisses. “Ge, take them to him!”

The older warden heaves a sigh and then gestures towards a corridor.

“Follow me,” he grumbles. “Jin-zongzhu told us not to say anything, but if you know where Jin-furen is, he’ll have time to see you.”

__

And that was how they ended up down in the Jinlintai’s dungeon, crying like babies in A-Die’s arms behind the bars of a prison cell when Jin-zongzhu strips them of their spiritual powers and confiscates their two precious swords before locking them away.

“What’s going to happen to us?” A-Ying gulps. “A-Die, what happened to Auntie Su? And why did San-shushu make you come here?”

“We didn’t mean to tell him that she might be at the Cloud Recesses,” Lan Qingxia sobs. “I just thought--he sounded so worried, A-Die, but then he made someone take us down here, and we th-thought it was going to be a guest bedroom, and--”

“He said you were here to keep you safe!” wails Lan Jueying. “But he was lying, Jiejie said so! Is father coming to save us?”

“Don’t cry,” murmurs Lan Xichen, drying his daughters’ tearstained faces on his collar. Neither of them can tell how long he’s been trapped in the dungeons without his lingli, but it must have been at least a day and a half, or maybe two days, and his stomach keeps growling from hunger because he won’t eat anything Jin-zongzhu sends him. “A-Die knows a way to get you both somewhere safe, all right? You must be very still while I work, and hold on to your sister as tight as you can.”

Jueying nods and wraps her little body around Lan Qing’s. “Like this?”

“That’s right,” he soothes, kissing the silver cloud ornament over Lan Qing’s forehead and the tip of A-Ying’s button nose. “When you get there, tell the first person you find what happened, and that your baba went to Luanzung Gang with Huaisang and all the other cultivators who were at the conference.”

“Where are we going?” A-Ying asks, so quietly that A-Qing can scarcely hear her. “A-Die?”

Lan Xichen shakes his head and points upward, reminding them that anyone could be listening, so Jueying and A-Qing cling to him for a few more seconds before standing back to give their father room to work.

But instead of reaching into his locked jindan for power, Lan Xichen tears past the bounds of his lower dantian for something deeper than spiritual energy, and then the dank dungeon melts away into nothingness around them--taking Lan Xichen’s body with it, just as the pale front of his gown paints itself crimson with the blood dripping from his qiqiao.

“I love you, qian jin,” Lan Xichen gasps, whipping his head in the direction of the footsteps coming down the stairs. “Tell your father that I--”

Lan Jueying screams.

“A-Die!” she howls, as Lan Qingxia grips her sister’s waist for dear life. “Diedie, no!”

But no one answers, and when Lan Qing finally opens her eyes, she finds herself standing in their fuqin’s bedroom with Jueying sobbing in her arms.

[princessfbi]

Oh my gosh, I ADORE the Mermaid AU!!! And the cliffhangerrrrrr

Thanks for reading!

[criticalsorcery]

THAT CLIFFHANGERRRRRR NULL IS TERRIFYINGGGGG!!!